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HE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

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CONSUMER EXPERT EXPLAINS

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HOW TO JUDGE
BEST SHOPPING BUYS

By SIDNEY MARGOLIUS

Shopping for best food buys
is difficult enough these days
when a supermarket may have
as many as 8,000 items, and
many foods come prepackaged
with inadequate information
on what they contain, and are
presold by mass TV advertis-
ing. Modern supermarkets
really have become a trap for
the unwary.

But often housewives are
their own worst enemies.
’ They whisk through the su-
permarkets spending in 18
minutes the $10 bill their hus-
bands worked three hours to
earn. They spend exactly
three seconds buying their
bread and other baked goods.
They fail to study the ingre-
dients shown on the package,
or to calculate the cost per
pound of the many products
now sold in ounces and even
fractions of ounces.

TRIAL AND ERROR

A Michigan survey found
that nearly a fourth of the
homemakers questioned shop
by trial and error. Another
fourth buy whatever they
want without regard to cost.
When they get home, only
about half are satisfied with
their selections, and feel they
have done a good job.

Women perform this way
nowadays not because they
are lazy but because shopping
has become more difficult.
But trying to get through it
quickly, instead of treating it
as seriously as earning money,
makes you a target for mani-
pulation.

One problem is that in an
age of heavy advertising and
prepackaged foods, many wo-
men have lost confidence in
their own judgment. They
tend to rely on a well-known
name or to assume that a
higher price means better
quality.

HIGHER ITEM SOLD

A number of tests have
shown that sometimes the
same item priced a little high-
er sold even better. One such
test several years ago found
that leaner pork butts and
hams, called ‘meat - type”
pork, sold better if they were
priced 6 cents higher than if
only 2 cents higher than regu-
lark pork.

Another example is the
higher prices many people pay
for produce because of pret-
tier or more perfect appear-
ance. For example, red-skin-
ned apples are priced almost
according to the amount of
red. The redder, the more
they cost, the U.S. Agricul-
ture Dept.’s Consumer and
Marketing Service points out.
But there is little difference
in the taste.

Similarly, oranges with
greenish skins and grapefruit
with rust-colored splotches
also cost less but are the same
inside. Perfectly-round onions
command a higher price than
those that are lopsided.

LARGE SIZE COSTLY

Large sizes of fruits and
vegetables sometimes also
command an extra price. But
they are not always the best
quality, let alone the most
economical.

Here are other tips that
can help you avoid some of

the cost-raising myths about
food values:

Canned Produce: Main dif-
ference between fruits in
“heavy” syrup and the cheap-
er “light” syrup is less than
an ounce of sugar which is
worth less than 1 cent. Too,
the lower-price canned fruits
and vegetables may be sim-
ply irregular - shaped pieces,
not the uniform pieces of the
costlier brands. The nutrition-

al value is exactly the same.
GRADE OF EGGS

Eggs: Grade A or AA eggs
are the same in nutritional
value as Grade B or other
cheaper eggs. The yolk is flat-
ter and the white thinner in
Grade B, so the egg spreads
out more in the pan. Certainly
for many uses, such as ome-
lets, the lower grades are just
as suitable.

Shell color, of course, has
nothing to do with quality. In
the Boston area, brown eggs
command a higher price. In
other cities, white eggs may
cost more. This occurred be-
cause in the old days, when
eggs from nearby farms were
fresher, the local farmers hap-
pened to keep the breeds of
hens that produced eggs of a
particular color.

THE BIGGEST FOOLER

Meat: This is the biggest
fooler of all. The expensive
“choice” grade does not have
as much lean as the cheaper
“good” and “standard” grades.
Thus, it does not have as
much protein, and so is less
nutritious. For example, as-
suming the same trim, a
“choice” round roast has 76
percent separable lean; the
“sood” grade, 80, and the
“standard,” 86 percent.

The New Milks: With a
number of new versions of
milk coming on the market,
you have to read the labels
to understand what they pro-
vide. For example, Richard
Magleby, in a report publish-
ed by Penn State University,
found many housewives  re-
luctant to buy the new “2
percent milk.” They believed
it had fewer vitamins and
proteins. While “2 percent
milk” does have less milkfat
than standard whole milk
(usually 34% percent), many
brands contain 2 percent add-
ed solids. Thus, the “2 percent
milk” really has more protein,
calcium and other minerals
than the higher-fat ‘standard
kind. EAD

FISHERMEN PREFER
DIRECT AFFILIATION

Discussing the perspective
for entry of the United Fish-
ermen and Allied Workers
Union into the Canadian La-
bour Congress, delegates to
the Union’s recent convention
in Vancouver have made it
clear that they prefer direct
affiliation, although they are
“willing to explore merger
with any other union as a step
toward greater unity of the
Canadian labour movement.”

A resolution outlining this
stand was unanimously adopt-
ed at the conclusion of debate
on the officers’ report that the
Union’s application for admis-
sion to the CLC was “effec-
tively stalemated.”

The CLC executive has
taken the stand that the

4 BIG
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CAA Member

UFAWU can enter only
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existing affiliate.”

19 years ... It used to be that a worker got $10 for $15 of work,
He gains little today if he pays $15 for $10 of : coin
LIKE LIPSTICKS: Possibly noting the trend at
Railwayman reports that 5 & 10 cent store cosmetics are Mil
ally the same as those in more expensive stores. One —s e
(‘U.S. Consumer’) puts the ingredient cost of almost a Bae
sticks at about one penny. Packaging and profit add $3 bi a
to the annual North American bill. Think of that ladies, but

not when you’re driving those trains.

BARRY MATHER IS NDP-MP

FOR THE RIDING OF SURREY

. CABINET SHUFFLE: An NDP MLP., opposing the terrific
increase in postal rates on non-profit publications (union, co-op,
church) which range in some cases up to 2,700% suggested
that Postmaster General Kierans become Minister of National
Defence, he opposing non-profit NATO and that the Honour-
able Cadieux, present Defence Minister, who wants to keep
things as they are, take over as Postmaster.

HALF .A BILLION A DAY: The current cost of the world
arms race is 182 billion dollars a year, says the U.S. Arms
Control and Disarmament Agency. U.S. alone spends over $80
billion every 12 months on arms. Between NATO AND WAR-
SAW pact countries 90% of all world arms expenses are
poured out. That money had better be wasted. If it’s ever used
most of the world will not be here.

STRANGE WORLD: $182 Billion above is equal to three
times the world’s spending on public health and is 40% more
than the word’s spending on education. It represents $53 for
every man, woman and child in the world. In some countries
$53 equals a substantial part of the average annual individual
income.

HOUSIE HOUSIE: One of the Government’s Housing Task
Force proposals seems likely to add to house costs and may
keep them farther from middle and low income people. If, as
Task-forced, NHA mortgages are boosted from $18,000 to
$30,000, new house prices will reach $38,000 within three years,
Experienced people note that the Government’s maximum
becomes the real-life minimum. In the late ’40’s an NHA loan
was increased to $9,000 because house prices were $12,000...
Later it went up to $13,000 about the time new homes cost
$15,000. When houses cost $20,000 the loan was $18,000. Can
most Canadians earning less than $9,000 a year afford to carry
a $30,000 mortgage, plus increased local taxes, plus utilities?

OVER, AND OUT: (real quotes) .. . “If you use lemon
juice, squeeze it from fresh oranges.” Philadelphia Enquirer...
“Mrs, Sarah Putnam is poorly this spring — her face is much
missed in church, it being always there when she is able to be
present.” Vermont Standard.

What 9s O Croftivan?

GO Craftsmen are men, who cannot

help doing whatever is given
them to do better than

other men think

worthwhile

AND WOODWORKERS HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED
THIS FOR OVER 60 YEARS BY MAKING

PARIS BOOTS THEIR NO.

1 CHOICE

PIERRE PARIS & SONS

1907 2

West Hastings Street
Vancouver 3, B.C.

Family Teamwork in Craftsmanship since 1907

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