Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-06-30
DOES MAN NEED MEATf
Use or Usefulness Of Beef Diet q De-
batabie Question.


New York Herald: The food ques-
ton is one that has appealed to man
kind from the time good mother Eve
tried her dangerous experiment with
the forbidden apple. Hers was the
first assertion OF appetite which craved
for the variety of diet which her num-
erous and equally venturesome de-
scendants have strenuously maintained
lis the real spice OF life. Every since
the primitive man ate what he could
get until the present, when his civilized
brother gets all he can eat and looks
for new yiands 90 onque the Guilt
waited instinct OF selection has been an
evolutionary and progressive one, con-
tributing to the general gayety OF ma
tions." We have perhaps gone to the
extreme OF Indulgence, like spoiled
children, but the habit is a little too
firmly seated In the saddle to be bucked
uncermoniously I'm midair by some new
and fanciful theory OF Jerking the curb
rein.
The scientists tell us we consume too
much food, n they are right, so far
as they go; but we listen and smile n
eat on, in spite of their chemical for
mulae, their test tube methods n
their Quantitative analyses OF relative
food values, So. perhaps, IL will al
ways be, as long as man, the wlllful
arbiter OF his own destinies, insists up
on living TO eat rather than eating to
live.
The real trouble. however with all
projected reforms In feeding has been
their lack of practical application to
actual needs. There is apparently no
middle ground for the discussion OF
general principles OF compromise be-
tween the actua gourmand and the
earnest and abstemious crank. Theor-
les are arbitrary on one side and facts
ere equally stubborn on the other.
When the army squad has been fed
for weeks on the accurately estimated
food equivalent OF certain approved
viands, the victims raved an ordinary
indulgence In plain old fashioned corn
beef and cabbage. The limit had been
reached, and simple nature made her
own cry In her own way. 1t was APP
petite against chemical experiment and
healthy hunger against mathematical
estimates OF abstract nutrient forces.
These manifestations OF natural
craving are, after all, our real safe
guards against the purely scientific
methods such as have been applied TO
the poison boarders' and the army
squad. " We may interpret natural
a - " GNANtA& . va w 1880
ing and skill, mi alter them.
In the face OF such a conviction we
are now assured by high standing au-
thority that meat Is virtually useless
for any OF the nutrient purposes so long
claimed for II. How much more our
bill OF fare is to be trimmed to suit the
newer notions OF the day is somewhat
difficult TO imagine.
Aside from the pure theory OF the
matter, we may in the end be forced
TO believe that man was never made
for a mixed diet; that his stomach and
complicated intestinal apparatus are
merely an accidental survival OF use
less organs, of which the insignificant
and troublesome appendix is the type.
Experience, however, against which
there is never much OF an argument,
must prove its value against the mere
logic Of arbitrary rules. The hungry
man with a juicy steak before him will
J continue his hurtful habit OF loading
his stomach with unnecessary fodder IN
spite OF all theories TO the contrary
His instructive need for just such nour-
ishment as he takes will answer al
other questions. He will not care how
much more he can lift, how much
faster he can run, or how much more
fatigue he can endure, but will simply
satisfy his want for the time.
And, in spite OF rank notions to tnt
| contrary, is not tnlS the proper ano
rational way OF solving the law OF de-
mand and supply upon which our very
being Is based? The craving for GER
tain varieties OF food is as constant as
it's qualification Is imperative. Each
tissue makes It's own demands In its
own way and signals appetite to select
and nutrition to apportion the multiple
supplies for bone, muscle and blood.
Nutrition, energy and heat are mere
abstract terms In themselves, and their
proper Interpretation can never be
safely intrusted to laboratory tests OF
chemical formulate. Therefore, let III
not be in too great a hurry to adopt
new views that are neither sound, ra-
ticnai nor practical, In spite OF the
manifesto we are led to believe that
the average man will still take to his
beef whenever he needs 1t and can get
it-and pray, why not?
1