Show THS OGDEN (UTAH) 4A SUNDAY MORNING STANDARD-EXAMINE- R JUNE 12 1955 Are Farmers Underpaid and Consumers Overcharged? Middlemen Try to Answer Charges Doubt if Buyers Pay More Than in Olden Days Talcing New Conveniences Into Account (AP) — The ing fingers at the men who buy middlemen in the processing and transport process and distribute movement of agricultural pro- food and manufactured fiber ducts from the farm to the consum- products er complains from time to time Even now congressional agrithat he really Is the "man in the cultural subcommittees are delvmiddle" ing Into the "margins’ in food Especially Is he prone to pro- prices By margins is meant the test when farmer! come at him difference between what the from one aide claiming under- farmer gets for the raw materials payment and consumers press and what the housewife pays for him for the other charging that the processed items his prices are too high Issue SUtements Whenever farm prices get into middlemen trade groflps trouble as they have been for Some to answer what undertaken have more than two years some farm to be unfair claims consider organization leader as well as they One of these the members of Congress point accus against them of AmerManufacturers Grocery ica Inc of New York City has been issuing press statements givFOLDING its side of the picture Aluminum Awnings ingSecretary of Agriculture Benof his aides have some son and Bf Rondsl some had good things to say It's Nw - Modern the mm in between the about Practical Economical and the consumer farmer Yes'll loro It Much is being made by some Call for EREE Estimate farm and consumer groups of the that the farmers share of Venetian Blind Go fact the food dollar has dropped from 53 cents in 1946 to 42 cents at or OCDIN PH present 3645 With Elvd Why is it some housewives ask "Tfcara la N Gooranfoo tike that retail prices stay up while factory Servlte" ed farm prices go down? WASHINGTON r 01 The Service the Denture-WearinPublic Has Long Needed! g LOOSE FALSE TEETH Can be made snug and comfortable in thirty minutes per plate Using the same plastic dentures are made from RE LINZ IS GUARANTEED TO LAST THE LIFE OF DENTAL PLATES dental plates again Dental Come in and enjoy and teeth replaced while you wait plates repaired Open 9 a m Six Days A Week — Evenings by Appointment snug-fittin- g AMERICAN DENTAL REPAIR LAB Room 408 Klesel Bldg Phone Ogden Utah Benson says today’s housewife jit says the processed item costs Is demanding "maid and "cook” 'less It says for example that a service along with her food That Devil’s Food cake made from is she is demanding more and a prepared mix including the more foods that are ready for cost of eggs amounted to 43 serving or nearly so This extra cents while home prepared ingredients for a similar cake cost service he says costs money 54 cents Likewise- it said a "Age of Convenience" pound of frozen peas cost about Delving into the modern food 30 cents while sufficient fresh market in a recent speech Secre- peas to make a pound would cost tary Benson said "this is an age about 70 cents of convenience food” The association says processed "I am informed” he said "that foods are often more economical foods By rehousewives today use 12 times as than much frozen vegetables as they moving waste or unnecessary did a few years ago They use 50 materials such as pods in the case times as much frozen orange con- of peas or water in the case of centrate for making orange juice orange juice the cost of transas they did only eight years ago portation storage and handling The American housewife demands this bulk is eliminated Furtherconvenience not only in the ap- more processed foods are usually pliances and utensils she uses in less perishable than the fresh her kitchen but she demands it product and are less subject to in the food itself She wants extra losses through spoilage This matter of criticizing the service—extra time saving —extra — — was discussed in a in middlemen extra and nutrition quality all things extra convenience” speech recently by Don Paarlberg The Grocery Manufacturers economic aid for Secretary BenAssn agrees with Benson that son the consumer wants extra con- Both Likely to Gain venience but it doubts the buyer "It is only in fairly recent is paying very much more than times” he said "that substantial in the olden days taking all things numbers of people have come to into account understand that both parties are The association says modern likely to gain from an exchange grocery products have reduced and that the tradesman performs the homemaker’s daily meal prep- an indispensable service in bringaration time from Sli to the two together But the enhours — leaving four hours for ing is slow in coming” "other useful activities” In some lightenment said farmers distrust Paarlberg cases the association says it has middlemen because they do not made- - it possible for the house- have a of the understanding good wife to dispense with hired maid distributive trade Knowing little or cook service they suspect much he said Processed Item Cheaper "To them the processes which The association reports that it separate producer from the conhas analyzed the cost to the house- sumer are truly dark mysterious wife of the equivalent food pre- and filled with opportunities for pared in the home w ith purchased exploitation Luckily the expeingredients as compared with riences of farmers with their owr processed foods In several cases marketing cooperatives are slowly 10-In- - home-prepare- d s li ch driving out the ghosts and goblins which inhabit this area” Paarlberg said farmers who inrelatively dividually produce small quantities are "conscious of their weak bargaining power” in buyers dealing with large-scalwho "obviously can in the short run influence the price that is paid’’ Not Greatly Different "One can tell the farmers with substantial truth” he said "that over the long run the prices thus arrived at are not greatly different from the prices that would prevail if bargaining power were more nearly equal” The Benson economist added however that "one must excuse a farmer if he remains uncone vinced” Paarlberg said that consumers like farmers have little understanding of the services performed by the middlemen They too he said are suspicious of the food trade “Nor do farmers and consumers know much about each other” he said ‘‘Increased specialization is driving the producer and More consumer farther apart services are required to span the gap between them” Both the department officials and the trade groups have taken steps to emphasize that the margin in food distribution is not profit Involved are labor machinery building material and other costs The Agriculture Department reported recently that net income in 1954 as a percentage of sales varied from 04 for’ the meat packing industry to 44 per cent for the tobacco products industry Percentage Varied Net income as a percentage of book net assets was said to have varied from 33 per cent for the meat packing group to 121 per cent for the dairy products group The net income of 25 chain retail food store companies in 1954 was said to have represented 12 per cent of their sales and 139 per cent of their net assets Letters received by the Agriculture Department indicate that many farmers resent the “extra frills” supplied consumers by the d food trade in the form of foods because they feel such extras reduce the farm share of the consumer food dollar The department says the extra services often enlarge the market permit farmers to sell more of their products and increase farm returns Concentrated orange juice for example has helped to raise the per capita consumption of citrus products about 60 per r cent since Both the food trade and the department point to rising labor costs as a major factor in the spread between what the farmer gets and the consumer pays The department says labor accounts for about half of the total cost in the processing and marketing of food The agency adds that there is evidence that the efficiency of farm labor has been increasing more rapidly than the efficiency of labor employed in the marketing of food &C y tfh s 4 Ely r A s Hv t A" 'J tT : $ & $ -V vv tg 6 4y ready-prepare- pre-wa- $ v ' y v A 'A lx ft i a 'ks’ifcvA Partners at College It isn’t every hog that helps his master through college but that’'' what "Model Pioneer” did Melvin Blase of St Charles Mo d Duroc herd sire with him when he en brought the roiled in the University of Missouri’s School of Agriculture Raising registered hogs put Blase through college He thanks "Model Pioneer” for his help by showing the hog his sheepskin 800-poun- Plans Two Flights FRANCISCO (UP) — United Air Lines will inaugurate SAN daily mainliner passenger and cargo service in and out of Ely Nev on July 6 one westbound to Reno Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay area and the other eastbound to Salt Lake City and the Middle West and East ilfrCSW I i FOR FATHER'S DAY :HE'S DREAMING OF A GIFT FROM HOGG AN'S i '!sV r r f Or How About a Hoggan Next Sunday June 19 Dads will be Kings of all they survey and preparations are now un-dway to honor the "Rulers of the Roost" at least this one out of the 364 other days of the year— a day when there's opportunity to show our appreciation for what Dads do to keep the family ship sailing on its course of happiness and contentment V a combination weed IMPROVED WEED-B-GOand brush killer not only kills lawn weeds but also controls those two hazards to outdoor living Poison Oak and Poison Ivy Won’t harm hardy grasses when is easy used according to directions WEED-B-GO& to apply with the ORTHO Lawn Garden Sprayer garden hose attachment or conventional sprayer N er Gift Certificate? 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