The Colorado statesman., 1917-04-28
This Is Estimate Made by Uncle
Sam of Loss in the Homes
Alone.
MUCH OF IT IS PREVENTABLE
Vast Amount of Nourishing Material
Thrown Out of American kitch-
ems, Say Department of Ag-
riculture Experts.


garbage pals, food allowed to spoil
In the household, food ruined by i'm
proper cooking and food destroyed by
rats, mice and insects constitute the
heavy items in the $7O0,O0O,OOO annu-
al waste of food in homes in this coun-
try cited by the secretary of agricul-
ture. Seven hundred million dollars
is considered to be conservative fig
ure. In household waste, of course,
are not to be included the vast losses
of food allowed under improper hand
ling or inefficient marketing methods
to spoil in transit or in the hands of
producers or dealers.
Much of this $7OO,000,000 household
waste of food, the dietary specialists
of the United States department of ag
riculture declare, is easily preventa-
BILE.
That vast amounts of nourishing
material are thrown out from Amer
ican kitchens and so made useless for
human consumption, is well established
by the returns made from garbage and
fertilizer plants showing the amount
of fats and nitrogenous material recov
cred from city garbage.
Fail to Use Left-Overs.
Much of the food is thrown out, the
specialists say, because so many peo-
pie do not know how to utilize left
overs or will not take athe trouble to
keep and prepare them. The special
lists point out that leftover cereals
can be reheated or combined with
fruits, meats or vegetables into appe
tizing side dishes; that even a spoon
full Of cereal is worth saving as a
thickener of soups, gravies and
sauces. Stale bread can be utilized
in a variety of ways in combination
with vegetables and meats and in pre-
pairing hot breads and puddings. Skim
milk, too widely looked down upon as
a food although it contains practical
ly all the nourishing elements of
whole milk with the exception of the
cream or fat, can be used as a bever-
age, in cooking cereals, or. as basis
for milk soups or sauces. Even sour
milk, so largely thrown away, can be
used in making hot breads or in the!
home manufacture of cottage cheese.
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 before cook
ing or tried out in boiling, roasting
or broiling can be made useful in
cooking. Many butchers, after they
h,x ;a.I.n 4
price for the cut, trim off valuable
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 veg
etables contains nutrients and deSir-
able fiavoring 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 un-
Important. If they kept accurate ac-
count, 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 abb
solutely wasted.
Waste From Careless Handling.
Important amounts of perishable
foods are made dangerous or inedible
in households because they are ex-
posed unnecessarily to heat, germs,
dust, dirt or to flies and other in
sects.
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 striking difference in the
food bills of many families.
In other cases, one or two vegeta-
bles, beets or carrots, for 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. Vegetables
and fruits in quantities often are
stored in hot, damp, poorly ventilated
bins and under conditions which has
ttll NiitiiiS'' anu ueCuI.
Fruits, surplus beans, tomatoes and
other vegetables produced in home
gardens are allowed to spoil on the
vines or rot on the ground. A morn
ing's 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 stored
where flies or other insects or rats
and mice can get at it. Much cereal
food is ruined because it is not pro-
sects.
Many housewives who complain
that childrep and adults will not eat