FEEDING A FAMILY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 37, 14 February 1939, Page 2

FEEDING A FAMILY

WEEKLY COST OF 33/TEST MADE IN DUNEDIN ! The results of a scries ol experiments on low-cost family dietaries conducted by the Otago University Under the auspices of tne New Zealand Social Research Bureau are given by a member of the university faculty in an article in the Journal of Science and Technology,” reports the Dunedin Evening Star. * Low-cost dietaries were prepared, and actually adopted, for a number of Dunedin families. All provided the nutrition required by a family of two adults and three children, and variations were made between summer and winter, and also for the contingency of father and children taking lunch away from hetne, and of using beef as an alternative to mutton. The highest weekly cost is shown I as 33s 4ict where the diet had to pro- I vide for older children, and included i 121 b of mutton, an unusually large • allowance compared with most of. I the other lists. The family tests weiu i made for periods of a week, and the conclusion of the investigators is that ' in many cases they found that there was too much food, but in no case a shortage. “No sweets and few cakes were allowed,” states the report, “while lne amounts of meat and butter arc below the average New Zealand consumption, and therefore the application of these dietaries would represent a change in food habits. It would, however, be a desirable change, as it is associated witn a corresponding increase in the consu®tion of milk.” It was assumed in the experiment j that all jams were home-made, ana ■ that families living on the lower incomes would preserve eggs and bottle tomatoes to use when prices weru higher. Tomatoes have such a high vitamin content that certain bottling and cooking processes still leave then, a valuable source of vitamin.