FOOD BUDGETS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 391, 24 March 1937, Page 2

FOOD BUDGETS

MAKING ENDS MEET Census of 20,000 Homes. Twenty thousand ’house'wives throughout Great Britain are to be asked to reveal to the Government the secret of how they make “ends, meet.”

They v’ill be ask?d: How much they spend on housekeeping, how much on food alone, what foodstuffs they buy, and how much food they waste.

This will be the third Government inquiry this century designed to find out how people live and what are the minimum food costs, to keep a person in h ialth. The previous inquiries v.'ere made in 1904 and 1918. On these the official “Cost of Living” of Britain index figures have been based. Domestic scales and standard watte bins will be provided for a selected percentage of the 20,000. The housewives chosen for this more detailed investigation will be asked to weigh their food carefully land 1 to keep the waste and weigh it, so t&at exact calculations can be made of average food eaten in families of different v.*a.ge levels. There will be no compulsion on anyone to give the required information, which will be treated confidentially. The collection of the details will be carried out. by local authorities and the cont defrayed by the Treasury. The result of the survey will be ■studied by the Advisory Committee on Nutrition, of which Lord Luke is chairman, and Sir F. G owl and Hopkins, Professor E.- Mellanby and Sir John Orr are members.