The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-05-09
HOUSTON STATES
HOW EACH WOMAN
CAN DO her BIT
Need Not Leave Home to
Help Feed and Clothe Ar
mics in the Field.

Washington, May 9.-In an appeal
recently "to the women of the United
States,'' Sec. Houston declared that
they can do their "bit'' most effective
ly in the National emergency by prac-
ticing effective thrift in their house
holds.
The appeal was prompted by many
requests for a statement as to the
service women can render the nation
in the direction Of producing and con-
serving agricultural, products.
: Every woman can render impor-
tant service to the Nation in its pres
ent emergency" says the appeal. "She
need not leave her home or abandon
her home duties to help the armed
forces. She can help to feed and clothe
our armies and help to supply food to
those beyond the seas by practfcing
effective thrift in her own household
EVERY ounce of food the housewife
saves from being wasted in her home
all food which she or her children
produce in the garden and can or pre-
serve every garment which care and
skillful repair make 1t unnecessary to
replace-all lessen that households
draft on the already insufficient world
supplies.
ITO save food the. housewife must
learn to plan economical and prop
er1y balanced meals which, while nou-
rishing each member Of, the family
properly, do not encourage over-eat-
ing or offer excessive and wasteful va
riety. It is her duty to use all eff
fective methods to protect food from
spoffage by heat, dirt. mice. or in
sects.
She must acquire the culinary abil-
ity to utilize every bit of edible food
that comes into her home. She must
learn to use such foods as vegetables,
beans, peas and milk products as par
tia1 substitutes for meat She must
make it her business to see that moth
ing nutritious is thrown away or al
lowed to be wasted.
Waste in any individual household
may seem to be insignificant, but If
only single ounce of edible food, on
the average, were allowed to spoil or
be thrown away in each of our 20,-
100000 homes, over 100000 pounds
of material would be wasted each day.
It takes the fruit Of many, acres and
the work of many people to raise, pre-
pare and distribute 464 100000 pounds
of food year. Every ounce of food
thrown away. therefore, tends also to
waste the labor of an army of busy
citizens.
Clothing is largely an agricultural
product and represents the results of
| labor on the sheep ranges, in cotton
fields and in mills and factories. When
| ever useful garment is needlessly
| discarded material needed to keep
| some one warm or dry may be con-
sumed merely to crafty a passing fan
cy. Women would do well to look
upon clothing at this time more par
i ticularly from the utilitaria,n point of
view.
| Leather, too, is scarce and the
proper shooting of armies calls for
| great supplies of this material. There
are only so many pairs of shoes in
each hide, and there is a shortage of
animals for leather as well as for meat
Anything that can be done to encour-
/ age adults or children to take care
| of their shoes and make them last
longer means that SO much more
| leather is made available for other
purposes.
Employed women, especially those
| engaged in the manufacture Of food
Il or clothing, also directly serve their
country anu SIlOuiu put lutO -ldShS Ilio
enthusiasm and energy the import
! ance of their product warrants.
while all honor is due to the wo-
j men who leave their homesfto nurse
and care for those wounded in bat
tie, no woman should feel that, be-
/ cause she does not wear a nurses
uniform, she is abso1ved from patriotic
Il service. The home women of the
i country, If they will give their minds
4 fully to this vital subject Of food con-
I servation and train themselves in
household thrift, can make of the
4 housewives apron a uniform of Ma
4 tiona1 significance.
demonstrate thrift in your homes
and encourage thrift among your
Ineighbors.
MAKE saving rather than spending
your social standard.
Make economy fashionable, lest ii