Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 263, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 November 1918 — INTERCHANGEABLE FOODS. [ARTICLE]

INTERCHANGEABLE FOODS.

Let Cost Determine What Source of , Starch to Um—Potatoes as a ,z Source of Starch. Rice, wheat, and corn, the common starch foods eaten in the mixed diet usual in most'families, are relied on mainly as sources of energy to the body, and have about the same value, pound for pound. Therefore if rice, wheat flour, cracked wheat, corn meal or hominy cost the same per pound, they are equally cheap fuel foods. -Such foods, therefore, can be freely Interchanged if foods like meat, milk, eggs, qr beans and fruits or vegetables are eaten also. 1 Most wheat breakfast foods and wheat pastes, like macaroni or spaghetti, also have about the same energy value as wheat flour, corn and rice. They differ very much in appearance and also in bulk, according to the method of manufacture, and the cost can not be judged merely by the size of the package to be obtained for 5 or 10 cents. Now that the law requires net weight to be marked on the outside of every packhge, it is easy to reckon how much the food material actually costs a pound. Thus if the net weight of a 10-cent package of breakfast food is 8 ounces, a pound, or 16 ounces, would cost 20 cents.

As a general rule —and very justly —the simpler preparations, which it has taken less time and labor to put up, cost less than the more elaborate ones. Those sold in bulk usually cost less than those sold in cartons. Each housekeeper must decide whether the variety and convenience of the more expensive kinds compensates for the extra cost In any case before she can choose wisely she must have reckoned how much the package goods cost per pound. Leaving aside cost of preparation and comparing rice with ready-made wheat bread, it appears that rice at 7 cents a pound is about as cheap a source of body fuel as bread at 5 cents a pound. If bread costs 8 cents a pound, rice costing up to 10 cents a pound is a cheaper source of energy. Bread costing 9 cents a pound would furnish energy as cheaply as at 12 cents a pound: • Corn bread usually costs much less per pound than wheat bread, and so furnishes energy at a still lower co|t in the . above comparison than wheat bread.

A pound of potatoes yields hardly one-fifth as much body energy as a pound of rice, cornmeal, or wheat. This is partly because they are much more watery and partly because a largo proportion is discarded with the skins. Part of this loss is inevitable because the skin itself is not usually considered good to eat; but the more carelessly potatoes are pared, the more of the valuable edible substance goes with the skin. A bushel of potatoes weighs 60 pounds, a peck 15 pounds. When potatoes are selling at 51.20 a bushel, or 30 cents a peck, they therefore cost 2 cents a pound. If their value is one-fifth that of rice, they furnish fuel at about the same cost as rice at 10 cents a pound and at about twice the cost of‘com meal or hominy at 5 cents a pound. When potatoes cost >2.40 a bushel, or 60 cents a peck, they are about twice' as expensive as sources of fuel as rice at 10 cents, and four times as expensive as com meal or hominy at 5 cents a pound. These comparraons show that, merely for providing fuel, potatoes are often more expensive than rice, and practically always more expensive than com meal or hominy. As was pointed out above potatoes often are relied on not merely as a Source of fuel, but also a's a source of some of the mineral matters needed by the body. They are usually among the most economical of the vegetables which serve this second purpose, because they supply a generous amount of energy as well as the building materials.