NUTRITION INVESTIGATIONS WITH THE INSANE. 509 



clitTcroiicc l)otwecn food supplied and food consiinied as is implied in 

 tb(; data above coinpared is in the natural order of thing-s. In the 

 ordinary household it is comparatively easy to regulate the food supply 

 so that it will not ])e materially in excess of what is actuall^^ eaten. 

 The dietary ha))its of the difl'ercnt members of the family are known 

 to the intelligent housewife. In economical families the food is 

 selected and cooked in such ways as to meet the individual tastes and 

 needs of the mend)ers without uimecessary waste in the kitchen. Each 

 person selects the kinds and amoiuits desired, and the portions not 

 used at one meal are saved and utilized again, so that little is wasted 

 at the table. But even in private families and boarding houses, unless 

 much care is exercised, the waste may be considerable. In a laro'e 

 number of dietary studies made in connection with the nutrition 

 inv^estigations of the Office of Experiment Stations it has ranged in 

 private families from practicalh' none to S or 10 per cent, and in 

 boarding houses, even where economj^ was sought, it has averaged 10 

 per cent, and in some individual cases has reached 20 per cent, of the 

 total food. 



In large establishments, like hospitals for the insane, econom}^ in 

 diciar}- management is a more difficult matter than in ordinary fami- 

 lies or boarding houses. The dining room and kitchen forces are 

 smaller in proi)ortion to the total nimiber fed. In both the kitchen 

 and the dining room, many of the employees lack training in the sub- 

 ject of proper utilization of food and have no incitement to econoni}', 

 while freiiuently there are no conveniences or facilities for economiz- 

 ing. The leaks are more numerous and harder to stop, and the aggre- 

 gate loss is much larger than would be realized without an examination 

 of the statistics. 



Waste can not be entirely avoided; more or less of it is inevitable; 

 the best that can be done is to reduce it to a minimum. It is possible, 

 even in large institutions, to provide for the utilization of food so 

 that the losses shall be small. This can be accomplished by a better 

 understanding of the nutritive values of food and of the demands of 

 the people for nourishment, and by improvements in methods of stor- 

 ing, handling, and especially of preparing and serving the food. 



In this way it will be possible to provide more palatable and more 

 attractive nourishment at lower cost. This was demonstrated in the 

 course of these studies. From time to time opportunities for improve- 

 ment were pointed out to the late superintendent and were i)romptly 

 acted upon by him; and he stated that in his opinion, as a result of 

 these investigations, the cost of the food during the last six months of 

 the year was lower than for any other corresponding period durinj^ 

 his connection with the institution. 



That a very material reduction in the amount of waste is possible 

 is suggested l)y a study of the data showing the waste in the individual 



