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Show WOMEN WHO WANT TO KNOW fjreajOW the Woman-Who-Wantcd-to-u Know visited the food admin-Itjiaai admin-Itjiaai istration in Washington the other oth-er day. "I realize the great necessity of saving sav-ing .food for the allies," she said, "and I want to do my part But one tiling perplexes me." She smiled slightly. "Tell me," she said, "after the food once gets into the retail stores, what difference does it make whether I buy it or not? In either case the allies will not get it. My grocery store, for instance, in-stance, always seems ,to have plenty of wheat flour on hand. If I or someone else docs not buy that flour it will only be left on the storekeeper's Iiands. "It is the same with meat," she went on. "The food administration tells us to save meat for the allies by buying less of it and eating more eggs, poultry, fish cheese, etc., instead. But my meat market is always full of meat of all lands. If I and other women don t buy it it will only be left to spoil on the hands of the meat man and be wasted. Please explain to me how our not buying buy-ing what is in the retail stores in any way insures the food for the allies. Is there some arrangement whereby the retailers re-tailers can turn over to the government from time to time their surplus stock to be sent to the allies?" . No there is no such arrangement between be-tween the government and retail stores, Kch a system of. collecting ood for the allies would be impracticable. Ihe surplus stock of the retailers would vary Z from time to time that the govern- ment would never know ahead how much food could be spared for Europe. It is safe to say, then, that after the food once gets into the retail store it will never go to help feed the allies. . Why, then, docs the food administration administra-tion urge us to buy less wheat, meat, sugar and dairy products, even when we see all these foods in abundance in the stores, and when as the Woman-Who-Wanted-to-Know points out, if these foods arc not sold, they will only spoil on the hands of the dealer and be wasted? wast-ed? The answer is this: The demand always al-ways creates the supply. In other words store dealers do not waste money in laying lay-ing in a stock of goods that people will not buy. For this reason they do not stock up very far ahead, but they aim .always to keep just abreast of the demand, de-mand, neither ahead nor behind it ' . Thus the key to the supply is always m the hands of the buyer. If housekeepers housekeep-ers buy a less amount of wheat, meat, sugar, and dairy products than in former form-er times, the retailers arc going to buy smaller amourfts of these foods from the wholesale dealers. Hence, a national surplus is created which can be spared to feed the allies. It is important to remember, however, how-ever, that in order that this simple method of saving food for the allies should succeed, every housekeeper must keep a steadily lowered demand for those commodities that arc wanted for Europe. Eu-rope. For instance, if one week you and your neighbor stop buying meat and butter but-ter altogether and then the next week buy extravagantly of these foods you will be responsible for a great deal of waste. The dealer will be at a loss to know, how to gauge the demand made on him, and the surplus meat and butter but-ter he has left on his hands the week you were not buying any, may be wasted. wast-ed. Such loss can be avoided, if you will buy evenly instead of spasmodically. Dont. follow the program of the food administration one day and be indifferent indiffer-ent to .it the next Establish the habit of buying lesser amounts than formerly of wheat, meat, sugar and dairy products prod-ucts so that your dealer will know in general what the demand for these goods will be and not overstock with them. Especially is this important if you buy bread from the bakery. Let your baker know your order 24 hours in advance so ha can lay in a supply that will just coyer the demand and no unsold loaves will be wasted. |
