The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-08-26
DETERIORATION IN OUR DAILY FOOD.

There can be no doubt that during the
past decade food has undergone a steady
degradation. and this cannot be without q
demoralizing influence upon the human
| race 1t will be noticed that by far the
majority of cases of tampering with food
relate to the substl.~. .On Of cheaper
| article rather than to the addition Of an in
furious substance. The common defense is
that modern conditions of life MAKE substi-
| tuition necessity. 1t Is difficult to see the
logic of such defense-at least in a num-
Der Of instances.
1t Is urged. for instance lnat jam or
| marmalade cannot be made without the
addition of glucose which prevents the
preserve from crystallizing. NOW long be-
fore glucose was household word jams
they were, too, consisting entirely Of sugar
and fruit. In the same way we are told
that beer must be brewed from sugar, and
that brewing exclusively from malt pre-
sents untold difficulties. Again, golden
syrup, which used formely to be the re-
| fined syrup of molasses, consists largely
now of artificial sugar, which is doubtless
more marketable product, but is not the
same thing as cane sugar. Yet. again, We
are told that the pubic demand a perfectly
white loaf of bread. the truth in reality
being that machinery has produced q
| roller our which is an inferior thing to the
now. we suppose. extinct stOne-milled
| -four. Instances of this sort could be null
| tiplied.
| We could wish that all those keeping
house would make up their minds seri-
ously to return to the excellent custom Of
preparing many articles of food for them
selves at home Who does not admit the
charm of homemade bread, home-brewed
beer or homemade jam, and simply be-
| cause they are known to be made from
| an honest formula which has stood the
| test OF time and from good materials
! which yield a palatable product? Even
n ia ali in cd wi, tor,
bread. with that fascinating brown color
| of rich wheaton flour. containing the en-
tire nutritious portions Of the berry and
! possession of that delightful wheaton
| of bread, is difficult to obtain. The bakers
| loaf is, as a rule tasteess, insipid article
which requires a considerable appetite be-
fore the idea of eating 1t can be enter
tanned. No wonder that the taste for bread
| is steadily diminishing, and undoubtedly
less bread is consumed than used to be
the case. AS is well known, bread con-
tains almost every element Of food neces-
sary for existence, but we should be sorry
| for the person who tried to subsist entirely
upon the modern embarrassing loaf made
| from blanched roller mill -four
1t has recently been stated that the
degradation of the teeth SO noticeable
among us now is due to roller ml..lng hav-
| ing largely supplanted stone milling. We
should not be surprised. The degradation
of food is very serious matter and Is
bound to lead sooner or later to the degra-
daton of the eater. No movement could
confer greater blessing upon the people
than that which aimed at bringing about
return to the older and more rational
methods of preparing food. Let us see
more of the homemade article than we
! now see; let us return to more BILE
food and to food that will do more good
Ian the machine-made stuffs and the end
less series of substitutes. In all the schools
throughout the land we would nave the
| children taught the advantages of home
made food. and how that bread, fruit, jam
or even beer and cider can be made at
home. 1t would encourage a spirit Of in
| dustry, it would give us palatable and
i nourishing articles to eat or drink, and
might have a very wholesome effect upon
those who seeem deliberately to alternate
food much as possible or who pay 90
regard to Its naturally endowed palatab4
| ity.-London Lancet.