Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-02
THE FOOD PROBLEM
How We Might Live Better
at a Smaller Cost.
POOR MANS RATION
RESULTS OF SEVERAL YEARS OF
INVESTIGATION.
Economy Reduced to a Limit-Practi-
cal Suggestions for Wise
Housekeepers.

Copyright. 1903, by John Elfreth Watkins, Jr)
Written for The Evening Star.
Dating tactics for the poor man are
shortly to be issued by Uncle Sam. This
publication will summarize for the popular
mind the practical results of the several
years investigation of the food problem
made by the chemists of the Department
of Agriculture.
The government is spending $4,000 year
for this important economic work, which
began in 1894 with an appropriation of $10,-
600.
The American palate is holding thousands
of Yankee noses to the grindstone. Much
bright coin might be dropped into our
stockings nightly if it were not for two I'M
fortunate conditions which confront us, viz.
Our palates are overeducated.
Our houSekeeperS are oVerignOrant.
The eating habits of 200 families-wh1te,
black and yellow-scattered over the coun-
try, some paupers of the slums, others
scions of prosperous families, have been
studied by trained chemists. In Uncle Sans
food laboratory directed by w. o. At
water, men have been locked up for days at
a time in an alright bOx-which analyses
even their breath-and have been studied
under varying conditions of rest and work.
By skillful application of chemistry it has
been determined just what proportion OF
each food constituent the average man, wo-
man and child of his respective class needs,
what proportions of different foods he
digests and which of two foods of the same
price nourishes him the more.
Gold Mine of "Don'ts."
A gold mine of new and valuable 'dont's''
and dos never before brought to the at
tention of the eating public have thus been
deduced and are being embodied in the new
publication. Here follows the pith of the
argument Mix up little flour paste,
housewife, and stick this column upon your
kitchen wall for it is alive with the germs
of economy.
Bear this in mind to begin with:
A man at hard muscular work requires
one-fifth more food than a man at moder-
ately active muscular work.
A man at Sedentary occupation, woman
at moderately active work, boy 1914 and
a girl 1915 years old require eight-tenths
the food of a man at moderately active
muscular work
girl 1914 years old require seven-tenths the
food of man at moderately active mus
cular work.
A child under two years old requires
three-tenths the food of man at moder
ately active muscular work.
The next thing which every houSekeeper
should have driven into her head sounds
trifle technical, but it is, in fact, simple.
1t is this
The nutrients of food are: "a Protein,
found almost pure in the white of egg the
curd of milk, the gluten of wheat and the
lean of meat; (2) fats, found in the fat of
meat, butter, olive Oil, oils of corn, wheat,
etc; 90 carbohydrates, founr in sugars
and starches; "a mineral matters. in the
form of phosphates Of lime, potash, soda,
ETC.
The protein forms tissue, the fats are
stored in the body as fat, the carbohydrates
are transformed into fat, and the mineral
matters share in forming bone, while they
also assist in digestion.
Protein is the most valuable of these con-
stituents The value of any food material
depends chiefly upon the proportion of pro-
teip which it will furnish for building and
repairing the body. 1t is this constituent
which 'holds body and soul together"
Daily Needs Determined.
Don't feed your family an excess of pro-
TEN, however as it is by far the most ex
pensive of the four constituents of food.
Besides being a costly waste, az Oversup-
ply of this will result in arrangement of
health The amounts of fats and carboiI5'-
drates in the food may vary more or less
with taste although sometimes an over
Indulgence in these may derange the sys-
tenn. A man at hard muscular work needs
to eat $50 grams. or a little over five
ounces of protein in his food per day. Add
ed to this he must consume enough fats
and carbohydrates to bring the total EN-
ergy' of his diet up to a standard which
our government dietarianS fail to express
in popular terms, but which the European
standard tables place at 100 grams, or
about three and one-half ounces of fat. and
40 grams, or nearly pound of carbohy-
drateS daily. Summing up, hard-Worklns
man needs per day over five ounces of lean
of meat, white of egg, curd of milk, etc;
about three and one-half ounces of meat
fat butter, oil, etc, and about pound of
sugars, starches etc.
A man at light muscular work needs one
fifth less and a woman doing light work
demands seven-tenths the food of the man
doing light work But all of this protein
and fat and carbohydrates are mixed up in
our food, and only chemist can determine
the proportion of those constituents which
a given piece of meat or vegetable contains.
The government chemists have now deter
mined that to a nicely, and the rules given
in the new eating tactics of the poor man
hinge upon their figures.
A table in this publication will show how
much protein and energy ten cents will buy
if invested in any of the well-known foods.
Thus dimes worth of flank of beef con-
tains .2S4 lbs. of protein, while the same
investment in tenderloin steak will buy .064
lbs. of protein.
articles when endeavoring to market for
economy! Figure on the articles cost in
proportion to the nutritive material fur
nished! This is the strongest point made
learns to apply it the secret of economy is
mastered. For example:
Common Extravagances.
There is much total nutriment in
pound of wheat -four costing cents as in
three and one-half quarts, about seven
pounds. of oysters, costing s1.26. Thus
food which contains little protein or energy
and is high in price is an eXtravagant pur-
chase for the poor man. On the other hand
another article may be high in price and
yet actually cheap, because furnishing large
amounts of protein or energy
Cabbage at 21a cents per pound is low in
price when judged by its bulk. But it is
really expensive in comparison with wheat
bread. Ten cents worth of wheat flour
contains almost seven times much pro-
TEN and over ten times as much energy as
10 cents worth of cabbage. Thus a low
priced article is not necessarily a cheap
source of nutrients.
Ten cents worth of salt mackerel beans
or flour will furnish more material for
building up the body and giving it energy