Food and freedom

WHAT WE SHOULD KNOW 33 For additional help consult and keep in touch with the home economic publications and food bulletins issued by: The State Agricultural Colleges. The United States Department of Agriculture, Wash- ington, D. C. The United States Food Administration, Washington, D. C. Woman's Committee, Council of National Defense, Washington, D. C. The United States Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C. Note. — Education for the Home, parts i, ii, iii, and iv, by Benjamin R. Andrews, Ph.D., published by the United States Bureau of Education, contains a very comprehensive survey of the whole subject of Home Economics, its development and progress, with a list of colleges and universities in the United States teaching Home Economics and related subjects; part iv contains a very complete list of references on Education for the Home, including standard books, periodicals, and syllabuses, with a list of cities and towns in the United States in which Home Eco- nomics or Household Arts is taught. See also references listed in subsequent chapters, particularly Chapters VII, VIII, and XI. IV THE WORLD ON A DIET But what of that, where, down the roll, Each has the chance to prove, at par, The steel-shod manhood of his soul Against whatever odds there are; The chance to suffer — and to grow — That some day, when the flags are furled. The children of to-day may know A finer and a better world. — Grantland Rice, from " 1918 — The Soldier." |UT a ready, reasonable grasp of the food knowledge outlined, and its prac- tical application to the life of the home, is not yet the end of our food problem. There is one more milestone to be reached and passed. And every law of self-preservation and himianity demands this final effort. All the food knowledge we can master must now be wisely and profitably applied to the very special national and world food conditions, food needs, and food possibilities as they exist at present. This calls for judgment, foreright, self-denial, the vridest THE WORLD ON A DIET 35 kind of vision, the truest patriotism as well as scientific knowledge in the selection and use of whatever food we may be entitled to. In the original scheme of primitive living, eating was very simple. Nature supplied a limited variety of needed foods, and gave to man the instinct to choose the proper one at the proper time. But with progress came many changes in our ideals and methods of living. The twentieth century, particularly, opened new possibilities, created new needs, provided many and varied means of satisfying those needs — all with a con- sequent effect on our food-supply, and in our attitude toward that supply. Improvements in agrictdture, increased transportation facilities, de- velopments in the science of food preservation, the practical application of chemistry and bac- teriology to food materials, gave us a bewildering choice of foods. Wherever we lived, whatever food the world could grow was ours. Foods never known or grown before became common. The package with the label was created. Out- of-season foods, new foods, predigested foods, concentrated foods, specially prepared foods, ready-to-eat foods were pressed upon us. We were tempted and pampered at every turn. Out of this abundance came confusion, lack of appreciation, extravagance, over-indulgence, waste. Our instinct deserted us; we had no