Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 148, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1918 — Demonstrators Teach Value of Potatoes [ARTICLE]

Demonstrators Teach Value of Potatoes

By the U. S. Department of Agriculture

Thirty million bushels of potatoes, the estimated surplus of last fear’s crop, must be eaten before July lor they will rot. Potatoes are a food now in most places. At two cents a pound they are equal in food value to bread at eight cents a loaf. Every potato eaten saves wheat. Fifteen hundred home-demonstration agents of the United States department of agriculture and the state agricultural colleges are ready # to push the potato along a well-paved way. They are teaching how to » use mashed potatoes as a substitute for wheat flour in breads and pies and cakes; they are giving instructions in the making of potato loaf and . scalloped and baked dishes. They are showing women how they can train their families to ea±'potatoes cheerfully three times a day. In the cities the gospel of potatoes for patriotism is spread through the war kitchen. the neighborhood centers, the clubs, the churches, demonstrations in settlement houses, talks before Red Cross auxiliaries, etc. Potato booths are being arranged in the local food shows and in the retail stores and the schools and clubs are being enlisted in the big drive. , 3 Ju the country the work is not so spectacular but just as telling, for through the county organizations and the home-demonstration agents voluntary workers the potato idea is carried directly to thousands of women i/i their own homes. These home-demonstration workers are dedicating their time and energy to the work of aiding the women of the country in their war-con- < serration problems and are proving more and more every day that this is the most direct and practical route for carrying an idea into the hearts * and homes of American women.