The Nutritional Value of Canned Pet Food

To the Editor: A woman from a small Vermont town testified recently before the governor's task force on hunger that she had been buying groceries for an elderly woman living alone whose shopping list often included canned pet food of unspecified brands. One day, when she was invited into the house after delivering some groceries, the helpful neighbor noticed that there were no cats or dogs in sight or signs of pets. When asked what the pet food was for, the elderly woman explained with embarrassment that she could not afford to buy regular meat on her limited, fixed income . . .