Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1892-01-31

To De Editor Of os Dispatch

To De Editor OF ne Dispdtch !.
Meat Il a concentrated form OF food, .
condensed product. 30 To- speak. OF corn.
| hay, and other vegetable substances,
which should form part OF cur daily fare.
| The theory Of the vegetariaDs has long ago
been Consigned by medical men and the
public generally to the waste-basket OF
Because meat is more costly than vege-
| tables-a pound of good beef-steak cost
| ing as much as ten or fifteen pounds OF po-
| tatoes-it is frequently used in insult
Gent quantities by the poor. The evil
consequences of this imperfect diet are
manifested by paleness, evacuation. and
want of mental and bodily vigor.
Because the taste of meat Is agreeable
the wealthy often consume 1t IN wasteful
and injurious quantities. The infsmma-
| tory diseases, pneumonia, pleurisy. acute
rheumatism. 6c-. frequently have their
predlsposing cause In plethora condition
OF the system caused by too tree consump-
ton Of meat. rational diet includes q
proper proportion of vegetables and fruits
with meat at every meal.
But too little attention Is paid to the
character of the meat We consume. II is
almost always overwhelmed and the cuts in
the butchers stalls are masses OF lard and
tailow
Professor Atwater, in On article on the
flood Supply of the Future in the No
vember No. of the Century, uses the follow
ing language on the subject:
"But Matchmaking IN the United States
to-day is far more wasteful than il need
be on account of the excessive fatpess OF
our meats. This comes about very Datu-
rally. We have a great excess OF soil
product IN the valleys OF the Ohio, and
Mississippi, and on the ranches OF the
West. At present the pork-maker ard the
ranchmen convert large portion OF this
into very fat meat. The pork-producers
of the great corn-growing States
select the breeds OF swine. which, as they
say, will take the most corn TO market, and
have thus got into the way OF growing
animals that are little else than masses OF
fat. The esf-growers Of the ranches. and
those OF the East as we'll, produce ex-
cessively fat meat. Part of the fat is
trimmed out of the meat by the butcher,
part is lief. on our plates nj the table to go
TO the soap man or garbage-barrel, and
part is eaten.
Unfortunately very many of us eat much
more fat both in meat and butter than Is
needed for nourishment, and thus do In
jury TO our health"
Such excessively fat food Is only TT for
men who work in the logging-camps OF
the north and who need heat-making food,
or for those who undergo very severe mus
cular exertion.
Beef Is better food than pork. not only
because il is more nutritious. but because
il IS impossible to fatten il 70 that excess
that pork can be fattened. The same may
be SAID of poultry. which. however fat,
contains larger proportion OF lean meat
than either beef or pork. What IS one
mans meat is another mans poison"
Fat meat is the life of those who live in
The fro1an zone IN whom IL gives warmth
and strength, and to those whose muscu-
lar systems are exhausted by hard labor.
But to the great mass of indoor workers aud
those who follow sedentary pursuits its
habitual use is prolific source OF disease
and death. ID. ID.