n cents
apiece in winter do not supply sufficient nutriment to warrant their
cost, nor does capon at forty-five cents a pound nourish the body
any better than the fricassee fowl at twenty-eight cents. In order
to prevent such costly purchasing, a knowledge of food values is
necessary. The simplest and easiest way to plan food values is to
divide the common food materials into five main groups and see that
each of these groups appear in each day's menu.

GROUP 1.--FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR MINERAL MATTERS, VEGETABLE ACIDS, AND
BODY-REGULATING SUBSTANCES.

FRUITS

Apples, pears, etc.,
Berries,
Melons,
Oranges, lemons, all citrus fruits.

VEGETABLES

Salads, lettuce, celery,
Potherbs or "greens"
Tomatoes, squash,
Green peas, green beans,
Potatoes and root vegetables.

GROUP 2.--FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR PROTEIN.

Milk, skim milk, cheese,
Eggs,
Meat,
Poultry,
Fish,
Dried peas, beans, cow-peas,
Nuts.

GROUP 3.--FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR STARCH.

Cereals, grains, meals, flour,
Cereal breakfast foods,
Bread,
Crackers,
Macaroni and other pastes,
Cakes, cookies, starchy puddings,
Potatoes, other starchy vegetables,
Bananas.

GROUP 4.--FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR SUGAR.

Sugar,
Molasses,
Syrups,
Dates,
Raisins,
Figs.

GROUP 5.--FOODS DEPENDED ON FOR FAT.

Butter and cream,
Lard, suet,
Salt pork and bacon,
Table and salad oils,
Vegetable, nut, and commercial cooking fats and oils.

If from each of these groups the housekeeper, when buying, chooses
the lowest-cost food, she will provide the necessary nutriment for the
least expenditure of money. In war time such marketing is essential.

Other causes of waste in food purchasing may be enumerated as follows:
Ordering by telephone. This permits the butcher or grocer, who has
no time to make selection of foods, to send what comes ready to hand;
whereas if the housekeeper did her own selecting, she could take
advantage of special prices or "leaders"--food sold at cost or nearly
cost to attract patronage.

Buying out-of-season foods also makes marketing costly. Through
lack of knowledge concerning the periods at which certain fruits and
vegetables are seasonable, and therefore cheaper and in best flavor,
housekeepers frequently pay exorbitant prices for poor flavored,
inferior products.

Buying in localities where high rental and neighborhood standards
compel the shopkeeper to charge high pr