Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-12-01
SAVING OF MEAT
BELOW MARK SET
Conservation of Flesh in Phila-
delphia Still Scant in Com
parison With Standard

NTEAT conservation in the city's approxi-
AVl mateiy ESQ, 900 homes since the United
States Food Administration first raised
the insistent cry. save meat" amounts to
not more than per cent Exact figures
are impossible to obtain. only estimates
| can be made. Wholesalers and retailers
give varying statements and estimates OF
! the decrease In meat consumption; many
! others will give neither estimates nor fig
ures. Even the experts who are devoting
/ virtually all their time TO the conservation
! campaign can give no definite information.
/ They say they don't know how much meat
! was being consumed in Philadelphia three
: months ago and they don't know how much
| Is being consumed now Neither do they
/ Know what the consumption was a year
ago
Last week market that serves about
| 400 housewives sold about 1000 pounds of
| beef 1000 pounds of pork and 300 pounds
! or lamb and mutton. That was an aver
/ age of five pounds of pork and five pounds
! OF beef per family per week and something
| less than n pound of lamb and mutton per
family per week. The sales were virtually
| the same as they were three months ago
! and about 80 per cent less than they were
year ago
Another market. serving about 500
women. sold only about 1000 pounds of pork
as against about 1000 year ago, hut sold
virtually the same amount of beef that was
sold in the autumn OF 19l6-3000 pounds.
The majority of these patrons evidently de-
ctded they must sacrifice something ana
chose to give up pork
Wholesalers report a decrease i'm meat
| demand of 20 to 80 per cent from last year.
rhey say the decrease in the last few
months amounts to little and estimate II
variously from to I per cent The Cow
ernment's restrictions Of meat distribution
nave had virtually no effect, they say, be-
cause hardly any retailers are demanding
at one time m'r re than the Government is
willing 10 let them have
Retailers report no general observance of
meatess Tuesday Friday is somewhat
more meatless than before. but sales on
Monday and Tuesday are about normal.
Monday sales have always been light--large
numbers of persons making the remains OF
the Sunday roasts serve their meat needs
on Monday-but the sales are lighter
generally than heretofore.
IL appears that up to this time there is
no serious conservation OF meat in the
homes on patriotic grounds. The dealers all
explain the reduction in consumption of the
last year by referring to the general high
prices There has been "A general retrench-
ment in homes, and ii has not been confined
TO the homes of clerks and other persons
whose incomes have increased little or none
since the beginning of the war. But the
dealers say all the reduction in consumption.
or virtually all of it, is the pure result of
increased prices and general feeling Of
the necessity Of saving money against an
uncertain future.
AS u MeatleSS TUESDAY
Families whose incomes have increased
but little are forced to eat less lavishly.
Those whose incomes have greatly in
creased--famies of workmen of many
trades. especially of those trades which are
part of war work"--are living less lavishly
even though their incomes are far larger
than they We're
IF the meat prices were all that had
advanced. said the manager OF one of the
large wholesale meat houses, there prob
ably would not be such railing OH IN meat
eating But everything mas advanced
Even win increased pay most men must ne
careiul now they spehu 'heir money r.NelS-
thlhg theN eat, almost COSTS more ENery-
thIIs tneE wear costa more i"ei' "'u9e
rent costs more .,, -,-,.. ... ...oz
l"e I''dnaEe' % " S'.''li ,,''''" vi ''oi'S'
'mv VI Mi'cr neli | |l.at' 80 On ,,,. ,o,,.
VIZ az He'''ih 'o t, VI ~ 60