Civic improvement; Urban women; Women in public life
Being principally responsible for the food of the family as well as the
children, women have joined with spirit in what is known as the pure
food movement. In many a city, large and small, women’s associations
have taken up the question of the proper food supply and by concerted
efforts wrought marvelous results. An illustration of an active
municipal campaign for pure food carried on by women is described in the
_American City_ for June, 1914, by Katherine G. Leonard, secretary of
the Pure Food Committee of the Civic League of Grand Forks, North
Dakota:
What has been accomplished by the Pure Food Committee of the Civic
League of Grand Forks may be equaled or surpassed by any group of
determined women in any small city. To be sure, it is somewhat
easier to keep clean in a climate which has no excessive heat and
moisture and with a population made up for the most part of
Americans and Scandinavians. However, vigilance and education will
more than make up for differences in climate, but efforts must be
ceaseless if results are to be forthcoming.
When this committee was organized under the able leadership of Dr.
May Sanders, chairman, the work was new to all, and methods had to
be devised. The first step was a consultation with Prof. E. F. Ladd,
State Pure Food Commissioner, who was of great assistance in
suggesting just and reasonable methods of dealing with the subject
of sanitary inspection of foods so that the interests of both
merchant and consumer might be safeguarded.
A general educational campaign was inaugurated. The state pure food
and drugs act was printed in folder form, and a copy, together with
a personal letter calling attention to the provisions of the law and
asking coöperation in its enforcement, was mailed to each of the 128
food merchants then doing business in the city. The portion of the
law applying to a special class of stores or goods was red-lined
when sent to a man selling that article. For example, sections
relating to bakeries were red-lined when sent to bakers; those
applying to groceries were marked for grocers. Ten days were given
the merchants in which to clean house and prepare for state
inspection.
The state inspection continued five days, of eight hours each, and
the inspector was accompanied by Mrs. R. A. Sprague, who later
became local officer. Each merchant was rated on a score card
provided by the state commissioner for the purpose.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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