118 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [P. D. 4. 



in the rough, three groups — the well-to-do or rich; the large 

 middle group, who by thoughtful planning can live reasonably 

 well upon the available income; and the unfortunate remainder, 

 whose income barely suffices at best to secure the necessaries of 

 life. 



Economj' in the use of food cannot be preached in the same 

 language to all three groups. Economy is not a word having a 

 fixed meaning. That which is economy for one would be rank 

 prodigality for another. The mother who lives with her grow- 

 ing children in two crowded rooms of a tenement house, trying 

 on Saturday night to spend the contents of the weekly pay 

 envelope for the things which must be had, and doing without 

 all which the scant money will not buy, will surely resent the 

 appeal to do without this, that or the other food. All her life 

 she has been doing without essential things. This war which 

 requires further sacrifice and hardship is a bitter thing. She 

 does not understand when asked to save. 



And we who carry the message have had a limited under- 

 standing. The duty of the community here is not simply to 

 urge saving, but to watch carefully the provision of essential 

 foods, and to be absolutely sure that the rapid advancement in 

 the cost of living is not forcing hunger and consequent weak- 

 ness upon the children of the poor. 



This is the big problem of food conservation in the cities, and 

 here we discern the bigger meaning of food conservation. 

 Because this problem is already with us, those who share the 

 community obligations are facing a large responsibility in these 

 anxious days. We cannot sit back quietly unmindful of the 

 hardships which are borne by those families who are unable to 

 provide the essential foods for their children. This problem is 

 heaviest in the crowded city and in the homes where the income 

 has not advanced at the rate of advancement in the cost of liv- 

 ing. To bring within reach of the family income an adequate 

 supply of milk, bread, potatoes and meat, — this is a very real 

 problem of food conservation, and bears heavily upon the city. 



In no single item of food is this problem more apparent than 

 in the provision and distribution of milk, the indispensable food 

 for children, for we have to consider not only the cost of pro- 

 viding and distributing the milk, but the relation of the price 



