SHODDY MILK

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2375, 3 February 1915, Page 8

SHODDY MILK

.THE CONTROL OF THE CONSUMER. What 'causes poor, shoddy cloth to be sold in the market What causes so much' poor, dirty milk, in itself a thousand times more dangerous to human health than the shoddy clothing? What makes sale for this poor milk? Partially because of the ignorance and cupidity of the producer, but in the main because the consumer is unwilling to pay what, the good cloth and the good milk is really worth, and is willing to pay more than the poor stuff ; is,, worth." It may take, a good deal of education to teach the farmer how to produce good, clean milk, but it takes -a gcod deal more education to teach the average consumer to value rightly good milk. Cupidity, the desire to get something for nothing, is stronger in the consumer than is the. desire to sell nothing for something in the fanner. Give the farmer an adequate price to Eay.- for the cost of producing clean, ealthy milk or food of any description and you will find him ooming up to the demand very quickly. He has a pride- in production that the buyer does not have in consumption. And so we say that the Bolution of the question of good, pure food lies mainly in the hands of the consumer. What he wants he ■will get from the'farmer when he's willing to pay what it is worth to him. The farmer must have a certain profit in production in order to live. - But the consumer does not buy-for the sake, of profit, but rather for the sake of use. - .Turn the light of education on the consumer if you want to bring about . the . millenium of good, pure food. He holds the key to the whole proposition. In this we 'are not saying that the fanner should be; allowed to sell bad milk, milk unfit for human food. Society must protect itself against his dishonesty or disregard as well • as against such dishonesty in other vendors of food. But we are saying that he ought to be allowed to sell milk low in butter-fat down even to skimmilk, if it is clean, for what it is worth to the consumer. Shoddy milk ought to have a-s fair a chance in the market as shoddy cloth. No one pretends, that shoddy cloth is inimical to the public health; neither is pure skim-milk • or' milk containing only one to three per cent, butter-fat. It costs the farmer more to make five per cent, milk it does two or three per cent. milk. The cows that yield milk low in the per cent, of fat give more quarts per day, as a rule, than do the cows that yield rich milk. But skim-milk and milk low in butter-fat are healthful food. The only thing the city authorities should do is to see to the cleanliness of the milk and provide means so that the consumer may know its composition. That is important. All else may be left to the will of the consumer. -—"Hoard's Dairyman."