Doubtless, the housekeeper has always found the task of supplying food to her family one of the most perplexing, but modern conditions have made the difficulties manifold when contrasted with olden times. A pretty picture of household management in seventeenth century England is drawn by Sir Walter Scott in “Peveril of the Peak.” The lord of the castle has invited the village people to a great feast in celebration of the restoration of Charles the Second, and Lady Peveril finds her larder rather low. To be sure, there are carp in the pond, and deer in the park, but the beef question is puzzling, for the steward does not wish to kill his choice steer. Then appear in the courtyard two fine oxen, and several wethers, or sheep, gifts from a neighbor, and the menu is complete. Lady Peveril is described as an excellent housekeeper, and doubtless felt burdened by many cares, but how different were her problems from ours, and how simple by comparison! Beef trusts and the high price of beef, tuberculous cattle, unsanitary transportation and markets were not factors in her problem. In her day, and in the time of our grandmothers, less variety in diet was possible, and less expected except on state occasions; food was not transported over great distances, and the cost was not so much out of proportion to the average income. Now every large city, and even the small town, is the market of the world. We have long been accustomed to the importation of oranges and lemons, and dried fruits from distant lands; but now we have peaches and pears from South Africa, melons from Spain, pineapples from the Azores, hothouse grapes from England, and apples from Australia, and in 1913, we read of the shipment of beef from Argentina. In our own country, early fruits and vegetables travel from the south to the north, so that the season of some foods is long extended. The large amount of canned food also does away with the natural limits of the season, and this is further affected by cold storage. Both the quality and the cost of food are modified by these new methods of commerce, and furthermore, modern methods of manufacture have changed the quality. In an ideal community these changes would be for the better, but manufacturers often think more of their own profit than of the quality of their goods, and as a result adulterations have crept in, making necessary the enactment and enforcement of pure food laws. This is by no means so simple a matter as it seems, for we must first understand what pure food really is.