Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 77.djvu/597

Rh, and the manufacturer is entitled to a fair profit. That profit can be saved by the consumer if he does his own manufacturing and makes his bread at home, but that means an expenditure of labor and fuel.

There are many vegetables and fruits which, on account of containing from 30 to 90 per cent, of water, have a comparatively low food value, and seem to be expensive foods. Some of them are, but on account of the vegetable acids present, or because they dilute the more concentrated foods, or are stimulating to the appetite from their variety and agreeable taste, it is everywhere conceded that they are valuable additions to the diet. If fruits are out of season and consequently expensive, the ordinary purchaser is content to wait until they are abundant and cheap. If he pays a high price for the fruits, he immediately recognizes that they are to be classed as luxuries.

Although it may with reason be said that the cold-storage industry has afforded an opportunity to hold back from market certain perishable food products, and thus keep the price up to a figure which will insure a handsome profit, this practise has extended very greatly the season in which fruits and similar products may be offered for general consumption, and in many cases it has withdrawn them from the class of luxuries.

Game and expensive fish the ordinary consumer is not tempted to buy, but when it is a question of the "cut" of beef or mutton, he sometimes says, "the best is none too good for my family," and so buys the choicest cuts, not recognizing that others of less delicate flavor would afford the same nourishment per pound, and would if properly cooked and served be appetizing and in every way satisfactory. The sirloin may be a luxury, but the consumer does not recognize it as such and consequently spends more of his wages than he can afford upon this form of nitrogenous food.

The rapid change that is taking place in the dietary of the American people, and the necessity for doing without servants, because efficient help can not be obtained, has but confirmed the tendency in every household to allow the food manufacturer to prepare the food, and thus diminish as much as possible the labor of the household. This movement applies to all articles of household use, so that all possible labor is now done outside the home. It would be useless to attempt to stem this tide, but something may be done to direct it so that it will not entirely exhaust the family resources.

The manufacturer prepares the food from more or less satisfactory "stock," and within recent years, with fair attention to the sanitary condition of the factory. It may be packed in cans or packages or boxes or cartons, and if the package is tastily put up, and the contents have an agreeable taste, the consumer does not stop to inquire whether