—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 15,1978
114
Food dollar includes 23
NEWARK, Del. - For
every dollar we spend on
food, about 23 cents goes for
processing and packaging.
In fact sometimes the
package costs more than the
food inside, points out home
economist Sue Matusiak of
the University of Delaware
Cooperative Extension
Service.
We can blame it on our
high standard of living, she
says. Processing and
packaging require labor,
and our money pays for this
labor. As wages rise, so do
processing and packaging
costs, as well as food prices.
Another important factor
is competition. Every brand
vies for more shelf space,
using expensive advertising,
fancy packaging, coupons,
bonuses, and other
promotional gimmicks In
addition, the trend is toward
more highly processed
convenience foods These all
lead to higher food prices,
says Ms Matusiak
The third problem is
waste. Some wrapped foods
are placed in containers,
which are then put into
cardboard boxes, and finally
into plastic bags Packaging
of this kind is unnecessary,
wasteful and expensive It
ups your food bill and costs
4-H
winners
chosen
DILLSBURG - Roxanne
and Robert Gabel were two
of the five Perry County 4-
H’ers to receive top honors
at Capitol Regional 4-H Day
held July 6 at Northern High
in Dillsburg, Pa. Due to
Roxanne’s performance, she
will be participating in State
4-H Achievement Days m
August Other demon
strators to receive top
honors were Elaine
Hamilton, Stace Smith and
Delene Lantz
Also participating in
Regional Day were Nancy
Stephens, Citizenship Short
course delegate; Chrystal
Prosser, Public Speaker and
a Clothing and Textile
Judging Team that included
Julie Barkely, Trudy
Barkley and Jill Hetrick
The
quiet leader
in synthetic
lubrication
profl if u g syn*hct
&n jrts ong rnw.-p o
«=• v/o r id vodoor b* c /n
Vic lo&firvn‘< 4 jf *i i-nriwe d nd
- r us*
Disro.'r thr* lift* - ' /nUunc
AMS/OILC n-uk* A AWi/QIL
' l *vU r 0 A K t dS
iq AMS/OIL i r ' * f jpl
“'■'jnrr/ v* po uj! 'eduo
‘ i ’ion i; ||
'JfMSfih
/VfS/O// Jea/O'' -
MEL CALDWELL
Rte 1 Indian Marker Rd
Millersville Pa 17551
(717 J 872 7324
DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED
you additional money when
the sanitation department
must dispose of this waste.
In contrast, the Europeans
frequently use plain
wrapping paper and then
own permanent shopping
bags. This practice could
save the U.S. tons of paper
and millions of consumer
dollars.
There are ways to avoid
some of these packaging and
processing costs, points out
the extension home
economist.
cents for processing and packinging
Don’t buy highly
processed foods, except
those that cannot be con
veniently made at home,
such as cottage cheese or
frozen orange juice. For
example, if you buy frozen
spaghetti dinner on an
aluminum tray with pre
packaged, pre-frozen Italian
bread and grated cheese,
you’re paying a lot more for
the processing than for the
food
Avoid fancy packages or
containers inside containers.
When excessive packaging is
used as a means of selling a
product, you wind up paymg
for this advertising.
Plan your meals around
fruits and vegetables in
season. Because of
minimum processing and
packaging costs, the fresh
produce will likely be your
best buy.
Consider planting a
vegetable garden The walk
from your garden to your
kitchen cuts out tran
sporters, wholesalers,
retailers, processors,
packagers.
Food bills can be trimmed
if you plan menus to take
advantage of in-season
items, and avoid highly
processed convenience foods
as well as over-packaged
items.
Before putting an item m
your shopping cart, Ms.
Matusiak suggests, think
about where your money will
be going. Paying for un
necessary services lowers
the value of your food dollar
te >v - /*•% * *
Mt s'**- s v %
SAVE >/a OF
THE COST OF SPRAY
PAINTING BARNS
• By having it done right*
- • Like you want it done
• With latest equipment
- • Brushed properly with
the real 6" paint brush
• By one who is self
employed.
ana
• Using the original
proven barn paint
• Check with my recent
work near your place
PHARES S. HURST
RDl.Box 420
Narvon, Pa 17555
215-445-6186
m
T's vT