Thought for Food (1933)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] la Oh Henry breakfast ready so am I Junior coming up mother Betty Jane oh Betty Jane I can't find my other G well you look for it after breakfast honey everything's getting cold Junior you might use your comb and brush a do I drink your orange juice mother I don't want any crust on my toe D you kids you eat what is set before you and like it crust is good for the teeth Betty day a je this one you say seeg in it Henry M what do you want for supper how about pancakes mother and ice cream for dessert how mother huh I was speaking to your father huh what is it what do you want from for supper whatever you give me will'll be okay you're running the house yes but I'm running it to please you dear what do you want to eat bacon and eggs right now I mean for supper darn if I know it's up to you I don't care what you have oh yes you do if it's something you don't like you'll have plenty to say tonight gee whiz Clara why do you bother me about what the hell for supper I got enough to do to look after my own business a fell suddenly ought to be able to depend on his wife to run the house but I try to run it to please you dear well all I say is go easy say breakfast is no time to ask me what I want for supper see whiz I'm all full of bacon and eggs now what I'm going to want tonight I can't imagine well how do you expect me to imagine it say you women give me dog gunet you ask me this question every morning of my life looks to me like you get a little system in your work system do you realize how much time I spend every morning planning meals and figuring out what to give you for supper you know you're not the easiest man in the world to please no will you know what I'd do if I were running this house no I should like to have you tell me instead of having this eternal question come up every morning of what do you want for supper I'd sit down and plan menus for three meals a day for 30 days ahead no I'd make it for 60 days and as regularly as those days rolled around we'd have plenty of variation and good food to eat and I wouldn't have to be bothered every morning trying to think what to purchase for supper that's what we do in business I told you that before don't see why the same thing won't work in the home well if you think it's so easy why don't you stay home and try it someday Junior fold up your napkin oh Jee mother can I have a piece of candy no any little girl that won't eat the crust on her toast can't have any candy I need it mother then can I go out to play yes go ahead well goodbye dear I'll be seeing you tonight goodbye dear good morning Mrs Homemaker this is Elo har speaking from station kff in Cincinnati transmitting with daily frequency from the Laboratories of the Kroger food Foundation 125 government Square this morning we bring you the Amazing Story and sound and pictures of the new institution established by the Kroger group Grocery and baking company to help you in the vitally important work of selecting your family food so that you can get the full measure of value in each article that you buy and of preparing it so as to preserve both its nutritive value and its tastiness the Kroger food Foundation is set up as you will see with the most complete facilities and staff of experts for the carrying on of this important work of any similar institution in the country you will see well equipped Laboratories and competent workers for the making of practically every known chemical physical bacteriological and biological test here for example is a stack of canned peaches a typical scene in one of the Laboratories of the Kroger food Foundation these peaches are going to be analyzed and tested for Quality quantity and everything else how would you Mrs Homemaker go about finding out which one of these can contained the best peaches or gave the most for your money in a store you would probably shake them or tried to gauge their heft you would look in vain for some information on the labels that you could depend upon and you might in a desperate effort try to smell them the grer would certainly not cut the can open for you to taste them the best possible guide that you uned could have as to their quality well how does the scientist in the Kroger food Foundation test canned peaches for Kroger stores first he weighs each can for gross weight uninfluenced by labels or brand names these scientists work with numbered cans next he opens the can and determines the total weight of the contents then allows it to drain for 2 minutes on a/ in mesh screen he weighs the fruit residue and and checks the solid contents to ensure that the declared net weight is correct he tests the syrup for its sugar content on this curious little instrument known as the bricks scale he then takes the separate pieces of fruit and examines their color and odor since a good flavor and a good odor generally go together then he judges their uniformity and the amount of skin if any left on the peeled pieces the ruggedness of the pieces and finally he puts each piece through a test that gives a mathematical rating of its tenderness by means of applying given weights to A rod as it pierces the fruit here we see a similar crushing test being applied to a canned peig when you consider that only a few ounces of pressure are needed to crush a can pee whereas the human jaw is capable of exerting as much as 150 lbs of pressure at a bite you get some idea as to the greater sensitiveness of this machine over human teeth tongue and pallet in testing tenderness what is this young lady doing with that toy in her hand this is no toy this is a Colorimeter and she is gauging not guessing at the color of these Tomatoes color in tomatoes is an important element of quality because their taste seems to vary with it with this little spinning color wheel she can match the color of the can's contents exactly and get a mathematical reading of the result speaking of taste scientific instruments have not yet has been invented that can give a reading on either taste or odor to test these qualities human senses must still be employed laboratory workers however do not rely upon their own judgment alone it is not uncommon to ask groups visiting the foundation to State their preferences as to taste among several different samples of food in the same way every other phase of the foundation work is stamped with a seal of practicality by the cooperation of the Homemakers reference committee an organization of women from almost every city in the middle west who are The Proving Ground for all the ideas recipes and methods developed in the foundation Laboratories and kitchens they put the final stamp of practical approval on the activities of this modern organization down the hall from the chemical laboratory equally interesting tests are being performed on cereals no no these are not Cottons of ice cream they contain samples of flour the kind from which the staff of life is made the laboratory scientist is interested in the chemical makeup of the contents so he can tell whether it will make Kroger quality bread he puts them through a whole series of tests but the most interesting of all is how he did determines the protein content of the flour it has to be digested and this is the stomach he uses for that purpose how would you like to have a tummy like this consisting of a lot of glass flasks heated electrically to break down the proteins note how the noxious gases are carried out of the room over on the other side of the machine the chemical processes on the digested flour are completed and an exact index of the protein content of each specimen is obtained