penny luncheons
- Author:
Alice C. Boughton,
Philadelphia.
The children who attend the schools in the congested parts of the city come from homes where small attention is paid to their food. Many of them start to school after a breakfast of stale bread and tea, or no breakfast at all. A cent or two may or may not be provided by their parents, but guidance in its spending is seldom given; consequently the children buy from the unsanitary stores or from pushcarts near the school what most appeals to them ?taffy-on-a-stick, a large, unwholesome pretzel, cinnamon bun, or an ice-cream sandwich.
To meet what Avas known to be the need of these children for wholesome food, prepared and served within the means of the poorest, the Starr Centre Association fifteen years ago started the penny luncheon, which was reorganized on its present basis two years ago. The unit is one cent, and the food which is served to the children at their regular recess period costs just what they give for it, one cent, the cost of equipment and running expenses being met by the Starr Centre. To keep up the children’s interest the menu is varied slightly from day to day. The articles served are: One cup of cocoa (one cup equals one-sixth of a quart) one cent; One cup of strawberry tapioca, one cent; One cup of rice pudding, one cent; One cup of bean soup, one cent; One cup of creamed hominy, one cent; One-half shredded wheat biscuit with stewed fruit, one cent; Three pretzels, one cent; Four graham wafers, one cent; One tea bun, one cent; One coffee cake, one cent; One banana, apple, orange, peach, grapes, pear, etc., one cent; Five large boiled Spanish chestnuts, one cent; Stewed dried and fresh fruits in season.
The food value of all the recipes has been calculated for caloric value by the students of the Normal Domestic Science course at the Drexel Institute.1 In every case, with, the possible exception of the fruit, the heat value is as great or greater than that of an egg. To obtain these results the recipes are not only carefully worked out, but also from week to week their preparation is supervised in order that the standard may be maintained.
INGREDIENTS S oo S 2 ^ PS o % a ? w ? ? o o h m K O J qq ? ?< ?< < O o v v v v ? Cocoa No. 1 { 1 c.” Sugar,’ 1 qt! wlter } 108 12 133?41 S38.24 2973 124 .2478 24 Cocoa No. 2 { 1 c! Sugar! lj Ss.” Water} 99 29 123 47 326 25 2892 116 24 Rice Pudding { ? ?’r!^at?r!salt } 37.95 36.57 237 .15 1478 164 12 Bean Soup {^MSI 178 54 114 71 439 32 3492 194 13 18 Beanit?hoPut Meat {^atStPothtl^lery } 165 84 13 26 439 32 2538 141 09 18 Meat Sandwiches 172.35 94.14 497.68 3304 143 .2318 23 Milk ? qt., =} of $ pt. cup .01 Pretzels, 3 3.35 1.42 26.64 133 .01 Cream Lunch Biscuits, 3 4.15 5.18 29.85 182 .01 Graham Wafers, 4 3.54 3.35 26.14 148 .01 Apricots by weight 25.05 grms. 1.15 .245 15.31 68 Peaches ” ” 52.25 grms. 2.45 .52 32.65 145 Prunes ” ” 45.25 grms. .81 28.14 116 Shredded Wheat Biscuit. 1 3.69 .49 27.42 128 Many of the children buy more than a cent’s worth, and some few are able to spend five cents, but there is a large number in each school who do not buy any luncheon at all, and to get at the reason for this the Starr Centre has put a penny luncheon visitor at work. She visits the school at the recess period and makes friends with the children who have no penny to spend. She then goes to the home and tries to find out the conditions, and where possible remedy them. Sometimes it is simply ignorance or neglect on the part of the parents, and when their attention is called to the luncheons they are very willing to give their children the necessary pennies. Or it may be that the wage earners of the family are out of work, and there are no pennies. In such cases the visitor reports the matter to the Society for Organizing Charity. But in every case her object is to make the question of the luncheon an introduction into the home, and to use what influence she may gain there to raise the standard of living. The visitor has been at work only a short time, and no definite conclusions can as yet be drawn, but it is hoped that she will not only cause an increase in the sale of luncheons by arousing lThe values were calculated from the analyses given in U. S. Agricultural Bulletin, No1287, American Foods?and are as accurate as I know how to get them without actually analyzing quantities of our food. They serve the purpose of getting at the comparative value of the different articles.
the parents’ interest in them, but that she will strengthen the bond between the home and the school. The luncheons are being served in the Starr Centre Kindergarten, and in five public schools?two special schools, one colored, one Russian Jewish, and one Italian school. At the special schools the session is from nine until two, and the luncheons are served twice daily, one at the morning recess period and the other at noon. In the other schools the luncheon is served at the early recess only. It is interesting to note the various tastes of children of the same age and condition in life, but of different races. The colored children love creamed hominy, and have to be persuaded to buy stewed fruit; shredded wheat they will not touch. The Jewish children will buy quantities of stewed fruit and like the shredded wheat; but they were at first very suspicious of the hominy, and it was not until the teachers sought to influence them, and talked to them about corn, how it grew, and how the hominy was prepared from it, that they consented to try it. Now they have been educated to like it very well.
The principals and teachers have been of great assistance in making the luncheons popular by talking about the advisability of spending one’s money for cocoa or soup in preference to a large and sticky bun, and by buying the luncheons for themselves, which makes the children feel that the luncheons must be very good indeed. They are all in favor of penny luncheons, and the association owes them a debt of gratitude for their active co-operation. Of course, the chief factor in the problem was and is the children themselves, but to a certain extent they have ceased to give any trouble, for they soon learn to like the food and regularly buy it in preference to the apple-woman’s.
The first year after the reorganization nearly sixty thousand luncheons were sold, with a profit of three dollars and a half. Last year nearly eighty-nine thousand were sold, with a profit of two dollars and a half, the increase in number being partly due to the opening,of a new school. This year it is hoped that over a hundred thousand luncheons will be sold with no profit. Thus the association will accomplish its aim?to give the children just as much clean, wholesome, and nutritious food as it is possible to give for a penny.
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