Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-13
The Haskin Letter g ,s : ass2z q
AN EXPERIMENTAL CITY MARKET.

The corner grocery has not run the
market out of~existence. The fact is
the market holds a place in community
life entirely separate from that held
by the grocery store. Both are i'm
portant; one supplements the other.
The neighborhood store offers convent
ences such as telephone orders and
delivery of purchases. 1t is close
! enough for the cook to dash out for a
forgotten ingredient, and its shelves
hold until the day they are needed the
staples that cannot be crowded into
apartment house ~cupboards.
The market has a different function.
It specializes in perishable food. You
can walk along a market aisle and see
long rows of white tile counters show
ing nothing but meat. The display on
every counter is kept cool by whirling
fans overhead and revealed for exam
nation by high powered lights. Along
another aisle or outside at the curb
are rows of fruit stands. There is a
wide variety that the corner store can
not offer.
Food Standard Highers
The dealer here who offers withered
apples or inferior eggs has competitors
only a few steps away with higher
grade offerings. The standard in per-
ishable food is consequently high. 1t
can be hgh because much of the food,
especially that bought at the outdoor
stands, is brought from the producer
to the consumer without delays.
The market cannot be expected to
hold the strategic position in a com
munity that is held in earlier centuries
when life was less complex: But it
still offers a chance for the farmer to
meet the city dweller without the mid
dleman coming between, and there are
still enough farmers and consumers
who like the market plan.
For these reasons the department of
agriculture believes that markets are
n live issue and that it's work at Center
Market is of interest to the country.
Every week letters are received from
cities planning to establish markets n
asking for information and advice, n
every Improvement installed in the
Washington market will be of benefit
to other municipalities.
No radical changes have been made
in the governments market. Ihe
buildings are old and consequently they
are not models of construction. Cleve-
land and Detroit, for instance, have
up-to-date city markets that are more
nearly models of structure and equip
ment.
The government is concentrating to
Il considerable degree OF a high stand
ard of sanitation. Several thousand
rats which had been comfortably quar-
in the old market buildings have
gone to another world. Importance of
sanitary precautions is being impressed
upon the men who re- the stalls. The
bureau of markets insists on knives
and saws being kept thoroughly clean.
The bureau also employs q meat inspec-
tor whose sole duty it is to see that no
impure meat is offered for sale in the
market.
Modern stands for fish and green
produce have been established, and
plans for the latest type of poultry
stand have been worked out. The e1-
perts say that fish, and indeed all meat,
should be displayed under glass so that
it is protected against flies, dust and
handling. At a model fruit and vege-
stand the goods are arranged at
tractiyely and conveniently. so that the
customer can see at a glance what Is
offered and so that the dealer can
quickly fill the order.
The oId-fashioned market with its
scattered about, its poultry
carelessly provided for. and the con
tinual touching of everything by dirty
hands is being run out of existence.
A city today can have the kind of
that its people want.