•i -Lancaster Farming. Saturday. August 29.1970
Poor Diets - Farm Opportunity
A national survey by the USDA indi
cates thal onlv half ol t he 15,000 families
'lndies had diets rated “good."
About one m fi\e lanulies. a very large
‘.I per cent, had diets rated "poor."
Diets rilled "good" had mitnents meet
hi*' tullv, or exceeding, recommended
dietarv allowances set In the Food and
Nutrition Hoaid of the National Research
Council
Diels rated “poor" provided less than
two-thuds ot the recommended diotaiv al
lowance foi one or more of sc\en nutrients
studied
What docs this mean for the fanner
and the large agn business complex winch
senes him?
It certainly should mean OPPORTUNI
TY.
Only half of the people in the most
prosperous country m the world ha\e good
diets.*
It’s a challenge and an opportunity to
impnne the eating standards ol the other
half.
Learn the Diet Issue
Every farmer, e\ery farm business
man, e\ery farm organization should be
come thoroughly familiar with this situation
and do some serious thinking about how he
or his organization can profit by filling a
very real need, the .need to improve the
•diet of the other half.
Before the farmer can profit fully from
this situation, he must understand it.
For instance, the study shows that
adequate income alone does not guarantee
good diets. Among households with incomes
of $lO,OOO a year or over, nine per cent had
poor diets.
This means that opportunity does not
lie just with the poor and disadvantaged.
It exists at all levels of society.
Some more specific findings of the
study revealed that as a rule the diets of
females were not as good as those of males.
Adolescent gnls and women, from ages 9
through 54, averaged below the recommend
ed allowances for calcium, iron and thia
mine.
Older men and women, especially those
aged 75 and above, were low in calcium,
riboflavin and vitamin A.
Infants and children under the age of
On Cutting Out the Middle
Harold E, Neigh. Penn State extension
consumer economics specialist, says that
marketing costs in 1969 accounted tor 59
cents of the consumer food dollar, while the
producer got 41 cents.
He continues, “Labor is the biggest part
of marketing costs. Earnings and fringe
benefits of food marketing employes are
expected to continue rising during 1970
“Prices of most inputs, such as materi
als, equipment, rent, and taxes, that mar
keting firms will pay are expected to be
higher this year than m 1969. Marketing’s
share of the consumer food dollar probably
will average 60 cents.” Neigh projects.
What does this mean to the farmer?
For one thing, it means food costs for
the consumer will almost certainly continue
to rise, whether or not the farmer gets any
more income.
Some three-fifths of the average totai
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancastei County’s Own Farm Weekly
P 0 266 - Lititz, Pa 17543
Office 22 E Mam St, Lititz. Pa 17543
Phone Lancastei 394 3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robei t G Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editoi
Subscuption puce S 2 pei yeai in Lancaster
County SSelsewheie
Established Noi ember 4,1955
Published evety Satin day by Lancaster
Fanning Lititz Pa
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa
17543
Menibei of Faim Editors Assn
Pa Newspapei Pubhsheis Association, and
National Newspaper Association
six were below
for iron
Think about it Mr. Dairyman, Egg Man.
Beef Man, Mr. Farmer Whatever Your
Product. Think about it Mr. Allied Industry
man and Farm Organization Leader and
Member.
Can You Help?
Can your product meet the need of in
fants for iron?
Can your product put adequate calcium,
riboflavin and vitamin A into the diets of
the elderly?
Can your product put adequate calcium,
iron and thiamine into the diets of adoles
cent girls and women?
Can your product do it at a price that
everjone can afford?
If the answer is yes to any of these
questions, poor diets in the U.S mean op
portunity for you
Why Not Act?
The only really important question is
Why aren’t you meeting the need?
Is it because you don't understand the
need and the opportunity? Then, get with it,
learn.
Is it because those who need don’t un
derstand or know about their need? Then,
become a teacher, educate them.
Is it because you don’t have the product
to meet the need? If so, shame on you. Im
prove your product or get a new one.
To sum it all up, get where the action
is.
Hunger-Quality Food
This nation for many years has been
gearing up to eliminate hunger and pover
ty. While the means of doing the job may
change from time to time and while the
speed and cost involved is often debated,
the job will be done.
So why shouldn’t the farm community
help pioneer, help get the job done better
and faster, and profit from it.
In the past several decades farmers
have proven repeatedly that they can pro
duce far more than the people of the nation
can consume.
With the quantity problem largely solv
ed, farmers can profit by turning to the
issue of quality. They can profit by making
sure they’re part of the movement which
pro\ ides a quality diet for every one.
food costs is accounted for by non-farm
costs In other words, more than half of
the cost of food is accounted for by non
farm sources and these non-farm costs will
rise.
For another thing, this means that
farmers should examine very carefully
their own products in relation to this non
farm cost.
Can the individual farmer cut out the
middle man, either partially or completely?
If so, if the farmer cah sell directly to
the consumer, or e\ en eliminate some of
the middle costs, it is obvious that the
farmer stands to reap tremendous rewards.
Many Southeastern Pennsylvania farm-'
ers have recognized this fact. It explains
the many roadside stands, the farmer pro
duce delivery routes, the farmer owned
stores, perhaps even the move toward co-
As national wage rates and other pro
cessing costs continually rise/ compelling
the middle men to take an ever greater
share of the food dollar, the rewards for the
farmer who can figure out how to go direct
ly to the consumer are going to grow. As
the middle man’s share grows, so does the
profit margin for the farmer who sells
direct.
While urban development and tourism
are generally, at best, a headache for the
average farmer, these modern trends can
also benefit the farmer who decides to sell
direct. Both urban development and tour
ism provide the large and available market
the farmer needs to side-step the middle
men.
In today’s dynamic agricultural econo
my, it's one way of beating the price-cost
squeeze.
the recommended levels
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By IMax Smith
Lancaster County Agent
To Beware Of Silo Gas
Most of us ha\e heaid this
oicl of caution and will sureiv
uu and lead ol it main times in
the next month At silo filling
time theie may be main kinds of
gases develop fiom the feimen
tation Most of these aie dangei
ous to man and beast and all
membeis of the faim familv
should be warned to stay out of
the silo chute and away fi om the
silo Giovveis should not enter a
paitly filled silo until they aie
suie it contains no poisonous
gases Additional details aie
available
To Control Weeds
In New Alfalfa
New stands of alfalfa seeded
eail> in August will be needing
some weed control attention in
the next few weeks Producers
should spiay to conti ol weeds
even though few may be notice
able the fiist month after seed
ing The use of 2,4 D-B when the
weeds aie 1 to 2 inches high is
THE FAT LIFE
Lesson for August 30,1970
Scripture- Genesis 131-13;
II through 17, 2 Peter 2 6 9.
Devotional Reading 1 Corinthians 10 6 13,
It is said that, as a boy, John
D. Rockefeller, Si - ., was a strong,
husky farm lad. When he en
teied the business world he used
his gieat strength to duve him
'lf unmercifully. At the age of
thirty-three he
had earned his
~ first million dol
irs. By age forty
iree he was m
<ntro! of the
irgest business
the world. Ten
ears later he
iad become the
_ *l.l. world’s richest
Rev. Althouse man
Yet, as he spent his great
strength to_ develop his financial
empire, he began to lose his
health and happiness. Though
his weekly income reached a mil
lion dollars, his stomach was so
bad that he could eat only crack*
ers and milk. It was discovered
that he had contracted alopecia,
acondition in which the hair
drops' off the head accompanied
by the loss of eyelashes and eye*
brows. One of his biographers
said that he had come to look
like a “mummy,”— a imllion-dol
lar “mummy” to be sure.
More Money, fewer people
Worst of all, however, was the
fact that as his wealth grew, his
friends became fewer and fewer.
He was a man desperate for love,
but in his quest for love from
some he crushed others who
stood in his way. He not only
lacked love, he was also deeply
hated by many whom he had
ruined. Once his image wat
burned in effigy and he was sur
rounded by bodyguards day and
night. When he was
Ida Taibell wrote of him: “An
awful age was in his face. He
was the oldest man. that I have
ever seen.”
. (Based on outlines copyrighted by the
Division of Christian Education Notional
Rebirth of fiftv-throo Council of the Churches of Christ in tho
nemrrn ar Tiny inree y. s. a Released by Community fress
His health got progressively Service)
worse and there were times when
the lecommendation Those who
delay the spiaying until the
weeds aie laiger will have poor
contiol and the weed giowth will
ir.jme the alfalfa stand
To Select Winter Grain Varieties
The seeding of winter g.am is
about a month away Crroweis
aie uiged to get tneir seed sup
plies on hand of the varieties
wanted This gets moie difficult
with some new vaneties on the
maiket We uige glowers to get
acquainted with the vauety, if
nevei giown befoie, in order to
sow and manage it properly.
Some wheat vaueties often men
tioned, such as Blue Boy, are
not icsistant to the Hessian Fly
and must be seeded after the
first killing fiost (about October
10) The popular variety. Red
coat, may be seeded at any time
because it is icsistant to Hessian
Fly infection Spend some time
in selecting the varieties that
■will do the most good.
he cmild not even eat crackers
and milk. His body was dying for
lack of nourishment and some
speculated that he would not live
past his fifty-fourth birthday.
Then, during one of those long
nights when he could not sleep,
he lay thinking and came to an
amazing discovery; wdien at last
the end came, he would not be
able to take with so much as one
thin dime! The more he pon
dered this fact, the more he
thought of his own impending
death, the more he realized that
money is not to be hoarded bu l
used for others.
Thus, he established the Rock?
efeller Foundation so that, vast
portions of his fortune could be
channeled into worthy causes.
Think of the tremendous sums of
money that have poured through
that foundation upon universi
ties, hospitals, missions, and un
derpnveleged people. His wealth
financed the research that made
possible the cure for hookworm
in the south, the development of
penicillin and diugs to combat
tuberculosis, diptheria, and other
diseases.
Much of the universal disdain
for this man turned to respect
and admiration. His health im
proved greatly and at the age of
fifty-thiee he began' to practice
for the first time one of God’s
greatest laws; “Give and it Will
be given to you. 2 ’ He thus took
a new lease on life and went on
to live to the ripe old age of
ninety-eight.
Lure of the fat life
When in his generosity Abra
ham had given Lot first choice
in deciding which area he would
live in and claim as his, it
seemed that Lot had craftily
made the wisest choice. His was
to be the rich, thriving land,
leaving only the barreit hills
for Abraham. Yet the fat life
near Sodom and Gomorrah
proved to be decandent jftid hol
low’, and, at last when the cor
ruption brought ddom upon these
two cities, it was only by the in
tervention of Abraham that he
and his family escaped the con
sequences of the materialistic
life. Even then, Lot’s wife looked
back wistfully—she fotmd it so
hard to tear herself away.
Hari’y and Bonaro Overstreet
have said: “It is one of the basic
facts of human life that the un
given self is the unfulfilled self.”
Theie is no fulfillment in the
fat life.”