Discuss the topics mentioned in the following statement of "values in buying" (from "Ten Lessons in Thrift"):
Food: nutrition, healthfulness, cleanliness, attractiveness, flavor, quality, price, economy in preparation (of time, strength, fuel, utensils), buying from bulk or in package, buying in quantity or small unit, buying for the day or laying in stores, calculation of portions, calculation of meals, varied diet.
Clothing: design related to material, color, and becomingness; style, durability; adaptability to fine or rough wear, to repair and remaking; suitability to season, health, occupation, comfort; home-made VERSUS ready-made; conditions of manufacture, use of child labor, the sweat shop, the living wage, health.
Make a study at the grocery of the relative prices of articles bought in small and large quantities: for example, laundry soap by the bar, by the quarter's worth, by the box; canned goods by the can, by the dozen, and by the case; flour by the pound, by the 25- pound sack, 50-pound sack, by the barrel; etc.
Make a study of the relative prices of articles in bulk and in package; for example, vinegar by the bottle and by the gallon; bacon in bulk and in jars, etc.
Why may it be economy to buy some food articles in packages rather than in bulk, even at a higher price? Give examples.
Which is likely to be more economical, to buy groceries by telephone or in person? To buy by mail order or at the store in town? Why?
At Christmas time the Park View community center in Washington, D.C., ordered 140 turkeys from a rural neighborhood center in Maryland. The turkeys were brought by the producers to the schoolhouse of the rural neighborhood, taken by a postal service motor-truck to the schoolhouse of the Park View center in Washington, and from there distributed to the 140 families. The city buyers paid an average of 15 cents a pound less than the price prevailing in the Washington markets, and the producers received 6 cents a pound more than the Washington markets were paying.
Why was there a saving to both producer and consumer in the above case? What costs of marketing were cut out or reduced?
What is the "middleman"? Does he perform a real service to the community? Should he be paid for his service? Why? Is it just that the middleman should be "eliminated" by cooperative marketing and buying organizations? Why?