What It Takes to Feed a Person for a Year,1955

Al Banadyga teaches a family food supply program at the Eastern and Southeastern District Meeting at N.C. State in Raleigh in 1955. This is a display of food needed for one person for a year. Extension pointed out that all of this food could be produced on the home farm, and women across the state were busy preserving the bounty.

Iola Pritchard and Al Banadyga, N.C. State College, present information on what it takes to provide food for one year at another District Agents Conference.

"Grow It, Don't Buy It" was the message carried to farm and home agents attending district meetings in 1955. Banadyga and Pritchard were members of the Extension Home Food Supply Committee, which presented the display.

It’s interesting to see what things used to cost. In 1955 a person could eat on $366.25 a year, so it cost the average family of five $1,831.25 and Extension taught North Carolinians to grow their own as much as possible. Here's an estimate of what it took to provide a healthy diet for a person for one year:

--The 100 pounds of leafy green and yellow vegetables were worth $30.

--Another hundred pounds of vegetables high in vitamin C, including tomatoes and cabbage, were worth $12.

--A hundred pounds of Irish potatoes, 160 pounds of other vegetables, and 160 pounds of fruit were worth $46.10.

--If a family kept a cow and made cheese, they could produce 73 gallons of milk and 13 pounds of cheese, saving $78.20 at the store.

--The average person spent $141.90 a year on protein foods, including 53 pounds of beef or veal, 75 pounds of pork, 22 pounds of lamb, fish, or game, 36 pounds of chicken or turkey, 34 dozen eggs, and 20 pounds of dried beans or peas.

--Also needed were 100 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of corn meal, grits, and other cereals, which would cost $19.50; and 23 pounds of butter and 13 pounds of cooking fat (lard), which cost $27.25.

--Under miscellaneous, the average person consumed 40 pounds of sugar and 3 gallons of syrup, which cost $11.30.