Non-perishable.—Flour, meals and cereals, sugar, salt, and other condiments and flavorings, jellies, preserves and canned goods, coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate.
Suggestions for buying.—Milk and cream must be delivered daily. The average amount used by the family is the regular order. Fresh meat should be delivered on the day wanted unless the refrigerator is large with a space for hanging meat. Even then, it should not be kept more than twenty-four hours. Meat should not be placed directly on the ice. Fresh berries and delicate vegetables should be delivered on the day wanted. Butter and eggs may be purchased once a week; other semi-perishables in quantities depending on storage space. It is economical to buy a box of lemons, and the root vegetables in large quantities. Flour and sugar are purchased by the bag or barrel; lump sugar, in boxes. Breakfast cereals are best bought in packages, and it is wise not to buy a large number at one time. It is better to purchase oftener and have fresher material. Coffee may be bought in pound cans, but it is economy to purchase it in five or ten pound quantities, unground. Tea comes in closely sealed packages, in 1⁄4, 1⁄2, and 1 lb. and larger. Cocoa is bought in 1⁄2 lb. cans, but it is economy to buy in large cans if it is frequently used. Macaroni is bought by the package, and the number at one time must
depend on how much it is used in the menu. Rice, tapioca, and sago may be bought in bulk and kept in tin or glass jars. Salt by the bag or box. Spices, ground, in tight boxes; whole in bulk, to be kept in tightly closed cans. Molasses comes by the gallon or in cans. If in bulk, it is usually acid; in the can it is not. Vinegar comes by the gallon, or in bottles. Canned and preserved goods, singly, by the dozen, or case. Bakery products, when bought at all, should be purchased daily, or every other day. Do not buy so much that stale bread accumulates.
Weights, measures, and packages.—The buyer is at a disadvantage here in regard to quantities, for the baskets in which fruits and vegetables are sold do not always conform to the standard dry measures, and dishonest dealers evade the law in regard to the use of standard scales. Even if they have the standard, they resort to tricks that give the customer short weights. Here the Bureau of Weights and Measures, with its Commissioner and corps of inspectors, comes to the aid of the purchaser. Effective work has been done in our cities in enforcing the laws, and this work continues.
Selling fruit, vegetables, and even eggs by weight would simplify matters in many ways, and this is the custom in some parts of the United States with vegetables and fruit, although it is not yet a common practice; with eggs it seems more convenient to sell by the dozen, but grading according to size is a step toward standardization.
The alluring packages in which so many articles are offered are quite uneven as to the quantities they contain. They certainly do away with some handling of food, and they keep out dust. Unfortunately, an attractive package does not guarantee a clean factory or clean handling in the packing. Dried figs, for example, in pretty baskets are sometimes
packed in uncleanly places. Moreover, small packages are poor economy, since the box adds to the cost of the food material, and sometimes there seems even more package than food. If the family consumes many biscuits or “crackers,” it costs considerably more to buy them in packages. Yet, these are convenient, and should be cleanly, and are justified for these reasons, provided the housekeeper does not buy many small packages.
The quantities in canned goods are variable and sometimes below measure when purchased from a second-rate dealer. In September, 1914, the net weight amendment to the National Food Law will go into effect, after which, in general, foods sold in packages must be labeled to show net weight or measure or numerical count.
As already suggested, you should own standard scales for testing the purchases made by weight, even baker’s bread. Buy fruit and vegetables by the quart, peck, and bushel, rather than by the basket of uncertain measure. Examine baskets containing small fruits to see if they have false bottoms. If you discover small measure, report at once to the dealer, and to whatever authority has charge of such matters in your town.
Quality.—Modern methods of manufacture, transportation, and storage make it difficult to determine the history and quality of food we purchase in the markets. Yet the consumer has a natural right to know if the food offered for sale is the best of its kind; fresh eggs, clean milk, meat from healthy animals, untainted and free from harmful preservatives, sound vegetables and fruit, manufactured and preserved foodstuffs unspoiled by the manufacturing processes, free from harmful preservatives, and of good flavor. Many people must be in danger of forgetting the flavor of a fresh-laid egg. The familiar signs in many small shops, “Fresh