Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-04-20
TO SELECT FOODS WISELY
AND WITH ECONOMY
The Housekeeper Can Provide the Food Substances the Body
Needs-Nutrition Specialists Of Department Of Agr-
culture Give Plan of Ration That Will Bring
Best Returns for Money Spent.

Adults and children must get several
different substances from the food they
eat or they will miss something essen
tial to bodily efficiency and health, ac-
cording to the nutrition specialists of
the Department of Agriculture. The
housewife. therefore, who plans her
meals or attempts to save money on
food without some knowledge of these
substances and of the, five simple
groups of food which supply them is
liable to omit from her meals some food
essential for the growth of children
or necessary to supply the family with
the energy they need for their daily
tasks.
Attempted economy which entirely
omits certain foods may well prove a
poor investment because of its ulti-
mate effect on the well being of the
household. Price. individual preference
for certain foods and even the fact that
hunger is satisfied after a meal
not safe guides.
Tomatoes at 10 cents each in winter
are no more nutritious than they are
at cents quart In summer. A child
might crave much more sugar than
would be good for him. A, bulky diet
of potatoes or bananas might make a
person feel he had eaten enough, but
would not furnish him with the ele-
ments that his body needs
To plan meals in the interest of fam
lily efficiency and economy at the same
time the housewife fortunately does
not need to do elaborate sums in calo-
ries or to have any intimate under
standing of such terms protein and
carbohydrates. All she needs to do is
to classify the food she uses into five
simple household groups laid down in
recently issued Farmers Bulletin sos,
published by the Office of home econom-
les. Department of Agriculture. The
purpose of the bulletin. which is the
first of a series of simple pamphlets
dealing with the economical use of
foods is to enable the average house
wife to plan her meals effectively, even
though she has no special training in
chemistry dietetics.
The substances which the specialists
find are needed in the daily diet to
maintain the body may be grouped I'M
der seven heads: Mineral substances,
protein, starches. sugars. fats. cellulose
and certain little-known but very i'm
A Days Food Requirements.
That these essential substances are not
difficult for the average housewife to
provide is shown by the following COM
binations which the specialists believe
indicate the daily food requirements Of
normal Individuals:
man who does fairly hard muscular
work would be likely to get the food
which his body needs if supplied daily
with such a combination of foods as the
following:
One-quarter pound of bread (having
about the same food value as one pound
of such cereal preparations wheat or
rye flour. oatmeal, coTnmeal, rice, etc..
Two ounces, or one-quarter cup, of but
ter. oil. meat drippings or other fat.
Two ounces. or one-Quarter cup, of
sugar; or one-third cup of honey or
sirup. or equivalent amount of other
sweet.
One and one-quarter pounds of food
from the following: Fresh fruits and
fresh or root vegetables.
Twelve ounces of food from a class
which may be called meats and meat
substitutes; that is. moderately fat
meats. poultry. fish. eggs. cheese. dried
legumes Oceans. soy beans. peas. len
ills, cowpeas and peanuts). Milk also
belongs among these foods. but be-
cause of the large amount of water it
contains. half glass or four ounces