FoodNet

True food values and their low costs

1916

Page 2

Presented as published in 1916. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AND THEIR LOW COSTS 3 The young and growing child requires more of the building material than does the adult. In the latter new structure does not have to be formed, only as it is necessary to replace what is used up, or consumed, in the wear and tear of life. Consequently, the demand for nitrogenous elements and minerals is less, in proportion to the size of the body, in age than in youth. Professor Graham Lusk makes the following statement in his lecture on "The Fundamental Basis of Nutrition:" "Since the efficiency of labor depends upon energy and constant repair of the hody, it is certainly of no small moment that the citizen should know how best to maintain the machine at a maximum of efficiency. Not only that, but in time o£ trouble he should know where to turn to find nourishment in the form which is best and cheapest "Who will give him this information? Will the manufac- turer of canned tomatoes tell him that tomatoes are valueless in his extremity? No, not unless the manufac- turer is forced to do so. And how can the manufaclurer be forced to give this information? By being compelled by law to label his can, "This contains — -* calories, of which per cent are in proteins of Grade C." In the American home there does not exist any rational basis for the family diet. This is owing principally to the meager knowledge of the comparative nutritive value of various kinds of food. The tempting and bewildering variety of food 4 TRUE FOOD VALUES offered to the man of the present day demands an insight and knowledge that will enable him to choose so as to incretise and not to lower his physical efficiency. The human body must be considered as a perfect machine, using food as its fuel to generate power. The food is meas- ured in terms of fuel value, the heat unit being called a calorie. The amount required varies from two thousand to three thousand five hun- dred calories, depending upon age, occupation, and sex. The protein element must be supplied to the body, without which it cannot thrive. A family of the average mechanic or workingman, wife, and three children under sixteen years of age, requires twelve thousand calories. Twelve hundred to eighteen hundred calories should be of protein, that is, from ten to fifteen per cent, of the total required. In a total of one hundred calories, a whole egg contains thirty-six protein calories, a slice of bread weighing one and four-tenths ounces, fourteen protein calories; a lamb chop weighing one and four -tenth ounces, twenty-three protein calories ; and lentils weighing one ounce, twenty- nine protein calories. The necessary number of calories is fortunately contained in our daily supply of food — in the albu- AND THEIR LOW COSTS men of the egg, the casein of milk, the myosin of meat, the gluten of wheat, the legumin of peas, beans, and lentils — so the body is not neglected. Upon the amount of energy our body can give us as a machine depends its usefulness and our efficiency. A question of economic value now arises when we consider the price of the material supplied. The protein is the most valuable as well as the most expensive part of our food supply. It is therefore well to have a list of foods, so that where possible we can substitute the less for the more expensive. The housewife should know the cost of foods, reahze what food value she is receiving for her money spent, and appreciate the fact that, strange as it may seem, the millionaire's dinner and the beggar's lunch may contain the same few, sim- ple elements of nutrition. She should also realize that the art of cooking can transform the common but nutritious foods into the most appetizing dishes. To provide for a family of five protein of which five per cent, is animal and ten per cent, vegetable, such as bread, Professor Lusk gives a table with the cost as follows : 6 TRUE FOOD VALUES