South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1919-03-27
A Heart to Heart Talk
With Mrs. Blank
1t Opened Her Eyes to a Few Facts She Didn't
Know About Food Values.
Copyright, 1912
By FRED VI. ALLY.

II am certainly grateful % you for
having called" exclaimed AIRS. Blank. as
/ was about 10 bid her good day. the
Information you have given is certainly
Interesting as ] have never considered
food economy from your viewpoint and
the statements YOU make sound very
reasonable 10 me-"
OF course her name is not Mrs.
blank but any name viii answer for
the purpose OF this discussion as the
Facts IN her case do net differ materially
from numerous other cases which come
under my observation almost daily.
The visit had been made as part Of
my daily work --missiOnary work | call
tin spreading the gospel of food con
servatiOn and health conservation
through the increased use Of dairy prod
ucts.
Ms. Blanks family. consisting. be-
sides herself. Of her husband and two
small children. aged three aud seven
years. were consuming one quart Of
milk daily. and she declared there is no
use Of talking about more milk TO me
until you get the price down 10 where il
belongs
But my dear madam / replied. III
you take this same attitude towards all
other foods which have risen In price
end cut down the quantity you buy be-
low the need of your family how is the
especially the children"
Even al the increased price milk is
much cheaper. it's food value considered.
than other less essential articles OF food
which you continue 20 buy IN spite Of
their high prices
How do you figure that out ques-
toned Mrs Blank
Il shall make this statement clear 20
hV "a hot "a
of actual nutriment YOU receive in "a
quart Of milk costing fourteen cents and
what the equivalent costs when you buy
beef steak. First let us understand that
the value Of any food must not be meas
ured by the weight or bulk as 10 comes
TO you but by the actual amount of nOur-
ishment which is digested and assimilat-
ed by the body.
All foods, as you probably know.
cOntan "a large proportion of water and
a certain quantity Of solids The solids
provide the nutrients. Meat also con
tains d large percentage Of waste. such
as the bones and sinews. Therefore in
estimating food values we must first
eliminate from our calculations all of
the water and waste matter.
min contains about s. per cent wa
ter and II per cent solids. This means
that n quart OF milk weighing - ounces
contains. i'm round figures 4 ounces of
solids In other words, it requires four
quarts or milk To make one pound OF
solids after all of the water has been
removed and at II cents "a quart the
cost OF one pound Of milk solids is 80
cents. Now let us see what amount of
solids you can buy for - cents at the
butcher shop.
~ good cut Of round steak will cost
you 80 cents a pound. The waste which
cannot be eaten amounts 10 = per cent
Of what you buy. The remaining -
per cent of steak contains Is per cent Of
water.
This leaves 294 per cent solids or ~
ounces for which YOU have paid 10 cents (;
at the rate Of 81 cents per Ounce-St36
per pound. You therefore receive less
than ounces OF solid nOurishment in -
cents worth OF round steak as com
pared with 16 ounces in four quarts Of
milk costing the same amount
1T does not require an expert ac-
countant 10 figure how one may econ
Omize on food by substituting milk and