PURE AND IMPURE FOODS. 



397 



fore it gets to the consumer, usually, its 

 last estate is worse than its first. 



THE VALUE OF WASTED FOOD. 

 The food actually consumed in almost all 

 families is less than the amount purchased, 

 owing to waste in the kitchen and on the 

 tahle. By the term waste is meant not the 

 inedible portions of the food materials, 

 such as bone, tendon, vegetable parings, 

 etc., unless these are very large in propor- 

 tion, but those portions of the food which, 

 though edible, are thrown away. The 

 amount of such waste varies greatly in dif- 

 ferent families. In some cases recently in- 

 vestigated by Professor W. O. Atwater and 

 his associates who have carried on many 

 dietary studies of families in different cir- 

 cumstances in different regions of the 

 United States, in connection with the inves- 

 tigations of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture, the waste has been found to 

 be small and in other cases it has been 

 nearly 1/5 of the total food purchased. 

 Generally speaking, the amount of waste 

 has been found to be greatest in those fam- 

 ilies who could best afford it. That is, 

 those who have the largest means have been 

 least careful about the economical use of 

 food. 



This is not always the case, however, and 

 occasionally an unusually large proportion 

 of waste has been observed in "the diet of 

 those who can least afford it. This is illus- 

 trated in the diet of a family of limited 

 means living in the thickly congested tene- 

 ment district of New York. They had only 

 about one-half the quantity of nutrients 

 found in the average diet of the man at 

 moderate work, and yet nearly 6 per cent, 

 of the total food purchased was wasted. 

 The average waste found in 14 me- 

 chanics' families in such circumstances that 

 they were not necessarily restricted in their 

 choice and use of food, amounted to 6 per 

 cent, of the total nutrients purchased ; that 

 in professional men's families to a little 

 over 3 per cent. It is of interest to note 

 that, while the professional man was pay- 

 ing 28 cents a day for his food and the 

 mechanic 19 cents, the former only wasted 

 half as much as the latter. 



Much of the waste in the household 

 might be avoided by greater care in pur- 

 chasing, preparing and serving food. It 

 would hardly be possible to do away with 

 all waste, but a considerable saving of 

 money might often be effected without less- 

 ening the attractiveness of the daily fare. 

 The means of each family should, of course, 

 be an important factor in regulating waste, 

 but the problem is worthy the attention of 

 all. 



Good management, both on the farm and 

 in the household, demands that all sources 

 of waste be guarded against. If waste be 

 permitted, economy requires that all such 



materials, as well as other by-products be 

 utilized to the best advantage. That the 

 kitchen and table wastes are more impor- 

 tant sources of loss than are generally real- 

 ized is brought out quite strikingly by some 

 recent investigations. 



The kitchen and table refuse and waste 

 in a family consisting of one man, one 

 woman, 4 boys and 2 girls was collected 

 and analyzed during 3 weeks. During this 

 period there was thus collected 95.96 

 pounds of material, of which about 70 

 pounds was vegetable matter. The quanti- 

 ties which would be collected in one year 

 at the above rates would amount to 1,200 

 pounds of vegetable matter and 455 

 pounds of animal matter. This material 

 would contain about 4 per cent, of fat, 4 per 

 cent, of ash and 19 per cent, of organic 

 matter. 



It is calculated that there could be gath- 

 ered annually from 20,000 people about 

 2,080 tons of garbage with an analysis and 

 value equal to good barnyard manure. By 

 treating with suitable solvents and drying 

 the residue there could be secured 388^ 

 tons of fertilizer worth $14.69 a ton, and 

 over 81 tons of grease, which sells for an 

 average of $70 a ton wherever this sys- 

 tem is in operation. By cremation there 

 would result 83 1-5 tons of ashes, worth 

 $28.53 a ton. 



The total population of the cities and 

 towns of New Jersey is approximately 

 918,722, and the garbage of this number of 

 people would amount to 95_,5i6 tons per an- 

 num, from which could be manufactured 

 17,848 tons of tankage, worth $262,180, and 

 3,726 tons of grease, worth $260,800, a total 

 of $522,980. 



COLD STORAGE GAME IS UNFIT TO EAT^ 



The cold storage men in this city are 

 making desperate efforts to get some kind 

 of a bill through the Legislature that will 

 again allow them to sell game all through 

 the year ; and it is possible they may suc- 

 ceed by some clandestine movement. It is, 

 therefore, the duty of every member of the 

 L. A. S., and every true sportsman in the 

 State, to keep careful watch on all bills 

 introduced and passed by the Assembly, at 

 each succeeding session, in order to pre- 

 vent stealthy amendment to any bill that 

 would give these cold storage men, or the 

 gamedealers, any advantage. 



It is also the duty of every sportsman to 

 do all possible to educate the public to the 

 fact that cold storage game is not fit to eat 

 in any case. Personally, I would just as 

 soon eat sawdust as to eat a bird or a piece 

 of venison that has been frozen and stored 

 for a month. 



I reprint here an article published in 

 June, '98, Recreation, and written by Dr. 

 Robert T. Morris, one of the most promi- 



