Greenbelt cooperator., 1942-03-13
Balancing the Budget
By BERTHA MARYN

superior, best, very best, cholce,
supreme, special, extra special,
super, good, select superb-what
an array of adjectives and what
do they all mean! When for ex-
ample you buy can of Pei Donte
Super Special Peaches are you get
ting A, B, or C grade?
"Oh, are there grades of peach
esq" Not only peaches, Mrs. Con-
sumner, but any number of fruits
and vegetables, both canned and
dried.
"Who sets up standards for
grades?" What do the different
grades mean?" "How can | save
money by buying by grader"
These are all very good ques-
tions, Mrs. Consumer, and here
is the story on grades and label
ling
Way back in "Grandma's" day
before the canning industry was
developed, each home "put up"
jars and jars of preserves, fruits
and vegetables for winter. Ma
turally, since it was for the use
of the family, mother or grandma
tried to get the very best products
to put into those jars; there was
little need of quality standards.
Then came the Gamer, canning
foods for hundreds of families.
Buying fruits and vegetables in
such huge lots, the Gamer dis
covered that the raw products
often varied in quality. Some
fruits were larger than others;
some vegetables more perfectly
shaped than others. So, it became
necessary for the Gamer to sep
arate thevarious qualities and
sizes into groups such as Fancy,
Choice, Standard or Substandard;
small, large, etc. In order to iden-
tify his particular products, the
Gamer began to use brand names.
The wholesaler followed suit and
developed brand names to identify
the products he sold to the retail
grocers. Since the wholesaler sold
to many retailers in the same city
he found it to his advantage to use
more and more brand names in
order to be able to sell to more
retailers.
Brand Names Misleading
That is why today we find mer-
chandise of identical grade often
packed in the same factory, sell
ing in stores in the same town,
often side by side, under different
names and at various prices. So
that Mrs. Doe buying from Grocer
x Grade C peas labeled Rockwell
Super Select" may get exactly
the same product as her next
door neighbor who bought "Water-
buys Supreme.
That is why system of grading
was developed. The system of
brand names became complex and
somewhat confusing. Banks and
financial hackers found it very un-
businesslike to loan money on
stocks of canned foods merely on
brand names; they wanted specific
information as to the exact quail
ity of the merchandise on which
they were lending money. Dealers
and bankers turned to the Federal
Government and asked that defin-
itions of standards be set up for
grading of fresh fruits and vege-
tables. These standards, set up
by the Department of Agriculture,
although used by the trade are
in most cases designated in code
since they were originated for
the benefit of dealers, packers
and bankers. The consumer bene-
flied only indirectly because he
was not aware of the grading
system and its advantages. In re-
cent years. however, consumer de-
mand has put the grade identifi-
cation on the label so that con-
sumers can tell what they buy.
However, although set up by the
Federal Government and inspec-
tion in the case of U. S. Inspected
goods, is controlled by the gov
ernment, grade labelling in the
United States is not compulsory,
but purely voluntary. Grade label
ing in the Dominion of Canada
however is compulsory. Nationally
known U. S. packers and Gamers
are forced by law to put the grade
of the canned product they send
to Canada, while tine rest of the
same batch sold in the United
States need not tell the grade.