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Serious Waste in the Handling of the Staff of Life is Pointed Out by a Close Student By IDA M. TARBELL WASHINGTON — Few women have, any idea of the commercial machinery which makes it possible for them in every town of any size to get at any time of the day a loaf of freshly ba ked bread. We so take this conven ience for granted that we do not ex ercise even ordinary forethought about the amount of bread that we order in the morning. We know that if we take two loaves in the morning and find ourselves short toward tea time that an extra fresh loaf is easy to get. It is only when our attention is challenged that common sense tells us that this is no matter of course but the result of large preparation on somebody's part. What the mach inery and efforts are have just been made clear by the Government's Coun cil of National Defense. War Fought on Wheat The fact that this war is to be fought on wheat as much if not more than on guns and men is becoming clear to us all. The government is turning its machinery to study the practical points of saving wheat without too largely disturbing busi ness. The Council of National De fense has a subordinate body called the Commercial Economy Board. It is the business of this board to see where we can make useful economics in the distribution of commodities. One of the first things to which this Commercial Economy Board turned its attention was wheat products, and quite naturally it seems now, the first thing they discovered was the con tinuous supply of fresh bread on the retailer's shelves. They saw that he was carrying every day more than he sold, which meant that the bakers who supplied him were making more than tery cold. Look Into Bread ‘The Commercial Economy board at once undertook an investigation. It is one of the prettiest pieces of work ‘that has recently been turned out In ‘Washington. The board sent its agent to a number of leading bakers and wrote to over 400 others in all parts of the country in order to find out what their practice was. It was discovered that largely for competi tive reasons these bakers kept the shelves of the bread retailer stocked fully with fresh bread. In doing this they did not expect the retailer to sell the bread. Their point was that the retailer should always have enough of their bread on hand so that there would be no complaint on his part that he was not supplied. Any part of the bread that remained unsold, the baker took back when the next day's supply was delivered. The retailer knowing that he would have more bread than he could sell never requir ed his customers to order ahead. His customers were trained, so far as bread was concerned, to toil not neith er to spin, nothing to do but order at any hour of the day. Loaf That Is Sent Back It requires little thinking to Hear that this arrangement must mean waste at some point. As a matter of fact the Commercial Economy board finds that it means a considerable waste, one which at the present time cannot be allowed to continue. As nearly as the board can estimate with the help of the bakers of the country, who have been taking a hear ty interest in the investigation, it should be said to their credit, fully four per cent of the bread delivered to the retailers of this country is return ed to the bakers, the bakers them selves going to the expense to collect . How Stale Stuff Is Used Now what is done with this four per cent of returned loaves? Some of it is sold to the poor who go direct to the bakers for it. It is perfectly clear, however, that if the bakers did not over supply the retailers and were not obliged to bring back the left over loaves, they could afford to sell the bread on the ground at as low a price as they they do now. Of the four per cent returned, probably one and one-half per cent is fed to pigs, chick ens and other animals. Now make a little calculation. Suppose in your town the bakers put out 10,000 loaves a day, a small town requires as many, there was 150 loaves fed to the pigs and chickens. Extend this cal culation. There are bakers in our large cities which turn out over half a million loaves a day. That means 7500 for the pigs. Must Stop the Leak .It needs no argument to those who| el ‘realize what the shortage of wheat means to convince them that this leakage must be stopped. All that thinking people ask is how it can be done. The bakers themselves are be ginning to take steps. Inquiry among the bakers show that probably on an average at least 80 per cent are in favor of stopping bread returns, that is, they are in favor of selling to the retail bread dealer only what he be lieves he can dispose of. This plan has already been put into effect by the bakers of Washington city and they say it is working satisfactorily. How Women Help And here the women come in, They are the bread buyers, and the no-re turn bread plan means that they must make their calculations for the day's supply and do it in such a business llike fashion that they will not be left in the afternoon without a loaf, that if they are so left they will not com plain to their grocer, but that they will accept the fact as a proof of their own lack of business foresight in or dering. . This really important saving can be effected if the women of the country generally back it up. The woman's committee of the Council of National Defense is today asking the chairmen of its state divisions to spread throughout their organizations a re quest, that they will immediately be gin to order bread for 24 hours in stead of for temporary needs; that |' they regulate their purchases from | day to day as much as possible, so|' the retailers may know better how' much to order; that they explain care fully to their neighbors who may not have been reached in any way the reason for all this, that they make everybody feel that it is one of their patriotic duties, no to do. Must Back the Baker Intelligent women must every where back up the bakers and bread dealers in the no-return plan. This is what the woman's committee will insist. If they will do this we can save the one and one-half per cent that now goes to the pigs and chickens. It will be putting this many loaves a day into the hands of hungry wom en and children and fighting soldiers, and will be one element in that great task that we have before us of so handling the wheat crops of the world that every man and woman in all of the allied world will have enough to seat in the long struggle that is before us.
Newspaper Details
The Daily Star Mirror
Moscow, Idaho, US
Mon, Jun 25, 1917
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Julie M.
ID, USA 16 Jun 2026
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The Daily Star Mirror
