The High Cost of Food. 317 



almost a year to turn out a hog; but this is in the growing 

 stage on the farm or range, and not necessary for the material 

 to be kept in cold storage for that length of time. The spring 

 of the year is a season of scarcity in the market in cattle, and 

 sheep and hogs are scarce in the market in the autumn. Then 

 meat takes another leap in the price. Markets in the packing 

 business are busy in the fall when the ranges pour out their 

 cattle and sheep and the winter brings the big run of hogs. 



There is a difference in the prices of live cattle and dressed 

 beef. The dressed-beef price is lower than the live-cattle 

 price per pound because of the big profit in by-products and 

 waste saving by the packer. 



The real cause or causes of the high cost of foodstuffs has 

 not been definitely determined. Some blame the housewife for 

 her carelessness in buying and the inefficient and wasteful 

 methods used in the home ; others put the blame on the middle- 

 man's or commission man's profits; some go higher up the 

 scale and point to trusts or monopolies ; others say it is due to 

 the storing of the food necessities in large quantities, either in 

 cold-storage plants and warehouses or in the case of cereals 

 in the terminal elevators or private elevators on the farm, 

 there to await larger prices. There is, perhaps, no one par- 

 ticular cause, and there is no doubt that all these causes and 

 others not mentioned contribute toward the high cost of the 

 food supply. We must not forget that as civilization advances 

 we have a higher standard of living. This together with the 

 so-called "gambling" in the leading stock exchange markets of 

 the country tend to inflate prices. Did you not notice recently 

 how the price of wheat dropped on the market when it was 

 thought that the European War was about to come to a ter- 

 mination? 



There are many minor causes for increase in food cost. It 

 is estimated that the delivery of goods adds 8 percent to the 

 cost. The heavy export of foodstuffs to Europe and the al- 

 leged shortage of crops in this country tend to make tem- 

 porary increase in food cost, but this does not explain the 

 gradual increase of the cost of food for the past twenty-seven 

 years. 



In these times of high prices the consumer, except the more 

 wealthy, must needs substitute cheaper foods for the more ex- 

 pensive. The housewife must be taught how to buy her food 



