=Comparative costs.=——It would be useless to print here a list of actual prices, since they vary in different localities, and are constantly changing. This list can be made by yourselves in your notebooks for your own home town, and for the current year. The table on page 318 is a guide, however, for in spite of fluctuations in prices there are certain foods that are permanently more economical than others; for example, grain products than meats, for reasons already explained. As a rule, the rising cost of food has been so general as not to change greatly the relative economy of the different types of food as compared with each other. =Cost and nutritive value.=——The discussion of cost has dealt so far with the cost of _food materials_ as they are found in the market. What we are really seeking to learn is the amount of _nutritive_ material to be obtained for a given sum of money, and in order to do this, we must think of our purchases in terms of the _foodstuffs_ and their values. The accompanying table from a government bulletin[17] gives an estimate of cost from this point of view in terms of protein and fuel value. Notice that wheat bread is a cheap food, standing first in the amount of building material and energy. AMOUNTS OF PROTEIN AND ENERGY OBTAINED FOR 10 CENTS EXPENDED FOR BREAD AND OTHER FOODS AT CERTAIN ASSUMED PRICES PER POUND __________________________________________________________________ | | | 10 CENTS’ WORTH | | | WILL CONTAIN | | 10 CENTS |___________________ FOOD MATERIALS | PRICE | WILL BUY | PRO- | A FUEL | | | TEIN | VALUE OF ________________|___________________|__________|_________|_________ | | Ounces | Ounces | Calories Wheat bread | 5 cents per lb. | 32.0 | 2.9 | 2400 Cheese | 22 cents per lb. | 7.3 | 1.9 | 886 Beef, average | 20 cents per lb. | 8.0 | 1.2 | 467 Porterhouse steak 25 cents per lb | 6.4 | 1.3 | 444 Dried beef | 25 cents per lb. | 6.4 | .1 | 315 Eggs | 24 cents per lb. | 10.0 | 1.3 | 198 Milk | 9 cents per qt. | 38.3 | 1.2 | 736 Potatoes | 60 cents per bu. | 160.0 | —— | 2950 Apples 1-1/2 cents per lb. | 106.7 | —— | 1270 ________________|___________________|__________|_________|_________