Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-10

| shortage Oh COOKING ldtS, OILS dllt
shortening and on the heels O
reports that the Army is careless
in its use of food while the civilian
belt is being frightened, the quarter
master general of the Army ha.
carried on studies at Fort Meade
which will lead to extensive conser.
walton of foods in all Army kitchens
The writer, by arrangement with
the War Department, visited kitch'
ems at Forts Meade and Belvoir
where thousands of soldiers are
CHARTERED, and found some of the
conservation measures already ir
| effect.
Two Conclusions.
Conclusions reached are two:
First, ar Army barracks kitchen
is as efficient as its mess sergeant
Second, the radical changes III
kitchen procedures now ELECTED BY
the quartermaster general are
aimed at complete extraction of al
human food value from fats, bones
| and scrap meat.
Conservation is energiZed by a
directive from the Office Of the
quartermaster general to the effect
that fenceforth all fats must be put
to full kitchen usage for cooking
and baking. This will be accom-
panied in the immediate future by
reduced issue of shortening and oils
by post commissaries and by COM
plete. rendering in post kitchens OF
all fats, cracklings or bones in beet
carcasses, ham or bacon.
These kitchen-rendered fats are
to be employed in cooking. All fats
will be disposed of as commercial
salvage only after they have
broken down through continued
deep frying. Bones are hereafter
to be sold only when nutrients and
fats have been completely extracted
into stock and soups by cooking.
Salvage Procedure Setup.
The cooked-out residue of fats at
Fort Meade will be collected in No.
10 cans, and dry bones, from which
all food value has been extracted
by cooking, will be collected in card
board boxes and all will be deposited
with the camp salvage officer He
will be responsible for inspection
and control. Commercial trucks
will pick up refuse from his depot,
not from the individual barracks
collection cans, over which camp
officers exercise little control.
There are to be no more meat
scraps. They must make stock for
soups. stews and gravies. Meat
particles cooked off bones must be
chopped or ground and put into
soups, stews and hash.
At Fort Belvoir, fats and spent
grease not used for cooking are in
some few cases made into soap in
messhall kitchens. The rest Of the
grease is poured into cans, some of
which are hauled to the pig farm
operated in conjunction with the
fort. Others are sold to garbage
collecting firms. Edible tfor animals
garbage is either taken to the pig
farm Or is sold. Trap grease from
kitchen interceptors is burned, as
are egg shells, fruit rinds and cof-
fee grounds.
Various Government agencies are
at work to salvage glycerin from
trap grease. Raw meat bones are
sold on contract to commercial firms
who in turn sell them to glue and
gelatin factories.
On Household Scale.
Maj. Fletcher F. Steele. salvage
and reclamation officer at Fort Bel
voir. said about refuse there:
1--WE sell about half a pound of
grease and fat refuse per month
per man fed. and the actual garbage
is from 4 to 6 pounds Per month per
man fed, which is not more than
the average housewife gets in her
kitchen"
"Of course out of a hundred mess
sergeants," he went on, you will
inevitably find some who are waste
ful. That's human nature"
Regarding future menus at Fort
Belvoir Capt. Paul Gauger, who is
responsible for food. clothing, trans
portation and buildings for some
5000 men, said instructions have
been received to stress fish and sau-
sages.
The Army serves good coffee, Capt
Gauger said, but quantities of cof-
fee issued by the commissary are by
comparison almost as limited as
those allotted civilians.
Exhibit Mess Hall Chosen.
One of the best mess halls at Fort
Belvoir selected by the public re-
lations office for exhibition as ar
outstanding example of kitchen eff
cheney is run by Staff Sergt. Eugene
J. Lorette, who has worked IA hours
day, 7 days a week for months
Sergt. Lorette is one mess sergeant
who makes his men use so much
soap scrubbing the place clean that
he supplements commissary soap
with soap he makes himself from
grease and I've. Sergt. Lorette's mess
hall and kitchen are clean
Under the present system Army
authorities exercise control over
what goes into barracks garbage
cans. If a mess sergeant is skillful
energetic and conscientious, there
is little waste in his kitchen. If he
is indifferent. as some people are
/ he is replaced and returned to troor
duty. Within the boundaries OF
officer supervision and master menl
rationS the human qualities of the
mess sergeant are decisive
Whatever foodstuffS or leftover.
the mess sergeant causes to be
dumped into garbage cans is pickec
up by commercial trucks which
carry their loads to renderers anc
pig farms. Burned out fats, drip
pings and cracklings, as well as dry
bones. and garbage are sold by the
Army camps to commercial com
panles on open bids.
Menus so Days Ahead.
The Quartermaster Generals Office
Of the War Department transmits
one months menu for review by two
intermediary boards before il is de-
lvered to camp quartermasters sc
days ahead Of the first meal listed
In this manner the menu for the
month of April, for instance. is