In regard to the food of our immigrant population, such studies of individual races as have been made seem to indicate that, while the dietary of the average foreign family falls far short of what a native American would consider a satisfactory standard and is very deficient in variety, yet it is ordinarily sufficient in quantity and in amount of nourishment. Of course there are countless immigrant families of the poorer sort, just as there are of natives, who are habitually undernourished; yet the ordinary immigrant working family or individual appears not to suffer for lack of sustaining food. This condition is made possible by a long habitude in European countries to an exceedingly simple diet, and by a resulting knowledge of cheap and nourishing foods. The food item in the budget of an immigrant family from southern or eastern Europe is almost incredible to an American. The average cost of food for an individual immigrant mine worker in Pennsylvania runs from about $4 to $10 per month. Among the Italians in Boston, during the winter months, about a dollar a week will suffice for the food of a man. The south Italian berry pickers in New Jersey are said to be able to get along on as little as 25 cents per week, and other races live almost as cheaply.[218] There appears to be a considerable difference in this respect between the different races, even among the newer immigrants. The lowest standard prevails among the south Italians, Greeks, Syrians, Bravas, etc. The Slavs are inclined to spend more of their increasing income on food; particularly is meat a more important part of their diet. The Jews are said to rank well above the Italians in this regard. The quality and preparation of food leaves much to be desired. Italian children are sent to the markets of Boston to gather vegetables which have been thrown away as unfit for use. A brief walk through the East Side of New York, with an eye on the push carts, will convince one of the undesirable quality of some, at least, of the food eaten by the residents of that section. On the other hand, the Greek laborers on the railroads of the West are said to live remarkably well, and themselves complain of the staleness of American food, and object to our practice of putting everything up in “boxes.”[219] In general, the conclusion of investigators in regard to the food of our working classes seems to be that the faults of their dietary lie, not so much in the failure to spend an adequate amount of money for food, as in wasteful and ill-judged purchases, unsatisfactory preparation, and improper balance between the essential food elements (especially lack of sufficient proteids) and too much fat. It is not unlikely that in this particular the immigrants fare better than the natives in the same class. It is certainly probable that, taken on the whole, the standard of food of the immigrant families in this country is superior to that to which they were accustomed in their native land.