The Food Question E-Book

Various

• Herausgeber: Science & Technology Publishing
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 138

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

The Food Question: Health and Economy is a comprehensive exploration of the intricate relationship between diet, public health, and economic well-being, authored by the renowned physician and social reformer, Dr. C. W. Saleeby. First published in the early 20th century, this seminal work delves into the pressing issues surrounding food production, distribution, and consumption, particularly in the context of industrialized societies. Saleeby meticulously examines the impact of nutrition on individual and collective health, highlighting the consequences of malnutrition, food adulteration, and the lack of dietary education among the general populace. Drawing on contemporary scientific research and social statistics, the book advocates for a rational and equitable approach to food policy, emphasizing the need for government intervention, public education, and agricultural reform. Saleeby addresses the challenges posed by urbanization, poverty, and wartime scarcity, offering practical solutions to ensure that all citizens have access to wholesome, affordable food. He discusses the importance of fresh produce, the dangers of excessive consumption of processed foods, and the role of dietary habits in the prevention of disease. The Food Question: Health and Economy is not only a call to action for policymakers and health professionals but also a valuable resource for anyone interested in the social determinants of health. With its blend of scientific insight, social critique, and visionary proposals, the book remains a thought-provoking contribution to debates on nutrition, public health, and social justice.

Leseprobe

THE FOOD QUESTION

Letter from Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, president of Stanford University, and first assistant to Herbert Hoover, in Food Administration, to the chairman of the Pacific Press Publishing Committee, after reading the proofs of this book.

TheFOOD QUESTION

Health and EconomyBY EIGHT SPECIALISTS

"Eat ye that which is good." "That thou mayest prosper and be in health." "Eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness." "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."

Copyright 1917 by Pacific Press Publishing Association Mountain View, California Kansas City, Missouri   Portland, Oregon   Brookfield, Illinois Calgary, Alberta, Canada   Cristobal, Canal Zone

CONTENTS

Frontispiece

Letter from Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur

2

Publishers' Foreword

5

Hoover and What He and Wilson Say

6

Food Economy

By E. A. Sutherland, M. D.

7–15

Loaf of War Bread on Field of Gettysburg

16

Food Elements and Simplicity of Diet

By E. H. Risley, M. D.

17–34

Food Tables

—Cereals, Legumes, Fruits, Nuts, Vegetables, Miscellaneous

23–27

Necessary Knowledge to Careful Planning

Ladies' Home Journal

34

Vitamines and Calories

By D. D. Comstock, M. D.

35–46

A Word of Advice to Women

By Lord Northcliffe

46

Fruits and Their Dietetic Value

By George A. Thomason, M. D., L. R. C. S., L. R. C. P.

47–52

Ten Reasons for a Fleshless Diet

By A. W. Truman, M. D.

53–66

Physical Benefits of Joy

By George A. Thomason, M. D.

66

Stimulants and Condiments

By Arthur N. Donaldson, M. D.

67–72

Simple Menus and Recipes

By H. S. Anderson, Food Expert

73–92

The Use of Left-Overs

By Lavina Baxter-Herzer, M. D.

93–96

The Call to You

By Dr. Anna Howard Shaw

96

Publishers' Foreword

This book was planned before Food Conservation was by the mass considered seriously. The writers of the various articles are thoroughly qualified to speak where they have spoken. They are practical, conscientious, Christian, and have at heart the best in the needs of humanity. Every one strikes a major chord in the song of healthful, economical living. The recipes are from the author of "Food and Cookery," who has had a score of years' experience in every station and phase of the preparation of food, under French, English, German, and Spanish chefs. He has been second cook in the Calumet Club of Chicago, the California Club, Los Angeles, and in many leading hotels in various cities. For ten years, he has given his best thought and study to the preparation of the best in food, scientific, palatable, wholesome, and economic, most of this time in the Sanitarium and College of Medical Missionaries, Loma Linda, California. Special attention is called to the valuable tables of Food Elements, and to the newly demonstrated values of vitamines and the substances which destroy them.

We are grateful for the kind word spoken by Dr. Ray Lyman Wilbur, president of Stanford University, and first assistant to Mr. Hoover in the Federal Food Administration Department; also for the help and suggestions of Dr. Newton Evans, president of the College of Medical Evangelists, of Loma Linda, California.

The little book will, we believe, not only meet present needs, but be a safe counselor in the years to come.

Hoover    says—

© International Film

"Let the American woman stop, before anything is thrown away; and let her ask herself, 'Can it be used in my home, in some other home, or in the production of further food supply by feeding it to animals used also for food?'

"Let her order her meals so that there will be plenty—for there is plenty—but not too much.

"The intelligent woman of America must make a proper study of food ratios, so that the most nutritious foods will appear in their proper proportions on the home table.

"The man who complains at the result of his wife's efforts to conserve food is doing her an inexcusable injury. He should never hesitate to coöperate in her wise conservation plans."

Wilson says—

"In no direction can they [the women of America] so greatly assist as by enlisting in the service of the food administration and cheerfully accepting its direction and advice. By so doing, they will increase the surplus of food available for our own army and for exports to the allies. To provide adequate supplies for the coming year is of absolutely vital importance to the conduct of the war; and without a very conscientious elimination of waste and very strict economy in our food consumption, we cannot hope to fulfill this primary duty."

FOOD ECONOMY

by E. A. SUTHERLAND, A. B., M. D. of the State Bureau of Food Conservation of Tennessee

From the days of ancient Egypt, when Joseph, who stood at the head of the great food conservation movement of the time, called the attention of the world to the need of food economy, down through history to the present time, the human race has passed through numerous crises when the questions of food production and food economy have been vital. That Hebrew, promoted to the first place in the Egyptian empire because of his wonderful grasp of a world problem and his executive ability, enabled that kingdom to feed the world. America to-day, as Egypt of old, is an international granary, and is asked to feed the nations; and her population—every man, woman, and child—must coöperate with America's Joseph to-day in meeting the situation by proper production, proper conservation, and strict economy. "This war is a food war even more than it is a gun war." Let us fight to save lives. That is the battle to be won through food economy.

It was when the Roman world was running riot that, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, Christ gave His wonderful lesson on the subject of food conservation. We call it a miracle when with five thousand men, besides the women and the children, seated about Him, He fed the multitudes. That same power is to-day, and always has been, feeding the men of earth. From a basket of seed, each recurring harvest puts thousands of loaves of bread into the hands of the world's hungry; the two small fishes continue to multiply; rich and poor alike are fed by the great Provider. And now as then, after human wants are met, the mandate goes forth, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." Economy is again being preached as it was once taught on the shores of Galilee. There has been started a great educational movement for increased food production. But that is only a part of the message. "Gather up the fragments," prevent waste, utilize the scraps, the gospel of a clean plate,—these are all familiar phrases in the great conservation movement of to-day. By many, food conservation and food economy are deemed not only national problems, but a part of the divine message taught by Christ and His disciples.

The great world war which began in 1914 has compelled every nation to halt and consider its national habits.

Undoubtedly the United States is the most prodigal of nations. Approximately sixty per cent of its population is now urban. Simple rural life is practically gone; and those artificial and extravagant standards of the city which destroy body, mind, and soul have taken its place. "Fullness of bread and abundance of idleness," two of the reasons assigned by the Scriptures for the downfall of Sodom, are conditions which to-day are ruining American civilization. No other nation has ever indulged such extravagance and prodigality as has the United States. We search the world over for table delicacies. American inventive genius has made it possible to have foods from all parts of the world, both in season and out of season. The arts of canning and preserving and the making of factory foods have loaded our cupboard shelves with eatables of which our fathers never dreamed.

While this interchange has its advantages, and we should appreciate the privilege of eating the wholesome products of other countries, yet when easy methods of transportation lead people to limit their productions to money crops, forsaking the raising of their own food, a wrong principle has been introduced. The benefit to be derived from this variety of imported food is neutralized by the extravagant habits and tastes thus cultivated.

Economy of Food Elements

Man is made from the dust of the earth; and by divine law, his body continues to build and rebuild from chemically organized soil. To be intelligent, food economists require a knowledge of the four food elements,—proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals,—and the relation each sustains to the human body. Later chapters contain valuable instruction in these respects.

It is poor economy to allow valuable mineral salts to be removed from flour by milling, from rice by polishing, and from vegetables by wrong methods of cooking. These minerals are necessary for the development of the child, for the preservation of teeth and bones, for high efficiency in the nervous system, and for a proper functioning of the various organs in the body. There is no economy in buying denatured grain, even though it is put up in cartons, at ten times the price of the natural grain.

"Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite." Stop the immense waste of strength, energy, money, and time due to mere gratification of appetite. Stop preparing food that is intended simply to coax the appetite to the point where eating becomes gluttony. In the words of an eminent authority, "Most men would attain better health and greater efficiency if they would reduce their rations by twenty-five per cent or more." The celebrated Dr. Osler tells us that "we eat too much after forty years of age," and he advises every wise man to restrict his eating as he grows older, "and at last descend out of life as he ascended into it, even into a child's diet."

Overeating

Food economy is not a call to a starvation diet, but to a balanced ration of wholesome, well prepared food. Overeating of even the best food produces poisons that injure the tissues, overwork the organs of digestion, and in time may bring the body to actual starvation conditions.

A man's appetite is not always a safe guide. Artificial surroundings in childhood make the normal appetite the exception rather than the rule. Few children are taught, by parents, teachers, or preachers, the importance of restricting the appetite. The seeds of intemperance sown by those who prepare food for the family table bring a larger harvest than does the work of all the devil's agencies in saloons and tobacco shops combined. Millions of dollars are worse than wasted by the conversion of food materials into strong drinks to satisfy appetites perverted by wrong habits of eating. Why are our schools and churches more interested in the maintenance of a worn-out, traditional educational system, and an abstract, impractical religion, than in some of these vital teachings? We look to legislation to cure degenerate appetites for which we are largely responsible through false education in home and school and church. Starving ones of earth are deprived of food when we convert it into strong drink; the process requires the time and strength of a great army of workers; and transportation facilities now used for carrying whisky, tobacco, and other body- and mind-destroying substances, might be used in transporting the foods we waste. It is estimated that we waste enough in our kitchens to feed ten million people. "Blessed art thou, O land, when ... thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!"

Some Economies

Dr. Osler has said that "pie north of the Mason and Dixon line, and hot bread south of it, have done more harm than alcohol." The best breads contain the whole grain; they are well baked, require considerable chewing, resist the pressure of the teeth, and save dental bills. Thorough mastication neutralizes an abnormal appetite.

Rich pastries, harmful condiments, tea and coffee,—narcotics recognized as extravagant, harmful, and useless beverages,—are being discarded for the sake of both health and economy. Remove the cream and the sugar from tea and coffee, and they have no food value.

Use the coffee mill to grind wheat, rye, and corn, that you may enjoy the vitamines, the mineral salts, and other elements often removed by the manufacturer.

Many people prominent in social circles are eliminating all lunches served between regular meals and eaten for merely social purposes. Such lunches impose a burden on the body and the purse. Wealthy and influential women are setting a good example by going to market in person, in order to make intelligent and economical purchases for their tables, and by carrying their supplies home, in order to save the added cost of the delivery system. People are beginning to realize that by such economical methods, they can serve their country, the world, and themselves.

Some have thought it necessary to eat from three to five meals a day. The war is helping them to appreciate a physiological truth taught for years by a few reformers,—that two meals a day are better even than three.

Many countries, for economy's sake, now prohibit the use, for food, of young and undeveloped animals. They discourage the extensive use of immature plant foods. The world war is terrible, yet there is some compensation in the fact that present conditions are making minds more susceptible to the principles of right living. For years, some earnest men and women have been teaching that God intended that man should live on a meatless diet. To-day, not only are nations asking that men eat less meat, but they are having their meatless days. Because of the impossibility of securing flesh foods in some countries, millions of earth's inhabitants have learned that the body can be kept in splendid condition without the use of animal proteins and fats. No strong arguments are necessary to convince people that flesh foods are expensive when it is known that ten pounds of grain suitable for human food are required to produce in the animal one pound of flesh food.

Meat Substitutes

The high cost of flesh foods is turning attention to meat substitutes. Proteins and fats of the vegetable world are not only cheaper, but they are more wholesome than flesh. For example: The soy bean, recently introduced to the American table, contains, pound for pound, and at one fifth the cost, almost twice as much available protein and fat as the best beefsteak. Besides that, it offers the eater a good supply of starch.

"We have got to learn to buy wisely, cook wisely, eat wisely, and waste nothing." The great countries of Europe are utilizing the best talent of their statesmen and scientists in teaching the people these ideas. This should be a most impressive lesson to home, to church, and to school, since these agencies have so far forgotten their mission that it is necessary for this great war to arouse us.

Let religious and educational leaders redeem the time. Let them coöperate with national economists who now are urging the people—

To use more home-ground flour and meal.

To use the natural rice with its vitamines instead of the polished product.

To substitute vegetable oils for dairy butter in cooking.

To have a simpler variety of food at each meal.

To serve a dessert, when one is deemed necessary, for its food value and as a part of a balanced ration.

To bake or boil potatoes in the skins, in order to preserve the mineral salts.

To utilize for soups and gravies the water in which vegetables, macaroni, and rice are boiled.

To serve only one food of high protein value at a meal.

To feed to animals nothing that can be utilized by the human body.

To allow vegetables, grains, and legumes to ripen, that their full food value may be obtained, and that the expense of canning may be avoided.

To can or dry all fruits and vegetables that cannot be preserved in any other way.

To substitute other cereals for wheat, which can be shipped abroad.

A wheatless meal every day will drive many to appreciate the value of other grains, whose use heretofore has been largely perverted. Corn, rye, barley, and oats are not appreciated as they should be. They have been used largely in the manufacture of intoxicating drinks and for feeding animals to procure meat. It has been said that the Revolutionary War was won by men fed on hasty