54 



INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 2 



Carbonated drinks with artificial coloring 

 and flavoring are sold, particularly at two 

 stands in the plaza where the buses stop. 

 Lemon, orange, cherry, pineapple, and banana 

 are the common flavors. The drinks are 

 brought from Paracho or Uruapan and sell for 

 5 centavos a quarter-liter bottle. Consumption 

 is small; the stores may have six or eight 

 bottles for 6 months. 



A refreshment of water, fruit flavorings, and 

 sugar is also sold in the plaza. Ice is usually 

 available only on Sundays. Only men of the 

 town buy these refreshments when they are in 

 funds and want to try something exotic. Most 

 of the trade is with passersby in the buses, 

 fortunately for the health of Cheran. Water 

 ice is sold from door to door by one or two 

 vendors. It is made locally whenever the 

 dealer can secure ice from Uruapan. Home- 

 made ices are sometimes made when the water 

 in the troughs or streams freezes in the winter. 



QUANTITIES AND COST OF FOODS 



A mere list of foods and recipes has little 

 meaning unless quantities are ascertained. 

 Potentially the Cheran inhabitant has an ade- 

 quate diet, but most of the population probably 

 suffer from some dietary deficiency, either be- 

 cause of poverty or because of improper dis- 

 tribution and preparation of foods. Vitamin 

 deficiencies pi'obably are subacute to acute in 

 many individuals. Qualitative and quantita- 

 tive data of great accuracy were difficult to 

 secure, but enough were obtained to be of some 

 value as guides to dietary problems. Below 

 are given some diets collected : 



One of the poorest families in town, con- 

 sisting of 3 adults and 2 children, eats 2y-> 

 liters of maize daily, which costs 10 centavos. 

 Once a week the family spends 5 to 10 centavos 

 in chiles and every 3 or 4 days 3 to 5 centavos 

 in cheese. On rather rare occasions, if the 

 family is relatively prosperous for the moment, 

 one-third to one-half liter of beans is purchased 

 at a cost of 5 to 8 centavos. Eggs, meat, and 

 some other items are almost never eaten. It is 

 probable that some greens are eaten from time 

 to time which were not noted by the reporter. 

 Total food cost could average as little as 81V-> 

 centavos per week. 



A poor family, but not in such desperate 



straits as the one mentioned above, would prob- 

 ably spend, in addition, 1 or 2 centavos daily 

 for sugar, consumed in cinnamon tea, or 3 to 6 

 ounces of brown sugar for use in afole bianco. 

 Atole would occasionally be made of milk, 3 to 5 

 centavos worth being bought. Such a family 

 would drink milk only in case of illness, when a 

 sick per.son might get a pint or a little more 

 each day. 



A "middle class" family, consisting of 8 per- 

 sons (2 adults, 6 children aged 4 to 16), eats 

 about 3V-> liters of maize daily, about 31/2 

 pounds of meat (a peso's worth) a week, and 

 10 centavos worth of cheese daily. In addition, 

 about 25 centavos a day would be spent for 

 other foods. (The data on the three diets given 

 above were all collected by Sra. Silvia Rendon.) 



What appeared to be two reliable quantitative 

 records, covering 2-week periods, were obtained, 

 the first for a wealthy family and the second 

 for an average family. They are as follows: 



Diet records of two families for 2-week period 



1. Wealthy family, Don Hilaro Xhemba (10 persons in 



household) : 



Maize Ill liters 



Meat 13 pounds 



Cheese 2 pounds 



Fruit 1$ 2.54 



Milk 1.54 



Chiles (about V2 dozen) .03 



Bread (15 pieces, whole wheat, about 4Vi 



inches diameter, 1% inches thick) .75 



Beans (brown or red; little less than 3 



liters) .41 



Fish (probably about ij pound dried fish) . . .21 



Total expenditure $12.50 



2. Average family, Melquiades Romero (2 adults and 



5 children) : 



Maize 75 liters 



Meat 12 pounds 



Fruit 2$o.96 



^ This amount seems high. It would bo the cost of 50 to 75 

 orantjes. small to medium size, but undoubtedly it was not all 

 spent for oranges; in fact, it was much mure probably spent for 

 bananas, pears, and perhaps apples or peaches. 



- Perhaps spent for 20 to 30 small to medium oranges, but 

 probably mostly for bananas, peaches, pears, and apples. 



In both cases recorded above, vegetables un- 

 doubtedly came out of the family garden and 

 are not listed. Probably, from the distribution 

 of purchases, this would mean cabbage daily, 

 perhaps half a leaf per person, boiled with the 



