what solution of the problem can you offer? One cannot use force; the house-mother of today cannot go around with a bean pot in one hand and a club in the other.

Then in addition to that is the effect of food on the individual, which is something that must be considered as well as the taste. For instance, there are food idiosyncrasies, and these are more common than one would suppose. There are a number of individuals who cannot eat eggs without becoming bilious. Those who have rheumatic tendencies cannot eat tomatoes, grape fruit, lemons, strawberries and rhubarb. Milk does not agree with some individuals. Others are poisoned by fish.

The consumer also must have the coöperation of the family. Even where members of the family are able to eat everything, unless the family will eat everything, the consumer is much hampered in providing a well-balanced ration for her family at a reasonable cost. The head of the family himself often is the stumbling block. A man who earns three or four dollars a day at hard work naturally demands that his wife give him what he calls "good meals." Having earned his bread by the sweat of his brow he thinks he has a right to choose the kind of bread he wants to eat, and having the balance of power, the pocketbook, he makes his wishes rule the house. The professional and business man very often follows the same habit and demands that certain kinds of food be served, and so the housewife has to buy that which is demanded, and by thus buying, is not a free agent in selecting foods. She is obliged often to buy food at what she considers an exhorbitant price which she would not touch if she were at liberty to do as she pleased. Very often men who complain of household bills will not agree to do without the things that make those prices exorbitant.

As a result, few women have had the vital interest in the food problem that they should have until the present situation in regard to food conservation has arisen. One of the blessings that may come from this great war evil is that a widespread interest in foods has been aroused. Up to this time few club women have been enthusiastic in regard to the subject. Those who have worked along these lines foreseeing the vision of the present situation, felt discouraged many times owing to the lack of interest among their sisters. Most clubs have had some program in regard to foods and home economics, as I have said, but very few clubs have taken up

the matter with the same enthusiasm as they have had in getting playgrounds, recreation centers, proper legislation, public health and sanitation, political equality and civic improvements. Music, literature and art have all taken precedence of this vital topic. A musicale, an art exhibition, or a social tea would draw crowds when a food demonstration would call out handfuls. Even at the outbreak of the war, the Red Cross, the Emergency Aid and the Army and Navy League were organized and doing effective work before the food problem had been touched. It is only with the entrance of the government into food conservation and the appeal to the women of America to do their patriotic duty that the foods have received anything near their proper attention from the majority of women.

A great deal needs to be done for the housewife if she is to fulfill her duty. It is time to see that she has the right kind of markets. She also should have full opportunity for practical instruction in home economics. I do not forget the work that is being done along that line by the Department of Agriculture at Washington, as well as by the extension work in our state colleges. Through these agencies valuable literature has been sent out and useful cooking and canning demonstrations have been held. But they have been of more value in the country districts than in our great cities because they have not been developed along lines that will reach the women of the city. A definite and concerted action should be taken at once to get proper instruction which will make it possible for women everywhere to have the necessary information. This is most important because just now there is great danger that the American woman in her endeavor to save food for patriotic reasons will become hysterical in her efforts. Unless she knows which foods are growth promoting and energy giving, she will make food selections that will injure the health of her family. Clubs and associations of all kinds should take up a definite program for giving housewives an opportunity to know these things and their relation to the welfare of the family.

A simple practical course in homemaking should be taught in the grades of our public schools. Food values and food groupings should be concretely illustrated by having models of meals that embody them. Artificial groups of foods might be a part of the equipment of schools just as much as blackboards are. Practical

instruction in food selection and preparation ought to be carried through the grades so that by the time the girls finish the eighth grade they will know how to buy the right kind of food at the best possible price. They also will know how to cook the food and serve it appetizingly. They will be able to select foods on a calorie basis and be as familiar with proteins, carbohydrates and vitamines, as the housewife of today is with soda and baking powder.

The crux of the situation in regard to the cost of foods rests upon abundant production, proper transportation and efficient distribution. This year has proven what can be done in the way of increasing production, but so far the consumer has not reaped the full advantage of the abundant crops because the transportation and distribution of foods are still in an antiquated form. The consumer should be directly interested in improving these conditions because the prices of foods in the future will depend largely upon their proper distribution now. The producer must get a fair return for his labor and investment. The consumer should get food at reasonable prices without paying toll to five or six middlemen. Right here is the need for economic study of foods. It is the duty of each city and state to stop dilly-dallying and do something. Terminal markets should be established in connection with regional markets that food may be distributed quickly and effectively to every part of the city, eliminating the present glut at one part and scarcity at the other.

A word about curb markets. There is much talk of curb markets as a solution. The time has gone by when we can expect or demand the producer to be distributor and retailer on the street. The nearby truck farmer may find it profitable to come into the city and sell his produce on its streets, but the student of economic principles questions whether it would not be better for the farmer to spécialize in farming and leave the retailing and distributing in other hands. Cooperative societies are already being formed among the farmers which promise success. The next logical step would be to organize coöperative societies in the city which would be distributing agencies for the coöperative societies in the country. There would be a reciprocal relation which would be highly advantageous to both.

The problem of getting enough food to feed the family is most serious in the eyes of housewives all over the United States. There

is consternation in the minds of housewives as they look forward to the winter months. Women have responded nobly to the call to help produce and conserve food. Our abundant harvests and stores of canned and dried foods prove that. Women are doing their part in food economy so that there may be no waste in garbage pails. But that has had no appreciable effect in lowering prices except for a few vegetables. The one thing that prevents utter discouragement is that the President of the United States has been enabled to appoint a food administrator with full power. It is to Mr. Hoover, as representative of the federal government, that the housewives are looking for relief. They turn to him for protection against food speculators by making it a crime that ranks with treason for any individual or corporation to hoard or manipulate foods so that they are sold at exorbitant prices. They look to Mr. Hoover to see that food prices are based upon actual cost of production and distribution, including all return to labor and capital, but with no excess wartime profit. They look to Mr. Hoover to make an example of such men as those who have dumped loaves of bread upon vacant lots and have set fire to the bread-bread which thousands of women are doing their best to save. The consumer also looks to each state and city to do its part in helping to solve the food problem.

The development of the United States Bureau of Markets is proving of great value from an educational and publicity viewpoint. Some states have also formed market bureaus which have given an opportunity to do good work. The trouble is that in too many cases these bureaus have no "teeth" to make their influence felt. The consumer needs a bureau of foods and markets with power in each city to which she can appeal. This bureau should be placed on the same footing as the bureau of public health, public safety and public utilities. There should be some local court of appeal to which the consumer can address his complaints when situations, like the one existing at present, arise. For instance women are clamoring to know why they have to pay 20 cents a quarter peck in West Philadelphia, or at the rate of $3.20 a bushel, for tomatoes when the crop is so abundant that the government is calling upon women to volunteer for work in canning factories to save it.

As a consumer, and representing other women interested in the food problem, I am most earnestly asking for the assistance of all in heeding the appeal and standing with the housewife; in urging

upon cities the immediate need of establishing terminal markets connected with regional markets; in developing trolley freight, motor truck and parcel post deliveries so that nearby products may be brought in cheaply; in forming coöperative associations; in urging educational development in practical home economics in the grades of our public schools; in demanding that all city nurses and social workers be required to have training in home economics before they are ready to go to work, and in this way may help to eliminate some racial prejudices through health centers and social centers.

The food problem has become not only the problem of the consumer represented by the housewife but is the problem of men and women in all walks of life. Only by their coöperation can there be any stable solution.

FOOD CONSERVATION IN NEW YORK CITY

BY LUCIUS P. BROWN,

Director, Bureau of Food and Drugs, Department of Health, New York City.

In telling what has been done in the city of New York for conservation, it is necessary to tell you that the Food and Drugs Bureau of the Department of Health has a force of some ninety inspectors within the city. This force is divided into two broad divisions as far as the work is concerned. One of these divisions works with the retailer in maintaining a sanitary condition of the stores and the quality of the food sold by the grocer, restaurant people and delicatessen man and allied callings. The other division of the force looks after the food in a wholesale way and for this purpose is divided not along geographic but along functional lines.

One squad from the latter force meets the city's food as it enters the city and halts there all unsound material, forcing, when any consignment of food is found to contain both sound and unsound material, the separation of the sound from the unsound portions. It has been found by experience that one of the most effective ways of using food materials which are in part unsound or in which the unsoundness has not proceeded to its ultimate term of decay is to subject it to that form of camouflage which is so readily offered by