Frequency with which vegetables are served

Information was gathered about the number of times a week, on how many days a week and at what meals vegetables were served:

Table 1 shows that 4% of the housewives did not serve any vegetables during the week of the investigation. Only a quarter of the housewives served them every day. In the two Yorkshire towns fewer served vegetables than in the two Welsh towns.

Though only a quarter of the housewives serve vegetables every day, Table 2 shows that more than half in Neath and Llanelly and nearly 40% in the two Yorkshire towns served vegetables. more than 7 times a week. Vegetables are served at other meals in addition to the main meal. In interpreting this fact correctly it must be kept in mind that the definition of vegetables in this survey includes tomatoes and baked beans. Both of these vegetables are served frequently at breakfast and tea.

Other vegetables eaten at breakfast are usually warmed up left-overs from the day before. At midday more housewives cook vegetables than at any other meal, least where the midday meal is still the main meal. In a considerable number of households, particularly when the housewife is working, tea or the evening meal becomes the main cooked meal. Tea is the only meal where vegetables are served slightly more often in the two Yorkshire towns. As the sample analysis shows, more women go out to full time work there. At all other meals vegetables are more frequently served in the two Welsh towns.

The frequency with which vegetables are served is influenced by many factors - one, as has been shown already, is geographical. The material in this investigation was analysed by 5 other factors, namely, wage rate of main wage earner, number in family, age of housewife, whether or not the housewife was working, whether or not the family grew vegetables.

Table 3 shows that all these factors influence the frequency with which vegetables are served. Lower income groups, smaller families, old housewives, women going out to work, and families without vegetable gardens serve vegetables less often than families whose main wage earner has a higher, basic wage rate, larger families, younger housewives, women not going out to work, and families who grow their own, ar at least, part of their own, vegetables.

Some of the factors overlap, viz., the people in the low income group are to a certain extent the old people over 65.

About 50% of all groups serve vegetables 4-6 times a week, and there is not much variation in the proportions of the different groups serving vegetables this often.

There are larger variations in the proportions of the different groups serving vegetables a few times a week and not at all, or serving, vegetables 7 times a week or more. Frequency of the servings at the different meal times follows the same trend, as can be seen.