| Quantity of Food | Cost | Carbon- aceous | Nitro- genous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast—Oatmeal Porridge. | s. d. | oz. | oz. |
| 1¼ lb. Oatmeal | 2½ | 14 | 3 |
| 1½ pint Tinned Milk | 1½ | 2¼ | 1 |
| ½ lb. Treacle | 1½ | 7 | — |
| Dinner—Irish Stew. | |||
| 1¼ lb. Meat | 8 | 3½ | 3½ |
| 4 lb. Potatoes | 2½ | 14 | 2 |
| 1¼ lb. Onions | 1 | 5½ | 1¼ |
| A few Carrots | 1 | ¼ | — |
| ½ lb. Rice | 1 | 7 | ½ |
| 1½ lb. Bread | 2¼ | 13½ | 2¼ |
| Tea—Bread and Coffee. | |||
| 2½ lb. Bread | 3¾ | 22½ | 3¾ |
| 2½ oz. Coffee | 2½ | ¼ | ¼ |
| 1½ pint Tinned Milk | 1½ | 2¼ | 1 |
| Total | 2 5 | 92 | 18½ |
But note that the requisite quantities for the whole family are 92 oz. of carbonaceous and 23 oz. of nitrogenous substances.
Another day we might provide them with cocoa and bread for breakfast; lentil soup and toasted cheese for dinner; and rice pudding and bread for tea; but this fare presupposes a certain knowledge of cooking, which but few of the poor possess, as well as an acquaintance with the dietetic properties of food, which, at present, is far removed from even the most intelligent. This day’s fare compares favourably with yesterday’s meals in the matter of cost, being 2½d. cheaper, but it does not provide enough carbonaceous food, though it does not fall far short of the necessary 23 oz. of nitrogenous substances.
| Quantity of Food | Cost | Carbon- aceous | Nitro- genous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast—Bread and Cocoa. | s. d. | oz. | oz. |
| 2½ lb. Bread | 3¾ | 22½ | 3¾ |
| 1½ oz. Cocoa | 1½ | ¾ | ¼ |
| 1 pint Tinned Milk | 1 | 1¼ | ½ |
| 2 oz. Sugar | ½ | 1½ | — |
| Dinner—Lentil Soup, Toasted Cheese. | |||
| 1½ lb. Lentils | 3 | 15 | 6 |
| 1 lb. Cheese | 8 | 4½ | 5½ |
| 1½ lb. Bread | 2¼ | 13½ | 2¼ |
| Tea—Rice Pudding and Bread. | |||
| ¾ lb. Rice | 1½ | 10½ | ¾ |
| 1½ pint Tinned Milk | 1½ | 2¼ | 1 |
| 2 oz. Sugar | ¼ | 1½ | — |
| 1½ lb. Bread | 2¼ | 13½ | 2¼ |
| Total | 2 1½ | 86½ | 22¼ |
And how drear and uninteresting is this food compared to that on which people of another class normally live! No refreshing cups of afternoon tea; no pleasant fruit to give interest to the meal. Nothing but dull, keep-me-alive sort of food, and not enough of that to fulfil all Nature’s requirements.
But let us take another day’s meals, which can consist of hominy, milk, and sugar for breakfast; potato soup and apple-and-sago pudding for dinner; and fish and bread for tea; when fish is plentiful enough to be obtained at 3d. a pound, and when apples are to be got at 1½d. a pound, which economical housekeepers know is not often the case in London.
| Quantity of Food | Cost | Carbon- aceous | Nitro- genous |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakfast—Hominy, Milk, Sugar. | s. d. | oz. | oz. |
| 1½ lb. Hominy | ¾ | 17¼ | 3¼ |
| 3¼ pints Tinned Milk | 3¼ | 4½ | 2¼ |
| 6 oz. Sugar | 1 | 4¼ | — |
| Dinner—Potato Soup and Apple-and-Sago Pudding. | |||
| 5 lbs. Potatoes | 3½ | 17½ | 2½ |
| 1½ pint Tinned Milk | 1½ | 2¼ | 1 |
| 3 oz. Rice | ¾ | 2¼ | ¼ |
| 3 oz. Dripping | 1½ | — | |
| 2½ lb. Apples | 3¾ | 5 | 1½ |
| 6 oz. Sago | ¾ | 3¼ | ¾ |
| 6 oz. Sugar | 1 | 4 | — |
| Tea—Fish and Bread. | |||
| 2½ lb. Fish | 7½ | 1¼ | 7½ |
| 2 lb. Bread | 3 | 18 | 3 |
| 1½ pint Tinned Milk | 1½ | 2¼ | 1 |
| 3 oz. Sugar | ½ | 2 | — |
| Total | 2 5 | 86 | 23½ |
Again, however, we have spent 2s. 5d. on food, and even now have not got quite sufficient strength-giving or carbonaceous food.
An average of 2s. 4d. spent daily on food makes a total of 16s. 4d. at the week’s end, leaving the labourer earning his 1l. a week 3s. 8d. with which to pay rent (and decent accommodation of two rooms in London cannot be had for less than 5s. 6d. or 6s. a week); to obtain schooling and lighting; to buy coals, clothes, and boots; to bear the expense of breakages and necessary replacements; to subscribe to a club against sickness or death; and to meet the doctor’s bills for the children’s illnesses or the wife’s confinements. How is it possible? Can 3s. 8d. do so much? No, it cannot; and so food is stinted. The children have to put up with less than they need; the mother ‘goes without sooner than let the children suffer,’ and thus the new baby is born weakly and but half-nourished; the children develop greediness in their never-satisfied and but partly fed frames; and the father, too often insufficiently sustained, seeks alcohol, which, anyhow, seems to ‘pick him up and hold him together,’ though his teetotal mates assure him it is only a delusion.