c 



OUR FOOD PAGE 



Stanq' Puerden 



454 



ONE Sunday. 

 several 

 weeks ago, 

 there sat in our 

 church a father 

 ard mother who 

 l:ad just come 

 from the car af- 

 ter b i d d i u g 



goodby to their youngest son, a boy of 

 twenty, a boy well and favorably known to 

 every one in our town. He had joined the 

 hospital unit which left Cleveland for 

 France that afternoon, leaving college to 

 enlist. I shall never forget the look on that 

 mother's face. It was not that she was not 

 brave. She was perhaps more composed 

 than any of the rest of us, for the minister 

 in his opening remarks had alluded to the 

 young man's having gone. I shall not try 

 to describe the expression of her face. You 

 have seen it on some mother's face near 

 your home, and will probably see it many, 

 many more times. The world is full of 

 mothers with such faces now. Every day 

 we hear of more of our brave boys enlisting 

 in their country's service. 



And now what are we women going to do 

 for our bit? We have been getting pages 

 and pages of good advice, and we have been 

 charged with being wasteful and extrava- 

 gant in our kitchens. For instance, Secre- 

 tary of Agi'ieulture Houston authorizes a 

 statement estimating that we waste food 

 amounting to more than $700,000,000 an- 

 nually. That sounds incredible, but it is 

 only .$7.00 per person a year ; or computing 

 it on a family basis, allowing five persons to 

 the family, it makes a waste of 67 cts. per 

 family a week, or a little less than ten cents 

 a day. Even that seems a high average to 

 me; and yet if the fig-ures should be cut in 

 two the sum total would still be appalling. 

 Tt looks as if we deserve the scolding, 

 doesn't it ? 



We must not confuse the need for pre- 

 venting waste of food with the financial 

 problem. If you can afford porterhouse 

 steak, mushrooms, etc., daily, it is still your 

 privilege. But don't waste a crumb of what- 

 ever food you use. There is an actual food 

 shortage in the world. 



Let us consider a few of the ways in 

 which we can save food in our homes. 

 First, take good care of all raw materials as 

 they come into your house, protecting them 

 from micej insects, or decay. Second, en- 

 courage your family to eat enough for phys- 

 ical and mental efficiency and no more. 

 Third, don't spoil food in preparation by 

 burning or careless cooking. Fourth, use 

 whole-wheat flour instead of white at least 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



3 



tJ 



June, 1917 



a pai't of the 

 time. Dietitians 

 have long urged 

 this change, and 

 we are told 28 

 per cent of the 

 wheat is wasted 

 in making white 

 flour, or, to state 

 it in another way, over 100,000,000 bushels 

 of wheat. Fifth, boil potatoes in the skins 

 and peel just before serving. Both material 

 and food value will be saved. Sixth, save 

 the wa^er in which vegetables and rice have 

 been cooked for soups and sauces. It is 

 rich in valuable mineral salts. Seventh, 

 utilize every drop of skimmed milk. It is 

 a better balanced food than cream, as cream 

 is only the fat, while skimmed milk contains 

 protein, minerals, and carbohydrates. 

 Eighth, save and render every bit of fat. 

 Ninth, dry in the oveii and grind scraps of 

 bread left from the table. A good cook can 

 think of dozen of ways to use them. And 

 when you entertain your friends, serve them 

 a simple, well-cooked, well-balanced meal. 

 Don't encourage overeating by serving too 

 great a variety when little children are 

 starving in Belgium. 



And now. Uncle Sam, we women of the 

 United States would like to have you notice 

 that we are taking our scolding for being 

 wasteful and extravagant in a beautiful 

 spirit. We are going to practice such thrift 

 that a self-respecting pig would not find 

 even light refreshment in our garbage- 

 pails. We are going to do our best to have 

 our families largely feed themselves and 

 have something to spare by garden-making. 

 If, as we are told, this war is to be won by 

 bread bullets, you will find us doing our 

 share and rejoicing that we have the oppor- 

 tunity to help. And may we respectfully 

 voice the hope that before harvest time you 

 may decide not to let hundreds of millions 

 of bushels of grain go into drinks instead of 

 food. We also think tobacco-fields Avould 

 make beautiful war-gardens. 



It would never do to finish this page on 

 thrift without mentioning honey. Doubt- 

 less you already know our government is 

 urging beekeepers to increase their honey 

 production as much as possible to help out 

 the sugar shortage. We are told that the 

 nearer our table we can produce our food, 

 the better, as the transportation problem is 

 going to be almost as serious as the food 

 problem. Tlierefore, let me urge again this 

 month that you take the best of care of 

 your little garden musicians, the bees. 



