The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1914-09-14
AMERICA MUST
CHANGE HER DIET
Large Population Causes Re-
duCtiOn In Amount Of Meat.
CORN MAY Be USED MORE.

NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ihat IN
Hundred Years Population of coun-
try Will Be 5oo,0o0.ooo.
New York.-The diet of Americans
win be changed rapidly. as the growing
population presses upon the food sup
ply, but 1t will not be necessary for us
to become entirely vegetarian. This
Is the conclusion reached by Professor
III. It. Lyman of the Ohio State uni
versity after a study of the available
food supply of this country. published
In Popular Science.
There was no food problem in this
country two generations ago, when fish
were plentiful. pigeons. deer, wild
turkeys. waterfowl. quail and buffalo
were abundant and wild berries. fruit
and nuts could be obtained easily and
In large quantities. With the growth
of population, however. game practical
ly has disappeared and very small
part of the country's food Is supplied
by uncuItivated plants and trees DIR.
Lyman says:
IF the present rate of increase con-
tinues the population of the United
States will approximate 500.0O0,OO0 at
the end Of the present century. Is 1t
possible to feed that number of persons
on the product of our 3.000,000 square
miles? China and India both support
a population as dense. but both of these
countries are distinctly agricultural.
| The mass of people live on the land
and are engaged In producing food. In
this country the great increase In popu-
| lation is In the cities, while the food
producing class is increasing compara-
| lively slowly. The reports on agricul-
| tural products exported from the
| United States illuminate the food prob
| lem in an instructive way. If we COM
| pare the exports in 1912 with those for
| 1900 we find that the amount of cheese
| shipped abroad declined IS per cent In
| that period, beef products declined 65
per cent, pork products declined 80
per cent, corn declined so per cent.
| wheat declined 81 per cent.
| "What do these figures tell? Simply
that we have needed the food at home
to supply our increasing millions and
| hence had less to sell In the markets Of
the world. Can we continue to feed our
| people by reducing the exports In food
| stuffs? Obviously not, and In many
instances they have been reduced al
ready near the vanishing point. We
have even actually begun to import
meat and corn. 1t is significant also
that free government land suitable for
agricultural purposes is no longer avail
able; hence we cannot look for relief
by bringing under the plow large tracts
of virgin soil.
rs there likely, then, to be scarcity
Of food In this country In the near
future? No. there is and will be plenty
l of food, but some changes In dietaries
undoubtedly will have to be made.
Let us notice. In 1910 for every man.
woman and child In the United States
there was produced seven bushels of
wheat. thirty-two bushels of corn, four
bushels of potatoes and forty pounds
of sugar. There were six-tenths cattle
for each person, six-tenths sheep and
seven-tenths swine. Add to this the
fruits. vegetables. poultry and dairy
products, oats and other small grains
and we see that there Is plenty OF food
to go around and to spare.
There was grown In the United
States In 1912 corn which. If assembled
In one immense field, might have COW
cred Germany or France entirely with
its rustling phalanx. How many mil
lions might be nourished by the prod
uce of this tremendous acreage. Here
is great source Of food at present
utilized in a very slight degree.
"Food has two primary functions in
the body-first. to supply material out
OF which the body Is built and, second,
to furnish energy to warm the body
and to drive its machinery. Perhaps
the second function is the more i'm
portant. Plants alone have the power
to collect solar energy and store it UP
In latent or dormant form In their
seeds and other parts. Animals may,
by eating and digesting these plant
materials, liberate and utilize this
stored up energy. When corn Is fed
to steers under favorable conditions .
per cent OF the energy Of the corn may
be recovered as meat in the edible por.
ton OF the carcass. The remaining 81
per cent was used by the animal In
its various activities and lost as far az
the nutrition of man Is concerned. In
pork the recovered portion amounts to
16 per cent. and with the dairy COW Is
per cent Of the energy OF the food IL
found in the milk produced. Obviously
this Ii wasteful process. this con
version OF grain into meat and milk
It has It's justification only In the great
er palatability and digestibiiity Of the
6nal products.
de. Armsby Of the pennsyIyania