FOOD BUDGETS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 68, 22 March 1937, Page 5

FOOD BUDGETS.

MAKING ENDS MEET.

CENSUS OF 20,000 HOMES.

BRITISH WIVES TO ASSIST.

Twenty thousand housewives throughout Great Britain are to be asked to reveal to the Government the secret of how they make "ends meet."

They will be asked: How much they spend on housekeeping, how much on food alone, what foodstuffs they buy, and how much food they waste. This will be the third Government inquiry this century designed to find out how people live and what are the minimum food costs to keep a person in health. The previous inquiries were made in 1904 and 1918. On these the official "Cost of Living" of Britain index figures have been based.

Domestic scales and standard waste bins will be provided for a selected percentage of the 20,000. The housewives chosen for this more detailed investigation will be asked to weigh their food carefully and to keep the waste and weigh it, so that exact calculations can be made of average food eaten in families of different wage levels.

There will be no compulsion on anyone to give the required information, which will be treated confidentially. The collection of the details will be carried out by local authorities and the cost defrayed by the Treasury.

The result of the survey will be studied by the Advisory Committee on Nutrition, of which Lord Luke is chairman, and Sir F. Gowland Hopkins, Professor E. Mellanby and Sir John Orr are members.