Household Food Consumption Survey 1955 Report No. 13 - ARS : Home

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Household Food Consumption Survey 1955
Report No. 31
MOH
BAKING
yb
HOUSEHOLDS
ni the UNITED SETATS
by Region
.U .S DEPARTMENT FO AGRICULTURE Washington, .D .C
STNEMGDELWONKCA
The nationwide survey of household food consumption on which this report Jr., of the Agricultural Economics Division of the Agricultund Marketing
is based was made in April-Juan 1955 by the Agricultural Research Service Service. Consultants for the Department in the design sad analysis of the
and the Agricultural Marketing Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. sample were Earl Houseman and Evelyn Grossman.
The data wore collected by National Analysts, Inc., under contract with the
Department. The survey was carried out under the general direction of Gertrude S. Weiss,
Agricultural Research Service, and Robert .M Welsh and James .31 Cavia, Agri-
The survey represents the cooperative effort of many individuals in the
cultural Marketing Service.
Department. Faith Clark, Janet Mumty, and Eanis C. Blake of the Institute
of Rome Economics, Agricultural Research Service, had major responsibility This report on home baking was ~pared by the Household Economics
for planning and supervision of the survey, with the assistance of George R. Research Division, Institute of Home Economics. Mollie Orshansky and Mary
Rockwell, Jr., of the Marketing Research Division, and Thomas J. Lannben, nnA Moss had special responsibility for the report.
PUBLICATIONS IN SERIES
Household Food Consumption Survey, 1955
I. Food Consumption of Households in the United States 9. Dietary Levels of Households in the South
2. Food Consumption of Households in the Northeast I0. Dietary Levels of Households in the Went
3. Food Consumption of Households in the North Central Region II. Home Freezing and Canning by Households in the United States-by Region
4. Food Consumption of Households in ~e South 12. Food Production for Home Use by Households in the United States-by
Region
5. Food Consumption of Households in the West
13. Home Baking by Households in the United States-by Region
6. Dietary Levels of Households in the United States
Later reports are planned to iaclude infmtion on food consumption ond
7. Dietary Levels of Households in the Northeast dietary levels of households of different sizes, and of households as related
to age, education and employment of homemaker.
8. Dietary Levels of Households in the North Central Region
Fc* sale by the Super~mtendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
Washington ,52 ~D C. - Price 57 eents
June IgS8
Household Food Consumption Survey 1955
Report .oN 31
EMOH BAKING
yb
HOUSEHOLDS
ni
the UNITED SETATS
by Region
m m
.U .S DEPARTMENT FO AGRICULTURE Washington, .D .C
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The nationwide survey of household food consumption no which this report Jr., of the Agricultural Economics Division of the Agricultural Marketing
is based was made in April-June 1955 by the Agricultural Research Service Service. Consultants for the Department in the design and analysis of the
and the Agricultural Marketing Service of the .U .S Department of Agriculture. sample were Earl Houseman and Evelyn Grossman.
The data were collected by National Analysts, Inc., under contract with the
The survey was carried out under the general direction of Gertrude .S Weiss,
Department.
Agricultural Research Service, and Robert .M Walsh and James P. Cavin, Agri-
The survey represents the cooperative effort of many individuals in the
cultural Marketing Service.
Department. Faith Clark, Janet Murray, and Ennis C. Blake of the Institute
of Home Economics, Agricultural Research Service, had major responsibility This report on home baking was prepared by the Household Economics
for planning and supervision of the survey, with the assistance of George R. Research Division, Institute of Home Economics. Mollie'Orahansky and yraM
Rockwell, Jr., of the Marketing Research Division, and Thomas J. Lanahan, nnA Moss had special responsibility for the report.
PUBLICATIONS IN SERIES
Household Food Consumption Survey, 1955
I. Food Consumption of Households in the United States 9. Dietary Levels of Households in the South
2. Food Consumption of Households in the Northeast .01 Dietary Levels of Households in the West
3. Food Consumption of Households in the North Central Region .11 Home Freezing and Canning by Households in the United States-by Region
4. Food Consumption of Households in the South .21 Food Production for Home Use by Households in the United States-by
Region
5. Food Consumption of Households in the West
.31 Home Baking by Households in the United States-by Region
6..Dietary Levels of Households in the United States
Later reports are planned to include information on food consumption and
7. Dietary Levels of Households in the Northeast dietary levels of households of different sizes, and of households as related
to age, education and employment of homemaker.
8. Dietary Levels of Households in the North Central Region
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office
Washington ,52 D. C. - Price 07 cents
• June 8591
HOME BAKING YB HOUSEHOLDS IN THE UNITED STATES--BY REGION
Agricultural Research Service and Agricultural Marketing Service
YRAMMUS
Three out of four housekeeping households in the United States did some making pie crust and the same proportion of those making griddlecakee or
home baking of batters or doughs in a week, according to a nationwide food cookies made them two or more times, and while relatively few baked any
consumption survey made in the spring of 1955. In fact, except for bread, bread, a third of those who did baked it more than once.
which nearly all of the families bought, and rolls and sweet buns and the llke,
How household practices with respect to home baking and purchasing of
most of the baked goods served at home in the survey week came from the
bakery products compared at the time of the survey is shown by the followin s
home oven rather than from commercial bakeries. "This was true in both farm
percentages of households baking and buying specified items during the
and noufarm households, although noufarm families generally did less baking
:keew
and more buying than the farm families. A goodly share of many of the home-
Percentage Percentage
baked products was made from purchased flour mixes.
gnikab gniyub t
The products considered in the study of home baking included 2 requiring
Bread ........................... 5 94
yeast-namely bread and rolls,and 9 not requiring yeast-gingerbread, biscuits,
Rolls ............................ 6 20
griddlecakes (or waffles), corubread, muffins, pie crust, cake with fat, cake
Gingerbread ...................... 3 (2)
with no fat, and cookies. The types of products most commonly made at home ~'13
Biscuits .........................
during the survey week were cakes, pies, and quick breads. Half of the families
Muffins .......................... 3~ 8
had at least one home-baked cake or pie and the same proportion had some
Griddlecakes, waffles. ............. 24 (2)
form of home-baked quick bread. 1 Of the I1 items, cake with fat was baked
Corubread ........................ 24 0
by more households (36 percent) than any other, with biscuits, baked by 31
Pie crust ........................ 28 11
percent, a close second. Gingerbread was baked by the smallest proportion of
Cake ............................ 39 22
the households (3 percent).
Cookies ......................... I2
)3( I
About half of the households that did not make any of the 11 items at home Sweet buss, coffee cake ........... 50
during the survey week made some during the preceding month and three-fourths Doughnuts (4)
..- ..,...., . . . . . ° .. • •., *
made some during the preceding 12 months. Thus in 9 out of I0 households,
home-baked cakes, pies, biscuits, or the like appeared on the family table in 1 As shown in Report No. ,1 1955 Household Food Consumption Survey Series.
The survey_ reported pwclmsed items used in the week rather than bought in
the course of a year, though in some cases only on special occasions.
the week, but for n large group of households the number ushig would on the
average be the same as the number buying.
Among the households that baked any of the products included in the squrvey,
2 Less thus 0.5 percent.
31 percent made only 1 and 20 percent made 4 or more different kinds. "~ Many
3 Included with rolls if yeast raised and with biscuits if not yeast raised.
homemakers made the same item more than once during the week. This was 4
particularly true of hot breads-nearly three-fourths of the homemakers who Data not available.
made corubread or biscuits made them more than once. It was true in some
The data obtained on use of commercial mixes during the survey week
measure of the other products as well. For example, half of the homemakers
showed that gingerbread, though the least likely of the 11 items to be baked
at home, was the most likely to be made from a mix. Griddlecakes and cake
1 Five percent of the households made no batter dough other than griddlecakes or
waffles, which are included with biscuits, muffins, and other quick breads, but are with no fat were next in order. Except for bread, for which there were few
not ovenbaked. If baking is defined as oven baking only, 69 percent of the households mixes on the market, eorubread was the least likely of the items to be pre-
baked one or more of the 01 items studied and 48 percent of the households baked pared from a purchased mix. Chocolate cake and marble or spice cake were
quick breads in the survey week.
more likely to be made from a mix than were other types of cake with fat, but
2
Each of the 11 foods was considered 1 item, regardless of the number of batches fewer than half of all cakes with fat were made from a mix, compared with
made. nearly two-thirds of the cakes without fat (i.e., angel or sponge).
1
The following figures" ywohs the,percentuge of households that baked each than in the earlier year. "(Although some families not making an item in a
of the specified items during the survey week and the percentage of those fnonth did make it during a year, we may assume in general that such families
baking that used a commercial mix: did not make the item regalarly.~ The largest decrease since 1948 occurred
egatnecreP in the baking of bread and rolls, which take the most time to make and appear
egatnecreP
of those gnikab on the-family table in most homes more regularly than other baked goods.
gnikab
using xim
In the South we find home baking decreasing much less for biscuits than
for other items. Southern families, as is well known, still like their hot breads.
Bread, rolls (with yeast) .......... 9
Bread ........................... 5 1
There is no quantitative measure of the changes in home baking practices
Rolls ..................... 6 31
among urban families, hut if we assume the trend is downward, we can he
Cake, pie .................... 25 reasonably sure that it is lesspronounced than among farm families. The de-
Cake. ..................... 39 49 crease is probably less than would have taken place if prepared flour mixes
With fat .................. 63 48 had not been introduced on the market.
With no fat ................ 6 56
URBAN-RURAL DIFFERENCES
Pie crust ................... 28 81
Earlier'reports of the 1955 food survey showed that rural families were
Cookies ..................... 21 61 using more flour than urban families. Together with the fact that fewer of the
• Quick breadsl ................. 35 rural families used purchased bread and other bakery products, these data
Biscuits ................... 13 12 confirm the general impression that rural families do more baking. The present
Griddlecakes, waffles ........... 24 65 report gives quantitative measures of difference in practice. It indicates that
Cornbrcad .................. 42 11 baking is by no means a lost art even among urban families, it indicates further
Muffins .................... 3 92 that although most farm families bake, nowadays they buy at least some of the
baked goods they use as the following figures show:
Gingerbread .................. 3 47
Percentage of sdnuoP used
Any 1 .................. 74 sdlohesuoh using per household I
Rural Rural Rural Rural
1 5 percent of all households baked only griddlecakes ro waffles. Excluding these
would bring the percentage of households making quick breads to 84 and the percent- nabrU nonfarm farm Urban nonfwm farm
eg~ doing any oven baking to .96
Flour other than mixes 72 89 95 1.4 3.8 7.1
Purchased flour mixes 40 39 34 .6 ?~. .6
TRENDS IN HOME BAKING
Home-baked products 67 83 93 . . . . . .
The amount of home baking in 1955 was no doubt less than in earlier years, Purchased bread 96 92 85 4.7 5.0 4.4
but woh much less is difficult to say because no earlier data for the United Purchased other bakery
States us a whole are available fur comparison. Some measure of the amount of products 85 80 74 2.1 1.9 1.5
change may be inferred from the decrease in the amount of flour used at home
which averaged only 1 pound per person in a week in spring 1955 compared 1 Based on all households in cell, table .1
with 1-1/2 pounds in 1942. Most of the flour used in the home goes i~lto baking.
Not only were rural households more likely to bake than were urban hoane-
For farm families who, as will be shown later, do considerably more bak- holds, but they also made more kinds of baked goods. For example, among the
lug than urban families, more direct evidence of the decrease in baking is urban households that did any baking, 38 percent made just one of the 11
available. First, there is the decrease in flour used at home between 1942 and kinds of batters and doughs studied, and 41 percent made 4 or more different
1955, from 2.5 to 1.8 pounds per person in a week, and the accompanying in- kinds; but among the rural farm households baking, only 12 percent made just
crease in the flour equivalent of purchased baked goods, from 0.5 to 0.9 one kind of batter or dough and 38 percent made 4 or more.
pounds. Another indication is the change in percentage of farm homemakers
The decline in home baking notwithstanding, cakes, pies, and biscuits
in 1955 who reported baking some common items compared with 1948, another served in the home-farm and nonfarm alike-are still likely to be made there
year for which data are available. This is illustrated in charts 1 and 2 for the
rather than purchased. In fact, the percentages of U. S. households having
two largest farm regions, the North Central and the South 3. In both these
commercially baked, cakes during a week generally decreased between 1942
regions the percentage of farm families baking bread or rolls, pie, cake, or and 1955. nI" 1942 the percentages were 40 percent for urban households,. 26
cookies at any time during a month was considerably lower in spring 1955 for rural non/arm, and 12 for rural farm; corresponding figures hem the 1955
surveyare 25, 19, and 41 percent. The downward trend, somewhat at variance
3 Housing needs dna preferences of farm families. ;.a comparison of data morf
studies in four regions. .M S. Howard, A. Woolrich, ~d E. G. Holmes. U. S. Dept. with the general increase is use of purchased processed foods over the same
Agr., Agr. Inform. .lLeB ,69 36 pp., 1952. period, is no doubt related to the growing popularity of prepared flour adzes.
2
The percentage of all rural farm households using commercial mixes for ynA o ~ Bread, (~ttlek ,ekaC
baked goods, as chart 3 illustrates, was for several items much the same as 11 ~,ems i rolls breo~ts pie
the urban. However, because fewer urban families baked, the proportion of Urban:
items for which they used a mix was larger. Among urban homemakers 56 per- Nmtheast ...... 50 4 27 34
cent of those making a cake used a con~nereial mix, 13 percent of those mak- Notch Central .... 72 7 43 54
iug biscuits, and 12 percent of those making pie. Among farm homemakers, South. ........... 80 6 17 46
mixes were 0sad by 34 percent of those making cake and 8 percent of those West ..... . .... " 57 7 • 54 15
making biscuits or pie. Rural farm:
Northeast ....... 88 19 48 74
Cookie s, not shown on the chart, were baked in 9 percent of urban and 29
North Central .... 90 34 58 77
percent of farm homes during the survey week. In 0.9 percent of these c.ity
South ......... 97 10 95 68
homes and 8 percent of the farm homes the cookies were made from commercial
West .......... 89 $2 78 75
mixes. Griddlecakes or waffles, more likely to be made from mixes than most
other products, were baked in 25 percent of urban and 9.9 percent of farm house- 1 Excluding households making only 8riddlecakes ro Walflus would re-
duce the percentages doin~ oven bekin 8 in each region to ,34 ,66 ,67 dne
holds. In 69 percent of the urban and 47 percent of the farm households mak-
46 respectively rof ~ban families, and 84, ,78 ,79 dna 68 rof rural mraf.
ing them, a purchased mix was used.
families.
The order of preference in baking among the 11 items considered was, on The sizable percentages of farm families that made bread or rolls are of
the whole, the same for urban and rural families: The baking of quick breads particular interest, although except in the South most of the families baking
and of pie or cake were almost equally likely, while bread or rolls were mush any were obviously buying some also, since the percentages baying bread in
less likely to be made than either. the week were 92 in the Northeast, 89 in the North Central region, 9I in the
West, and 80 in the South. In the South many farm families used quick breads
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
instead of either home-baked or store-bought bread.
Among families in the four broad regions identified in this study (see
Although families in the South did more baking than those in other regions,
Glossary, Regions), those in the Northeast did the least home baking and
fewer of those baking used commercial mixes in the process. Chart 4 illus-
those in the South did the most. This was true for both farm and nonfarm
tratos this for a few items for farm families in the South compared with those
families, but the regional differences were greater for the nonfarm: 50 percent
in the North Central region. The situation is much the same for other items,
of the urban families in the Northeast made one or more of the items at home
and for nonfarm families in the South compared with those elsewhere.
during the survey week compared with 80 percent in the South; corresponding
figcres for farm families were 88 percent in the Northeast and 97 percent in In the Northeast, the region where families were least likely to bake, a
the South. higher proportion of urban families baking used Commercial mixes than else-
where in the country. However, Northeast farm families that did home baking,
There were definite regional patterns also in the kinds of products made. though more likely to use mixes than farm families in the South, were less
Southern families, less likely to buy bread than families elsewhere, were likely to do so for some items than were those in the western or North Central
more likely to make quick breads than bread and rolls or pie and cake. In fast, States.
among southern farm:families, nearly all 59( percent) baked cornbread, bis-
cuits, or the like during the week. Half of these families made cornbread INCOME DIFFERENCES 4
seven or more times, often enough to serve at least once a day. Biscuits, too, In view of the known relationship between income and food consumption it
were baked on the average more than once a day by southern farm families. might the assumed that higher income families would use more commercial
Urban families in the South also liked hot breads: more than a fourth of the baked goods and fewer home-baked products than those With less money to
households had home-baked biscuits at least three times in the survey week, spend. According to the survey, however, this is not altogether true. noigeR~
and a like number had homemade cornhread. by region, families with high incomes did not always make larger purchases
of bakery products than low-income families, iThey were .as likely to bake at
In the West, as in the South, more households made hot breads at home home as those with low incomes and in some eases more likely. For egample,
during the week than baked other items. However, hot breads were served in the Northeast where baking was less common than in other regions, we find
fewer times in the West. For example, few western households made either the percentage of urban families making one or more items during the week
biscuits or cornbread three times in the week or often enough to average even rising from 14 percent of those with incomes less than $2,000 to fi0 percent of
once every other day. those with 86,000 or more. Similarly, among northeastern farm families, the
percentage baking was 85 percent in the low-income group and 100 percent ifi
By contrast with the South and West, in the Northeast and North Central
the high. in fact, the only clear-cut instance of decrease in baking with higl~er
regious the most popular items for home baking were cake and pie, as the
following percentages of urban and rural farm families baking specified prod- 4 gnomA housekeeping households of 2 ro more persona. Tabulation by income
uets show: class ton made rof hOsrop-1 households. eeS table .1
3
income occurred among farm families in the South, where 92 percent of those Among fmnilies that did any baking, those with high incomes were more.'"
with S6,000 or more did some baking during the week compared with 99 per- likely to use commercial mixes than those with low incomes, hat the trend
cent of those with less than 82,000. On the whole, there was less difference was neither so marked nor so consistent as might be expected. Cake with fat,
between income groups within a region in the percentage of families baking biscuits, and griddlecakes were baked by enough families in a region at each
than between groups of families at the same income level in different regions. income level to warrant mention of the practice with respect to mixes in their
preparation. The cake and biscuits made were made from mixes by a greater
There was no decrease in the number of items baked as income increased,
proportion of the high-income families baking them than the low, with the dif-
although there was some shift in the choices of items. The percentage baking
ference greater for biscuits than for cake. "For griddlecakee, however, there
more than one item in the week was as much or more at incomes of $6,000 end
was no consistent relationship between the use of mixes and income.
over as at incomes under $2,000, except in the South, where the number of
items baked declined somewhat along with the percentage baking any.
DIFFERENCES BY HOUSEHOLD SIZE AND AGE OF HOMEMAKER
As money income increased the percentage of households baking cake and Family characteristics such as nnmher in household and age of the home-
pie increased more consistently than the percentage baking other items. This maker may also have a bearing on family food practices. To be sure, these.
was true in general for both farm and nonfarm families in each region. characteristics are not independent of each other and are related also in some
degree to factors already discussed, namely urhanization, region, and money
Another finding of interest is the practice with respect to bread end rolls.
In the main, high-income families were less likely to make these products than income. For this report, tabulation of the data on home baking takes into ac-
count age of the homemaker and household size (counting 21 meals at home in
were low-income families, but in the South the reverse wan true: as income in-
the survey week sm I person). Because in some instances such multiple break-
creased the percentage baking bread or rolls increased also while the percent-
down means that there are only a few cases in a cell the averages shown in
age baking quick breads decreased. At the same time the percentage buying
the tables by income and age or income and household size may be subject
bread in the South, generally lower than elsewhere in the country, increased
to greater error than those by income alone.
more than in other regions. Apparently the traditional southern preference for
homemade hot breads is less pronounced at the higher income levels. The per-
Differences in baking practices among households of different sizes were
centages of urban and rural farm households in each income group baking bread
quite pronounced and fairly consistent. At a given income, larger households
and rolls and quick breads, and the percentages buying similar products are
were more likely to bake during the week than smaller households, and were
shown separately for the South and the North (i.e., the Northeast, North Central,
more likely also to hake more than one kind of product. This was true for both
and Western regions combined) in the tabulation that follows:
farm and nonfarm households in each region. The increase in baking by larger
egatnecreP baking-- Percentage --gniyub
households extended to all of the items but was more pronounced for cakes and
,daerB ciu~ k Biscuits, pies and quick breads than for bread or rolls and cookies. The two single items
sllor sdaerb Bread muffins for which differences in practices by household size were greatest were cake
Urban with fat and griddlecakes. There were, however, deviations from this pattern
South:
in some region-urbanization-income groups.
Under 82,000 ........ 4 76 90 8
$2,000-$3,999 ........ ~. 77 94 15 Although the larger the household the more likely it was to do some baking
$4,000-$5,999 • ....... 7 69 95 18 daring the week, there was no consistent trend in the use of commercial mixes.
$6,000 and over ....... 8 67 99 30 Apparently the use of a flour mix depends less on household size than on such
North: factors as the skill ~o the homemaker, the amount of time she can devote to
Under $2,000 ........ 8 37 96 5 baking, or the special likes and dislikes of her family, factors for which it is
$2,000-$3,999 ........ 7 40 98 7 difficult to determine systematic variation.
$4,000-85,999 ........ 6 44 98 8
86,000 and over ....... 6 34_ 98 9 Whether or not a homemaker did any baking was more closely related to the
number in her household than to her age. It is true, on the whole, that women
South: Rural farm
50 years of age or older were less likely to bake than women under 50 in the
Under 82,000 ........ 8 98 73 2
same region and urbanization, and were likely to bake different things. How-
82,000-83,999 ........ 11 94 85 4
ever, these differences did not always remain when the households were further
84,000-85,999 ........ 24 90 90 14
classified according to money income as well as age of the homemaker.
86,000 and over ....... 14 81 95 14
North: Of the women who baked, the older ones were less likely to make cake
Under $2,000 ........ 31 63 86 2 with fat or griddlecakes than the younger ones, but more of the older women
$2,000-$3,999 ........ 34 59 89 3 made these products "from scratch"-that is, from individual ingredients
$4,000-$5,999 ........ 38 56 92 2 rather than a purchased mix. The older women were as likely to bake bread
$6,000 and over ....... 29 68 94 3 or cornbread us were the younger women, and sometimes more likely.
/.
FOODS BAKED AT HOME FOODS BAKED AT HOME
North Central Farm Families, 1948 and 1955 Southern Farm Families, 1948 and 1955
% of families baking in a month % of families baking in a month
BREAD EIP BREAD EIP
1948 ~6s 1948 ~S3 I~49
1955 1955
BISCUIT CAKE BISCUIT CAKE
1948" 509 1948 91~
,4,1i!i!1~9s i!!~::iiii~i~iii~!~!is !::!!i!!~!il E 1955
ROLLS COOKIES SLLOR COOKIES
1948 ~M 1948 i~33 ~ ~26
1955 1955
~I" NOT AVAILABLE
I ~JI Le TNEMTRAPED OF ERUTLUCIRGA NEG, $I(9)-5518 AGRICULTURAL HCRAESER ECIVRES U. .S TNEMTRAPED OF ERUTLUCIRGA NEG. 75 (9)-5519 AGRICULTURAL HCRAESER ECIVRES
TRAHC 1 TRAHC 2
BUYING VS. BAKING AT HOME BUYING VS. BAKING AT HOME
Urban and Farm Families, Spring 1955 Farm Families, 2 Regions, Spring 1955
% buying and % baking in a week % buying and oI° baking in a week
URBAN FARM
NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH
BREAD M ~58 ~98 I~08
DAERB
TIUCSIB
~ 2 4 ~ ~ 5 4 ~ TIUCSIB ~........:.i:i:i:i:.i:i~i:i:i!....!:iiii~i~i~i~i~i~!i!i!i!ii!ii!ii~iiii~!ii~ ~::.~ '.- ~58
EKAC EKAC
~ 6 3 Z
EIP EIP
~ 4 7 ~ ~:i%i:~iiiii~iiiiiiiii~iiii~!~".:....::ii!ii!i!~iI s=
I Baking: ~ without mix Buying 1 Baking: without mix ~
Buying
with mix with mix
U. .S TNEMTRAPED OF ERUTLUCIRGA N .GE 75 (I0)-5535 AGRICULTURAL HCRAESER ECIVRES U, .S TNEMTRAPED OF ERUTLUCIRGA NEG. 75 (9)-5520 AGRICULTURAL HCRAESER ECIVRES
TRAHC 3 TRAHC 4
NOITPIRCSED FO YEVRUS
This report on home baking-defined as making or mixing a batter or dough and (3) by severed family income classes and household size groups within
for 11 spocHied products by. households in 1954-SS-eoutaius a part of the data region-urbanization categories.
from the nationwide survey of household food consumption made by the U. S.
Department of Agriculture in the spring of 1955. Reports published previously Collection of the data, dsring April, May, and June of 1955, was by per-
presented data on food consumption and dietary levels of households and on sonsl interview with a household member, usually the homemaker. Information
home food preservation and production of food for home use in 1954. was obtained on family characteristics such as income and household size,
and selected household food practices during the previous year, including data
Periodic examinations of food consumption and practices of major con- on home baking which, with the data on baking during the week preceding the
sumin 8 groups are needed for many purpuses-for administration of public pro- interview, farm the subject of this report.
grams that e~feet food supply, distribution, and consumption; for guides in de-
veloping educational programs and to improve food habits and food management Information obtained on the unmher of meals eaten at home and away from
practices; and for private effo~ to broaden and improve the marketing of foods. home by household members during the 7 days preceding the interview, the
Nationwide surveys of food consumption of urban and rural households were expenditmees for the food eaten at home and away, and the quantities of all
food items used at home provided the basis for the first 10 reports on food
made in 1936 and 1949 and of urban families in 1948. No surveys of rural
families 'have been made since 1942 except on a regional basis .1 The 1955 consumption and dietary levels of households. Data on the extent of home
survey is the first nationwide survey to report on the extent of home baking food preservation in 1954 and production of food for home use provided the
subjects for reports I1 and 12 respectively.
.yb households.
In requesting the information from households, trained interviewers used
Based on a national prubability sample of approximately 6,000 house-
keeping households of one or more persons, the 1955 survey, is the most com- a detailed food list to help respondents recall, for the preceding week, the
quantities and moneyvalue of food used and the batters and doughs prepared 2,
preheuaive yet undertaken by the Department. Housekeeping households were
and for the year 1~54, the foods preserved by freezing or canning, and the
defined as those in which at least one member ate 10 or more meals from home
quantities of food produced for home use. (This method is sometimes referred
food supplies during the week preceding the interview. Institutions and per-
to as the "recall-list method.") As the success of surveys of this type de-
sons who were living on military reservations were not represented. To assure
pends in large part on the interviewer's skill in drawing out the necessary in-
adequate farm coverage, the sample included in addition to a basic cross-sec-
formation from the person interviewed, considerable care was taken in the
tion of about 4,500 twban, rural nonfarm, and rural farm households, a supple-
selection and training of the interviewers, tn training schools of 2 to 5 days,
mental sample of about 1,500 farm-operator households. Hence it was neces-
interviewers had instruction and practice in the sampling phase of the survey,
sary in combining the data for rural farm and the other urbanizations, to use
in interviewing, and in recording in coi'rect form on the schedule. Manuals of
appropriate weights in order to obtain th: "all-urbanization" averages. A
instruction, prepared by the contractor and reviewed by the USDA staff, were
more detailed description of the sample design and its appraisal is ~,iven in
used in training schools and served as reference tools for interviewers dur-
Reports 1 to 5 of this series.
ing the collection period.
Households in the survey were grouped (1) by region-Northeast, North
Central, South, and West ~Ceusua of Population regions, see Glossary, Re- A glossary beginning on page 128 explains major terms used in the study.
gioua); (2) by urbanization--rural farm, rural nonfurm, and urban within regions;
2 Those ohw dah prepared none daring the week were asked if they dah prepared
1 See page 031 for list of earlier surveys. any during the htnom or year preceding the interview.
6