Camp cookery (Milam, for Boy Scouts)

"Grouping Foods to Show Their Uses" "Perhaps as easy a way as any to select the right foods is to group the different kinds according to their uses in the body, and then to make sure that all the groups are represented regularly in the meals. Fortunately no more than five groups need be considered: (1) Fruits and vegetables; (2) meats and other protein-rich foods; (3) cereals and other starchy foods; (4) sweets; and (5) fatty foods. "Group 1 — Fruits and vegetables, such as apples, bananas, berries, citrus fruits, spinach, and other greens, turnips, tomatoes, melons, cabbage, green beans, green peas, green corn, and many other vegetables and fruits. With- out these the food would be lacking in mineral substances needed for building the body and keeping it in good working condition; in acids which give flavor, prevent constipation, and serve other useful purposes; and in minute quantities of other substances needed for health. By giving bulk to the diet they make it more satisfying to the appetite. "Group 2 — Meat and meat substitutes, or protein-rich foods: moderately fat meats, milk, poultry, fish, cheese, eggs, dried legumes (beans, peas, lentils, cowpeas, peanuts), and some of the nuts. These are sources of an important body-building material, protein. In the case of children part of the protein food should always be whole milk. "Group 3 — Foods rich in starch: Cereals (wheat, rice, rye, barley, oats, and corn) and potatoes (white and sweet). Cereals come near to being complete foods, and in most diets they supply more of the nourishment than any other kind of food. It is not safe, however, to live only on cereals. The grains may be simply cleaned and partially husked before cooking, as in cracked wheat and Scotch oatmeal; they may be ground into flour and used as the basis of breads, cakes, pastry, etc. ; or they may be partially cooked at the factory, as in many breakfast preparations; or they may be prepared in the form of such pastes as macaroni, noodles, etc. In all these forms they furnish the body with the same general materials, though in different proportions. "Group 4 — Sugar (granulated, pulverized, brown, and maple), honey, molasses, sirup, and other sweets. Unless some of the fuel is in this form the diet is likely to be lacking in flavor. "Group 5 — Foods very rich in fat: Bacon, salt pork, butter, oil, suet, lard, cream, etc. These are important sources of body fuel. Without a little of them the food would not be rich enough to taste good. "Some food materials really belong in more than one group. Cereals, for example, supply protein as well as starch; potatoes supply starch as well as the mineral matters, acids, cellulose, and body-regulating substances, for which they are especially valuable; and most meat supplies fat as well as protein. For the sake of simplicity, however, each material is here grouped according to the nutrient for which it is usually considered most valuable. These points are all brought out in more detail in other bulletins which discuss the special groups.