FoodNet

True food values and their low costs

1916

Page 7

Presented as published in 1916. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Physiology teaches us that food is that sub- stance which, when properly introduced into the body, builds tissue, restores waste, and furnishes heat. These are the three principal functions of food, which should be performed. The second- ary function of food, however, that of social enjoyment, should not be neglected. A table that is attractive in appearance and congenial companions serve to render more effective the primary purposes of food. Food may be divided into four classes : 1. Nitrogenous foods, or proteins, which nourish the muscles, brain, nerves, and tendons, and furnish some heat. 2. Starchy foods and sugars, commonly called carbohydrates, which nourish the fatty tissues, and furnish heat. 3- Fat foods (oils), which take but little part in tissue-building, but are fundamentally heat- producers. 4. Mineral foods — sodium chloride, or com- 22 TRUE FOOD VALUES mon salt, lime, phosphorus, iron. etc. — whidi are particularly useful in nourishing the bones and teeth, aid digestion, and are necessary in the translations of the fluids in the body. Calorie is a term used to designate the quan- tity of heat afforded by a food product during J the process of digestion. The unit of measure I is one gram of water (fifteen grains) : the luiiti of temperature is one degree centigrade (one 1 and eight-tenths Fahrenheit). A calorie, there- fore, measures the quantity of heat which will I raise the temperature of one gram of water one j degree centigrade. When a food is completely burned in the body, the same number of calories is produced as if it ' were burned in a calorimeter. It will be seen ' that fat burned in the body produces the same number of calories as fat that is burned outside the body in a calorimeter. The same may be said of sugar and starch. It may well be said that food is the fuel of the i human system, and that man is made up of the -j sum total of what he eats. What food is and its true purpose is a study ' well worth while, for health efficiency and length of life depend on the food you eat. How important, then, it is to select, combine. AND THEIR LOW COSTS 23 and proportion your food according to occupa- tion and the season of the year. There has lately been established in the Health Department Building, in New York, a restaurant which makes a study of food in relation to efficiency. The bill of fare furnishes more information about the relation of diet to health than was ever before packed into so small a space. Every day there is a liberal supply of dishes, ready cooked, with the amount of nutrition in each described ; that is, how much protein they contain, how much fat, and how many carbohydrates. The little menu card also tells the customer how many calories a day he needs. Another interesting feature of the menu, besides the names of the dishes that are ready, are two different luncheons, each furnishing the same food value, but differing from each other in price. The following, for example, is the list fur- nished for one day ; Low-cost Luncheon, Balanced Ration CALO- FROTEItl PRICE QUANTITY KIES GRAMS Tomato soup 5e. 'A pint 150 3.00 24 TRUE FOOD VALUES CALO- FBOTEIN PRICE QUAHTIry RIE5 GEAllS Ice cream 5c. 2 heaping to- blespaons 270 60 WkoU^heai bread 2 slices 140 S.S ■wiih butter ^ ounce 110 ISc 1020 31.0 High-cost Luncheon, Balanced Ration Tomato soup Sc. 'A pint 130 3.0 Potted roast 20c. 3yi ounces 250 20.0 Creamed spinach with egg 5c. 2 heaping ta- blespoons SS 2.0 Gingerbread 4c. 2 ounces 220 3.5 Coffee 4c. I cup Whole-Tvheat bread 2 slices 140 5.S with butter V^ ounce 110 38c 905 Ma