Judie Davis

Eat It

1968

Jake Frankhouser is a gentle, revolutionary who has good and practical ideas about food. Jake’s good discipline has gotten him an undergraduate degree in landscape architecture and this year, a Masters in urban planning. Beyond all that, Jake’s interest is urban recreation; and he has some fantastic plans for neighborhood recreation facilities, planned and built by the neighborhood.

Jake plans his eating habits and realizes his goals in planned buying just as if he were building play grounds for the city.

“The first thing you must realize if you’re living on little money is that you cannot afford to eat out. That means no quick hamburger at the student center, but rather, a quick back to your pad for your own out of sight meat loaf sandwiches.”

Jake’s specialty is meat loaf and his recipe follows:

2 to 2-1/2 lbs. meat loaf mix (veal, pork, beef) at about 69 cents per pound

1 med. green pepper

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs (optional)

8 oz. tomato juice (for a change, try V8 juice)

2 good shakes ketsup

Couple squirts Worcheshire sauce

Mix well by hand, place in one big casserole or 2 smaller pans. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. After a half hour remove some of the juices, so it will bake to a nice brown crust.

Jake gets food stamps, which also helps to plan ahead. “People should use the system as much as they can. Almost anyone with a low income can get food stamps. The amount you can buy depends on family size and monthly income. In order to apply, go down to the Wayne County Social Service Agency at 640 Temple. Take along 2 months rent receipts, pay stubs and your savings account book, also your children’s birth certificate.”

Jake also refuses to shop at the stores of local gougers. He gets his fruits and vegetables at Eastern Market or through some of the local food co-ops. He says the A&P at Lafayette Park is the best chain store in the area and they do redeem food stamps.

Jake is off somewhere in the mountains of Colorado now. Wherever he is, I’m sure his food pack is well organized as the shelves of the A&P in Lafayette Park. Our cities will be O.K. someday if we have people like Jake Frankhouser taking care of business.


Fifth Estate #57, July 4–18, 1968