Nutrition and Food Supplies
1936-09 1936 1930s 33 pages : illustration of utensils. The point is frequently made that to buy in small quantities is always more costly, and that cheaper qualities involve more waste and need more time for preparation — so that poverty inevitably means more wasteful buying. But those...
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| Institution: | MCR - The Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick |
| Language: | English English |
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London : The Labour Party
September 1936
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/5AB552E6-3F7F-40FA-AD81-45C21846FF0C http://hdl.handle.net/10796/C22CEE4C-6AA0-4C85-A587-8BA9C71824DD |
| Summary: | 1936-09
1936
1930s
33 pages : illustration
of utensils. The point is frequently made that to buy in small quantities is always more costly, and that cheaper qualities involve more waste and need more time for preparation — so that poverty inevitably means more wasteful buying. But those who maintain that poor mothers buy unwisely must be reminded that from the point of view of good health there is no wise way of spending 10/- or 12/- on food if that sum has to provide for five people for a week. The mother who is compelled to think of how to fill her children’s stomachs and appease their hunger, instead of how to build healthy, well-knit bodies, cannot afford to follow the rules of sound nutrition. This is a privilege reserved for those who are more comfortably off. Rent and other Necessary Expenditure In any consideration of Food and Income, it is essential to remember the other claims on Income and their relation to the amounts that can be spent on food. Expenditure on food is largely determined by the amount paid in rent, which generally represents a big slice of the income, and is always a first charge on it. (Investigations in Newcastle and Stockton-on-Tees have shown that unemployed families in old slum houses were better fed than similar families in new houses, because food had to be cut down to pay the rent of the new — and healthier — houses). However far income is cut, something must be allowed for fuel and light, and most mothers try to maintain insurance payments. But other necessaries are severely cut. In many cases nothing is spent on clothes. Some mothers have said that they depend entirely on the help of friends and odd jumble sales for clothes, others that they have had to resort to the “clothing club” system though they know that this means shocking exploitation. The money set aside for childrens’ footwear cannot really be well-spent because it is never possible to buy any but inferior shoes. Household replacements as a rule are impossible. 15
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| Physical Description: | TEXT |