What food is, its composition and how it nourishes us; how it is manufactured and transported ; " pure food " ; sanitary and convenient markets ; the cost of food and how to buy; principles of food preparation; suitable combina- tions and amounts 6i food. These topics are all treated in this volmne, and should be considered as important as the actual preparation of food. Food Materials What is f obd ? — This would seem to be a difficult ques- tion to answer as we look about a modern grocery or market with its bewildering assortment of foods. It seems hardly possible to describe such a variety of articles in a brief sen- 4 FOODS AND HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT tence, or to find a definition that will apply to all. Yet we seem to know instinctively what food is, although we may not find it easy to give a. definition. Even the lower animals are guided in selecting food by some natural instinct and seldom make a mistake. A widely used government bulletin gives this definition : " Food is that which taken into the body builds tissue or yields energy or does both." Probably we have learned this in our physiology, and admit it to be true, but for practical purposes, we need a more complete statement than this. Let us carefully determine what our foods really are, and what elements they contain, in order that we may select wisely for purposes of nutrition, and also that we may learn how to prepare food materials in a way that will utilize every- thing in them and waste nothing. Vegetable and animal foods. — It is easy to divide food materials in a general way into those derived from the vege- table kingdom and those derived from the animal kingdom. In the vegetable group we have first, the different parts of many plants, and second, substances manufactured from plants. While we do not usually eat the whole of any one plant, yet there is not any part of the plant that we have not adopted as food. We use roots and tubers in beets, carrots, and potatoes, and the onion is a bulb. In celery and asparagus we eat the plant stalk. Plant leaves give us lettuce and other salads, cabbage and the like. Peas and beans^ and nuts are seeds, and cauliflower is a part of the flower. The fruit as a whole is familiar in many forms. Manufactured vegetable food materials include flour, meals, breakfast cereals, starch, sugar, molasses and sirups. The animal kingdom gives us the flesh of animals, fish and shell fish, and substances derived from animals, like eggs, milk, and the milk products, cream, butter, and cheese. FOOD MATERIALS AND FOODSTUFFS 6 These materials vary so much in appearance that they would seem to have nothing in common. If, however, we compare the food of different animals and different races of men, we cannot but conclude that this is a mistaken judg- ment. We find an animal like the lion feeding entirely upon the flesh of other animals, and a strong creature like the ox, eating nothing but grass and grain. We also note that one race of men includes meat in its diet, and another subsists almost entirely upon vegetable food, such as rice and beans. Yet in both cases, these diverse kinds of food accomplish the same end, — body building and the supplying of energy. Let us study two conmion foods, from the two kingdoms, and see if through this study we can discover in what ways they are alike.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

What food is, its composition and how it nourishes us; how it is manufactured and transported ; " pure food " ; sanitary and convenient markets ; the cost of food and how to buy; principles of food preparation; suitable combinations and amounts 6i food. These topics are all treated in this volume, and should be considered as important as the actual preparation of food. Food Materials What is food ? — This would seem to be a difficult question to answer as we look about a modern grocery or market with its bewildering assortment of foods. It seems hardly possible to describe such a variety of articles in a brief sen- tence, or to find a definition that will apply to all. Yet we seem to know instinctively what food is, although we may not find it easy to give a definition. Even the lower animals are guided in selecting food by some natural instinct and seldom make a mistake. A widely used government bulletin gives this definition : " Food is that which taken into the body builds tissue or yields energy or does both." Probably we have learned this in our physiology, and admit it to be true, but for practical purposes, we need a more complete statement than this. Let us carefully determine what our foods really are, and what elements they contain, in order that we may select wisely for purposes of nutrition, and also that we may learn how to prepare food materials in a way that will utilize everything in them and waste nothing. Vegetable and animal foods. — It is easy to divide food materials in a general way into those derived from the vegetable kingdom and those derived from the animal kingdom. In the vegetable group we have first, the different parts of many plants, and second, substances manufactured from plants. While we do not usually eat the whole of any one plant, yet there is not any part of the plant that we have not adopted as food. We use roots and tubers in beets, carrots, and potatoes, and the onion is a bulb. In celery and asparagus we eat the plant stalk. Plant leaves give us lettuce and other salads, cabbage and the like. Peas and beans and nuts are seeds, and cauliflower is a part of the flower. The fruit as a whole is familiar in many forms. Manufactured vegetable food materials include flour, meals, breakfast cereals, starch, sugar, molasses and sirups. The animal kingdom gives us the flesh of animals, fish and shell fish, and substances derived from animals, like eggs, milk, and the milk products, cream, butter, and cheese. These materials vary so much in appearance that they would seem to have nothing in common. If, however, we compare the food of different animals and different races of men, we cannot but conclude that this is a mistaken judgment. We find an animal like the lion feeding entirely upon the flesh of other animals, and a strong creature like the ox, eating nothing but grass and grain. We also note that one race of men includes meat in its diet, and another subsists almost entirely upon vegetable food, such as rice and beans. Yet in both cases, these diverse kinds of food accomplish the same end, — body building and the supplying of energy. Let us study two conmion foods, from the two kingdoms, and see if through this study we can discover in what ways they are alike.

Foods and household management