CONSUMER PREFERENCES IN PURCHASE OF MEAT 15 
middle class, 1.9 times; the well-to-do class, 2.1 times, and the 
wealthy class, 2.6 times. 
A situation almost the reverse of this was found to exist with rela- 
tion to the serving of meat at lunch or supper. The poor class aver- 
aged 2.1 times per week; the middle class, 2.5 times; while the well- 
to-do and wealthy classes' averages were 1.8 times. 
The use of meat at dinner was greatest in well-to-do and wealthy 
households where it was served an average of 5.8 times per week, al- 
though the middle class average was approximately the same. 
In the colored group the important variations from the averages in 
the poor and middle classes of the American white group were found 
in the use of meat for breakfast. In the foreign group use of meat 
at breakfast varied widely. The Jewish group averaged 0.1 time per 
week; Finnish and Scandinavian groups, 0.5 time; Italian, 0.6 time; 
German, 0.7 time; Russian, 0.8 time; Polish, 1.0; French, 1.1, and the 
English, 1.7 times. 
At lunch the Jewish average per week was lowest, 0.6 time, and 
the Russian group was highest with an average of 3.2 times per week. 
At dinner, the English average for serving meat, 6.4 times per 
week per household, was the highest and the Italian average of 4.2 
and the Jewish average of 4.3 were the lowest. In addition to the 
English group, the French, German, Russian, and Scandinavian 
groups were all above the average of 5.6 times noted for the Ameri- 
can white group. 
Considerable variation was found in the number of times meat 
was served in the households of the middle and well-to-do classes of 
the American white group when the replies were arranged b} 7 cities. 
The replies from housewives in 16 cities are presented in Table 13. 
The replies seemed to indicate a tendency on the part of cities in the 
southeastern section of the country to serve meat more frequently 
for breakfast. The average for all cities was twice a week. In 
Baltimore the average was 3.4 times; in Birmingham, 4.6; Jackson- 
ville, 3.6 times; Oklahoma City, 3.3 times and in Washington, 3.5 
times. 
Question 9. — Why do you serve meat in preference to other foods? (Table 14.) 
This question was directed toward the determination of the reasons 
prompting the use of meat. The principal reason stated by the 
2,183 housewives of the American white group who answered this 
question was related to the palatability, 51.1 per cent of the total 
number of housewives stating that they served it because they liked 
it in preference to other foods. In this same group of housewives, 
29.5 per cent said that they served meat because of its food value. 
These two reasons included over 80 per cent of the replies. The re- 
maining replies were distributed in order among the following reasons: 
Habit or custom, main dish of the meal, balanced meal, ease of prep- 
aration, variety, and protein content. It was recognized that the 
replies relative to the main dish of the meal, balanced meal, and pro- 
tein content were closely related to the more general expression, 
"Food value." 
No marked variation was found between the different classes within 
the American white group, as the distribution of replies was similar 
for the four classes. 
