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Food Fun and Facts Food History and Food Lore

Food History and Food Lore

The following was published by the U.S Food Administration during World War 1 for distribution to the general public. I think you will find it fascinating and still useful to an extent!
WIN THE WAR BY GIVING YOUR OWN DAILY SERVICE!

SAVE THE WHEAT:
One whittles meal a day. Use corn, oatmeal, rye or barley bread and non wheat breakfast foods. Order bread 24 hours in advance so your baker will not bake beyond his needs. Cut the loaf on the table and only as required. Use stale bread for cooking, toast, etc. Eat less cake and pastry. Our wheat harvest is far below normal. If each person weekly saves one pound of wheat flour, that means 150,000,000 more bushels of wheat for the allies to mix in their bread. This will help them save democracy.

SAVE THE MEAT:
Beef, mutton, or pork not more than once a day. Use freely vegetables and fish. At the meat meal serve smaller portions, and stews instead of steaks. Make made dishes of all left-overs. Do this and there will be meat enough for everyone at a reasonable cost. We are today killing the dairy cows and female calves as the result of high prices. Therefore, eat less and no young meat. If we save an ounce of meat each day per person, we will have additional supply equal to 2,200, 000 cattle!

SAVE THE MILK:
The children must have milk. Use buttermilk and sour milk for cooking and making cottage cheese. Use less cream.

SAVE THE FATS:
We are the world's greatest fat wasters. Fat is food. Butter is essential for the growth and health of children. Use butter on the table as usual but not in cooking. Other fats are good. Reduce use of fried foods. Soap contains fats. Do not waste it. Make your own washing soap at home out of saved fats. Use 1/3 ounce less per day of animal fat and 375,000 tons will be saved yearly!

SAVE THE SUGAR:
Sugar is scarcer. We have used 3 times as much
a person as our allies. So there may be enough for all at reasonable price; use less candy and sweet drinks. Do not stint sugar in putting up fruits and jams. They will save better. If everyone in American saves one ounce of sugar daily, it means 1,100,000 tons for the year!

SAVE THE FUEL:
Coal comes from a distance and our railways are overburdened hauling war material. Help relieve them by burning fewer fires. Use wood when you can get it.

USE PERISHABLE FOODS:
Fruits and vegetables we have in abundance. As a nation we eat too little green stuffs. Double their use and improve your health. Store potatoes and other roots properly and they will keep. Begin now to can or dry all surplus garden products.

USE LOCAL SUPPLIES:
Patronize your local producer. Distance means money. Buy perishable food from the neighborhood nearest you and thus save.

GENERAL HINTS:
Buy less, serve smaller portions.
Preach the "gospel of the clean plate."
Don't eat a fourth meal. Don't limit the plain food of growing children. Watch out for the wastes in the community. Full garbage pails in America means empty dinner pails elsewhere. The more fortunate of our people will avoid waste and eat no more than they need; the high cost of living problem of the less fortunate will be solved.
The above information comes from a 1918 book,
LIPPENCOTTS'S HOME MANUALS; The Business of the Household by C.W. Taber. Even though this was written nearly 100 years ago, and during World War 1, much of the information is practical, common sense.

Food Timeline

On this day in America

1918 Weekly Food Budget
Weekly Food List

$2.50 FOR GRAIN FOODS
$2.00 FOR MILK
$2.00 FOR MEAT, EGGS AND FISH
2.00 FOR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
$1.50 FOR FATS, SUGAR AND MISCELLANEOUS!
From LIPPENCOTT'S HOME MANUALS
"THE BUSINESS OF THE HOUSEHOLD BY C.W. TABER, PUBLISHED IN 1918

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1971 Weekly Food Budget
In 1970-1971, a family of 4 could eat very well on a grocery budget of about $45-$50 a week! That would include steaks, chops and seafood, too! The average rent or mortgage was $120-$175 a month. The average income was $125-$200 a week.

Quite a difference from the early 1970's to the early 2000's! In 2002/2003, a family of 4 can eat only fairly well on a weekly budget of $150...But only if coupons are used, and items are bought when on sale. Seafood and steaks are now considered luxury items for most low to middle income people. The average rent or mortgage is now $1000 to $1500 a month. The average income is $300 to $475 a week on CapeCod. Seems to me food prices have quadrupled and the mortgage or rents have increased 10 fold..However, looks to me like the wages have only a little more than doubled.
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2009 Weekly Food Budget!
How to buy Food and Eat Healthy in 2009/2010?

Food Budget? What Budget?
There is not much money left for food for folks living on fixed or single incomes. Once the rent, utilities, taxes and insurance are paid there is not much left for groceries.
If your household income is between $200-$350 a week, you are presented with a challenge-How to live on a food budget of $50 a week.

#1... It is not easy and just about impossible,unless you plan your weekly meals in advance. Use what to have and improvise. Bake your own bread. Make your own pizza. You would be surprised to know how easy it is, and tastes way better than the frozen kind. And it costs a whole lot less. Make your own dough..Anyone can..Keep shredded mozzarella on hand, along with grated parmesan cheese. Olive oil is a must in any home. Look for the best prices and only buy Extra Virgin , cold pressed. This does make a difference, it really does..About once a month, grocery stores usually have a good brand marked down quite a bit. I buy a 17 oz bottle and it lasts me a month.
For the sauce, you can use tomato paste and doctor it up. Or you can use barbecue sauce, and spread deli chicken or turkey over it and then the cheese..

Really, Really Good! I make my pizza in a 12 inch Cast Iron Skillet.
If you don't have a pizza stone, this is the only other way to have a good pizza.
So, depending on the toppings you put on it, you can have a wonderful fresh, pizza with no artificial ingredients and it will cost you between $2-$4 (If you make your own dough) The 12" pizza and will feed two hungry people, or three not so hungry folks.
I don't have a recipe, I just use what I have and dont really measure too much for this.

I only use unbleached flour for baking. The quality of flour does make a difference..I love King Arthur, and also there are a few different unbleached flours coming on the shelves..Bobs Red Mill is super, and there are others but I stay away from the name brand flours that are cheap.When you go through all the work and time to make the bread, why use inferior products? Because, using a poor floor does spoil the quality and taste of the bread. It pays to spend the extra $1 on good flour.
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One needs to back to the days of wartime cooking in 1943. If the item is not on sale, don't buy it, no matter what (unless it is a staple, like milk, butter, flour, eggs, etc) If you are careful, you can get some nice meals for the week. Read flyers, and if you see Solid Bumble Bee Tuna for 1.00 a can on sale, by several cans. You may eat tuna sandwiches for a few days, but you can also make stuffed tomatoes, tuna casserole and other tasty items. Grilled Tuna and Swiss Cheese is a tasty treat and healthy.
Every so often, grocery stores will have a sale on eggs...Not too often, but maybe once a month. Get a dozen large eggs for $1..That's a bargain..You can safely buy three to four cartons for the month. I do a lot of baking and use eggs in puddings, and other dishes, so I go through them in a couple of weeks. Just a way to eat better at that price!
You don't need to buy meat that week..
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Go to the Bread Outlet...Almost every large town has one.
We have the Arnold Bakery Outlet. However the prices have
gone up the past few months. There are no more $1 loaves of bread, unless they are about 3 days past the expiration date. Now, the Arnold Breads are $1.75 a loaf, but the grocery stores charge $3.29, so you do save! I take advantage of the grocery stores sales on their store brand breads, usually, $1 a loaf. I buy about 4 loafs, and put in the freezer. I use them when I don't have any healthy bread on hand, and also when I want a fluffer nutter sandwich.. This tastes better on store bought white.
My dogs love butter sandwiches, so I also feed them a butter sandwich as a treat.
They do not like any other kind of bread..Go Figure..
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Forget about buying prepared foods..Look at the ingredients? It is ok to buy canned beans, vegetables, and soup...Just watch the salt content. Leave out Hamburger Helper, and all the other mixes. You can live without them nicely. Buy Fresh Vegetables and Fruits only when on sale. You can buy extra, and freeze what you wont use.

I no longer go food shopping without first preparing menus for the week.
This really helps you with impulse buying.
If you dont need it for your recipe, don't buy it! I never buy meats, unless they are reduced for clearance, or on sale for about 1/2 off.
If not, I do without for a few days. This is where you can really save.
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Beverages-I buy orange juice, and stretch it out with seltzer water.
Buy Ovaltine, and use it in milk and you get a tasty treat that will satisfy you.
Milk is important.. Too many adults think they dont need it, but
they really should not skip milk. Add syrup and Ice Cream, and you have a Frappe that can be your lunch or supper! Then, you would be happy just to have a bowl of steamed broccoli with lemon and butter sauce for a nighttime snack.

I do buy soda, but not too much. I will buy a bottle of coke a week or sometimes a six pack of coke a week if on sale. Everyone needs a treat! I don't drink coffee, but I do drink water..I reuse the plastic soda bottles, and fill with filtered water. Then, I add a few squirts of lemon or lime juice and add a teaspoon of sugar. Makes a refreshing drink that is just about free! And, very limited calories with nothing artificial.

Back to Food Fun

The first bubble gum ever marketed was called "Blibber-Blubber."
Manufactured by the Frank Fleer Corp. 1906, it was never a hit with the public. The bubbles would burst into sticky fragments all over the chewer's face!

Want to learn how to milk a cow?
How to Make Butter? What to do with the milk from the cow you just milked?
Click Here!
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"No where is the stomach of the traveller or visitor put in such constant peril as among the cake inventive housewives and daughters of New England. Such is the universal attention paid to this particular branch of epicurism in these states, that I greatly suspect that some of the Pilgrim Fathers must have come over to the country with the Cookery book under one arm and the Bible under the other."
Said Charles Joseph Latrobe 1836, taken from The Yankee Kitchen Cookbook 1969

The Meaning of Anadama Bread and Recipe

"The Cooks Oracle 1821"
"Remember to excite the good opinion of the eye
is the first step towards awakening the appetite."

More tips on saving money on food coming soon.
I will try to help you to learn how to spend $50 a week on groceries and eat healthy.