Food and freedom

Of these steps, the first, perhaps, that of plan- ning the meals, requires the most thought, for we can no longer provide good meals except through the understanding application of the food facts assembled in the preceding chapter. It is the only way to give every one the best and the most for the least; to play fair, as it were, to every interest — home, country, self. Fortunately, this is not really as difficult as it may sometimes seem. In order to feed wisely, economically, and patriotically it is not necessary, literally, to weigh and measure every meal. We could not if we would. Scientific menu-building means, bluntly, only that we should become so familiar with the most important food facts that we are able to reduce this knowledge to common sense, habit, or second nature for daily practice, and use it, technically, as a checking system, whenever special need demands. If the family is dissatisfied, if there are doctor's bills, if children are fretful or white, if we are spending more money for food than the family ^G FOOD AND FREEDOM budget allows, then cold science must come to our rescue until we can find the cause of the trouble, and a remedy. If there is no trouble — if the family is well and happy, if there is neither waste nor extravagance, if the meals appear with little effort, if we know how to substitute foods equally good to take the place of those denied for any reason, because of poverty, scarcity, crop failures — then, although we may not realize it, we are feeding scientifically. Briefly reviewed, from the facts outlined in Chapter V, we now know: That the food elements include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, certain ash or mineral constitu- ents, small but significant amounts of accessory factors, water, and bulk; that these various principles act as fuel, repair, growth, and regu- lating material for the body, and are present in varying proportions in natural foods; that they are all needed by every normal, active body, the exact proportions of each element, and the total amount of nourishment depend- ing largely on the age, sex, size of an individual, and the amount of work to be accomplished in a day; that this nourishment must be supplied from a variety of foods, and that quality, di- gestibility, proper cooking, flavor, relish, ap- pearance are all part of the complete dietetic value of any food. Moreover, we have learned and must remember: PLANNING THE MEALS -j-j That the market price of food in no way deter- mines the nutritive value; that, for practical purposes, the nutrit.^ve value of a food is best measured according to the number of calories it contains ; that some foods — weight for weight — contain many more calories than other foods; that every individual requires a certain, vary- ing number of calories in the course of twenty- four hours; and that by understanding these two facts it is possible to feed a family well on a certain sum of money, when, without this knowledge, the same family might be poorly fed on twice that sum. But, valuable as the calorie method of house- keeping may be, in our enthusiasm to make every bit of purchased nourishment count high, we must not overlook the fact that the number of calories required must be totaled from the proper combination, cooking, and serving of all the re- quired nutritive elements.