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Inasmuch as the sausage is largely composed of pork, it will be seen that
the three forms of pork together constitute about 58 per cent, of the total meat
consumption, and beef another 30 per cent. ; the other kinds of meat are
therefore of relatively small importance. The proportions, as shown by the
budgets, vary, however, considerably from town to town. Thus the highest
consumption of Beef is shown by Munich, where it is 53 per cent, of the total
weekly consumption ; it is lowest at Brunswick, only 19 per cent. The
proportion of Pork is greatest at Bochum, where it amounts to nearly 32 per cent. ;
at Düsseldorf, which is lowest but one in the list, it is nearly 11 per cent,
and then drops to 5 per cent, at Barmen. Sausage, of which a very
large number of varieties are sold, ranges from 41 per cent, at Stassfurt
to 12^ per cent, at Aachen. Bacon is 29 per cent, at Königshütte, but
then drops sharply to 19^ per cent, at Aachen, and declines to 1^ per cent,
at Nuremberg, I ^ per cent, at Munich, and 0'3 per cent, at Aschaffenburg.
It may be remarked that " bacon ” in Germany is of two kinds, one consisting
wholly of fat, and the other “ streaky ” ; the former is used almost solely
for frying purposes. What are regarded in England as the best cuts —
from the back—are not sold ; the fat is removed entirely from the back and
ribs, and the remainder of those parts is sold as pork chops ; " streaky bacon ”
therefore consists solely of cuts from the belly. Veal forms 11^ per cent, of
the total consumption at Munich, and 9^ per cent, at Stuttgart ; the proportion
gradually falls to 0*7 pei cent, at Bremen. Mutton, against which there appears
to be a marked prejudice in certain parts of Germany, is 9 per cent, at Stettin
and 8 per cent, at Berlin, but in 19 of the towns it forms less than 3 per cent,
of the budget meat consumption. “ Other kinds (including fish) ” are most
important at Elberfeld, where they constitute no less than 17 per cent, of the
whole amount ; the next town in order is Königsberg, where they form only
6 per cent., and in 19 towns they are less than 2 per cent. Under this heading
many items are included—such as various kinds of smoked or otherwise
preserved meat, minced meat, game, liver, horseflesh, &c. The fish consists
very largely of smoked or fresh herrings.
The consumption of the various kinds of meat in each town is of course
affected by geographical situation, by local agricultural conditions and by local
tastes and customs. Reference has already been made to the prejudice which
appears to exist in some parts of Germany against mutton ; the consumption
reaches its lowest point in the towns of the South Germany group, where it is
only 1 per cent, of the total meat consumption shown by the budgets for the
towns as a whole ; in both the Rhine!and-Westphalia groups it is only about
2 per cent., and in Silesia 3 per cent. ; its maximum for any “ geographical
group” is 8 per cent, in Berlin. South Germany again has a remarkably low
figure for bacon—2i per cent. ; in the other geographical groups the range is
from 6^ per cent, in Berlin to 17 per cent, in Silesia. On the other hand
South Germany takes the highest place for beef, with 43 per cent. ; elsewhere
the range is from 35^ per cent, in the textile towns of Rhineland-Westphalia to
22^- per cent, in Silesia. The proportion of sausage is abnormally high among
the geographical groups in Central Germany, where it reaches 37 per cent. ;
at Berlin it is 29 per cent., and for the other groups the range is a narrow one,
from 24 to 26^ per cent. South Germany is again highest in regard to veal
8 per cent. ; and Central Germany lowest, with 4 per cent. Finally, the
proportion of pork to the total meat consumption is lowest—14 per cent.
in the Rhineland-Westphalia textile towns (where beef consumption is high),
and highest in the Baltic Ports and Silesia (25^ and 26^ per cent, respectively),
where the beef consumption is lower than in any other geographical group
with the exception of Central Germany.
In this connexion it is proper to point out that the average consumption of
meat per head of population, as calculated by the municipal authorities from
their slaughter-house returns, will be found in many of the town reports to be
much higher than that shown by the budgets. This discrepancy is mainly due
first to the conspicuous fact that the consumption of meat amongst the German
middle classes is very great, and secondly to the fact that the proportion of
children in the budget families is clearly likely to be very much greater than in
the population as a whole, since family budgets were sought for.
