The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-09-03
THE COST AND VALUE.
The Worth of Food Does
Not Mean the Money
Paid for 1t.
To the Editor Of The Spy:


The time is fast approaching when
the cost and value of the food we eat
will have to be considered more than
now, This. is. a question that has not
heretofore entered into the thoughts of
the American people, for the reason
that there has always been an abund-
ance Of food in this country, and it has
been so cheap that qualification of the
palate, rather than nutrition of the
body, has been the prevailing thought.
AS the population increases, the price
of food must necessarily increase with
it, as we find to have been the case dur
ing the last fifty years. With those
that are well-to-do this is of little con-
| sequence; but with the laboring classes
l>who cannot afford to waste their hard
earned money, it is of the greatest i'm
portance.
Food being for the purpose of build
ing up and keeping the body in repair,
beside furnishing fuel to heat and sup
ply force and energy to perform work
either physical or mental, its value is
to be estimated on that basis rather
than on what it's cost is In the market,
for cost and value do not often run par
allel with each other in food, whatever
they may do in other things. AS an
illustration of this, the following figures
which are based on tables to be found
in Farmers Bulletin No 20 and Bulle-
tin No. %, office of experiment sta
tions. department of agriculture,
Washington, D. c., will no doubt be in
teresting and instructive.
To compare the value of all of the
foods that are commonly used would
occupy too much space, and. it is well
to make comparisons for the sake of
illustration only, and with few of the
staple articles of diet, and as beans
and oysters are used extensively in
New England, it will be advisable to
commence with them. The popular
opinion Of the value of beans is correct,
for there are few articles of diet that
contain more nutrition, but oysters
have always been greatly overrated.
The amount of nutrition that is con-
tanned in rs cents worth of beans at s.
cents per pound would cost In oysters
at so cents per quart, 1919, and in eggs
at Is cents per dozen, 81; 25 cents worth
of corn meal at 8 cents per pound con-
tains nutriment that in smoked ham
at 10 cents per pound would cost 81
cents; 25 cents worth of potatoes at co.
cents per bushel will furnish as much
nourishment as would cost in fresh cod
at 10 cents per pound, S5S; and %
cents worth of shredded wheat biscuit
q eartons) is equal in nutritive value
to Sc cents worth of sirloin steak at 25
cents per pound, or 20 cents worth of
rib roast at IS cents per pound, for
here, again, cost and value do not cor
respond it being usually the case that
the cheaper cuts of meat increase in
nutritive value as their cost de-
creaseS.
1t will be seen that these figures do
not agree with popular opinion in some
directions perhaps in all, but they are
easily verified by any one who is ca
pable of understanding the first prin-
ciples of arithmetic, and it is not the
first time that opinions and facts have
come in conflict. True enough, they
are directly opposed to experience, for
physical vigor appears to accompany
flesh eating, and without attempting to-
discuss the question of vegetarianism
in this paper, it may be said in passing
that as flesh meat is stimulating, the
sensations of those that eat it are unre-
liable, for it is not long ago that the
opinion was just as generally held that
no one could do hard work without the
use of liquor. This opinion has been
dead and buried for years, and the
other is destined to find, at no distant
date, a resting place in the same grave.
The workingman need not be troubled
about the recent rise in butchers meat,
for he will be none the worse off if he
eats less of it to make UP for the in
crease of cost.
That the bulk Of human food should
be of vegetable origin. is admitted, even
by those that advocate a mixed diet,
but even here serious errors may be
and are committed in preparation and
cooking.
AS food, as has been stated is for the
purpose of building up the tissues and
furnishing heat and energy to the body,
the cheapest and best food Is that
which fulfills these requirements the
most completely. 1t is very easy to
determine the fuel value of food, for 1t
can be measured accurately on the liv-
ing subject from day to day by expert
ment, but what is going on within the
body in the process of building up and
repair of structures, is not so easily
arrived at. 1t is well known that all
of the structures contain nitrogen, and
1t is therefore assumed that no food can
be used to build up tissue that does
not contain this element
This opinion has been found to be in
the main correct, but not altogether so,
for 1t is found that very nearly, II not
quite, half of the heterogeneous food never
goes into the structures at all, but Is
used for the production of heat and
energy, like any other fuel food and, or