The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1917-04-20

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Washington, D. c.. April 12.-
Good food heedleSsly thrown into
garbage pals, food allowed 70 spoil
in the household, food ruined by i'm
proper cooking, and food destroyed
by rats, mice, and insects consti-
tute the heavy items in the 0,000,-
900 annual waste of food in homes in
this country cited recently by the
secretary of agriculture. Seven
hundred million dollars is considered
to be conservative figure. In
household waste, of course, are not
included the vast losses of food al
lowed under improper handling or
inefficient marketing methods to
spoil in transit or in the hands of
producers or dealers.
Much of this $7O0,O0O,OO0 house
hold waste of food, the dietary
specialists of the United States de-
partment of agriculture declare, is
easily preventable. This preventable
waste consists in large part of the
following items:
One Edible food thrown into the
garbage pail or into the kitchen
sink. That vast amounts of nourish-
| ing material are thrown out from
| American kitchens and so made use
| less for human consumption, is well
established by the returns from garb-
age and fertilizer plants showing the
amount of fats and heterogeneous
MARTIAL recovered from city garbage.
| Utilize the Leftovers.
Much of the food is thrown out,
the specialists say, because so many
people do not know how to utilize
leftovers or will not take the trouble
I to keep and prepare them. The spe-
cialists point out that leftover
cereals can be reheated or combined.
with fruits, meats, or vegetables into
appetiZing side dishes; that even a
spoonful of cereal is worth saving as
thickner of soups, gravies and
sauces. Stale bread can be used in
variety of ways in combination with
vegetables and meats and in pre-
pairing hot breads and buildings.
Skim milk, too widely looked down
upon as food although it contains
practically all the nourishing ele-
ments of whole milk with the eX-
ception of the cream or fat, can be
used as a beverage, in cooking
cereals, or as a basis for milk soups
/ or sauces. Even sour milk, so largely
| thrown away, can be used in making
hot breads or in the home manufac-
| ture Of cottage cheese.
Combine With Fish.
Every scrap of meat or fish can be
combined with cereals or other foods
lacking in pronounced flavor, both to
give flavor and to add nourishment
! to made-over dishes. Every bit of
fat or suet trimmed from meat be-
| fore cooking or tried out in boiling,
roasting, or boiling can be made use
full in cooking. Many butchers, after
they have weighed meat and named
| the price for the cut, trim off valu-
able suet and fat. This fat which the
| housewife pays for, if taken home and
used, would reduce expenditures for
prepared cooking fats. Water used in
cooking rice and many of the vegeta-
| bles contains nutrients and deslr-
able flavoring materials valuable in
SOUPS or sauces. Too often fats and
such water are poured into the sink.
Many persons regard the saving OF
small amounts of leftover food as
unimportant. If they kept accurate
account, however, for any period, the
specialists say, many families would
| be astounded by the amount of good
food they are throwing out and by
| the sums that they are paying to the
grocer, the butcher and milkman
merely to replace good food being
absolutely wasted.
SpoIage Of Food.
Two. Spoilage of food due to
careless handling and storing in the
home. Important amounts of perish
able foods are made dangerous or
inedible in households because they
are exposed unnecessarily to heat,
! germs, dust, dirt, or to flies and
other insects.
Much milk spoils quickly because
it is kept uncovered in warm
kitchens. Close observance of the
doctrine-"Keep perishable food
| especially milk, cool, clean and
covered continuously" may make a
striking difference in the food bills of
many families.
/ In other cases, one or two vegeta-
! bleS, beetS or carrots, 1Or instance,
not needed immediately are thrown
out or allowed to spoil instead of
being used in SOUPS or combination
dishes. Fruits which could be stewed
and kept are allowed to spoil. Vegeta-
bles and fruits in quantities often
are stored in hot, damp, and poorly
ventilated bins and under conditions
which hasten willing, fermentation
and decay. Fruits, surplus beans
tomatoes and other vegetables pro-
duced in home gardens are allowed
+, to spoil on the vines or rot on the
ground A mornings work would can
and preserve such surplusage for use
!, when fruits and vegetables are scarce
and high in price.
| Much food is ruined by being
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