Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-03-21
MANS FIRST DIET
WAS GREEN THINGS
Modern Housewife Lays Too
Much Stress on Meat, Fowl
and Fish

And out of the ground made the
Lord God to grow every tree that is
pleasant to the sight and good for
food."-Genesis 2: 8.
Thus history teaches us that from
the earliest age mans diet was sup
piled primarily with fruits and grow
ing green things 1t required weapons
to kill living creatures and these the
father of the race did not possess.
Meat, fowl and fish undoubtedly have
their chemical values and should be
used to certain degree, but the mod
ern housewife lays too much stress
upon them with the result that the
doctors reap the harvest. BY saying in
midwinter that vegetables should be
used more plentifully, l do not mean
that they must necessarily be canned
goods entirely. 1 have made a plea
heretofore for the roots and tubers"
with which our markets abound at
such low hgures. , II h.
While speaking of the markets
want to say that / have made per-
sonal visits of investigation to see if
what 1 have heard so often said was
true, namely that this or that market
undersold another / made list of
the prices given me by the dealers and,
after comparison, found them virtual
ly the same everywhere Personally
Harrisburg some Years ago from big
city to find the market people so sim
pie hearted and Honest a class. Now
and them a drawn chicken contains
two hearts or two necks but then such
accidents CD may happen anywhere.
1t has been proven by actual test
that the butchers bill of the average
family far exceeds that of the grocer
If the staples such as flour, sugar, etc,
be omitted. In nearly all meats there
are minute disease breeding parasites,
in some cases in such quantity that we
fear the formal inspector must be in
need of stronger glasses. Vegetables
and fruits also contain dangerous in
sectS and parasites but when in suffi-
cient quantity to do serious harm to
the human organism the tree or plant
is first eaten away and rotted to such
degree that it attracts attention. All
vegetables eaten raw such as lettuce,
celery, water cress, etc, should, as
safeguard, be laid in bowl of cold
water to which little vinegar is add
ed. The latter instantly kills all in
sects and the tiny bodies can be seen
afterwards floating in the water. Then,
when thoroughly washed and drained,
one can feel safe to enjoy the salad.
Cancer of the stomach or the intes-
tines, a disease SO woefully on the in
crease in our country, is said in many
cases to be directly traceable to the
minute insects on raw food.
For the small. capricious appetite
the salad can contain all the food
properties of a heavy meal in proper
tionate quantity. For instance:
Lettuce-mineraf salts
. Celery-mineral salts. @
Nuts-proteins.
Fresh fruit-mineral salts.
Sliced tomatoes-Mineral acid
Mayonaise (eggs, milk, oil, vinegar,
| sugar. r)-fats and carbohydrates.
There has been much written of late
with regard to q diet for reducing flesh
wherein the green vegetables are used
almost entirely at the expense of the
starchy ones and all sweets ruled out
| Fora certain length of time such a
| system is successful, the weight de-
! creases and all seems well, but in the
course of a few months the patient
usually develops a lassitude, lack of
animation. Why? Because natures
| law has provided starch and sugar as
the heat and energy producers of the
| human organism just as surely as coal
is needed to feed an engine. AS proof
of this, notice the abundant energy and
quick movement of the average stout
man or woman with the exception of
| the really obese whose excess pounds
are form of disease usually traceable
to the weakness of some especial Or
gan.
With the present high cost of living,
| many housewives have dropped the
use of cakes, puddings and similar
luXuries. With eggs at the price they
are, custards are almost prohibitive.
Therefore, to provide equal food value
for her family, the wise woman will
substitute fruit and more of the Vege-
tables. containing sugar and starch
such. as potatoes, peas, beets, rice.
corn, etc.
Al. Asa
meat, unless willing to use the cheap
er cuts the housekeeper must resort
to substitutes but there-is such a var,
iety to fall back upon that this should
be no trouble. The fault usually is
that through ignorance she serves q
dish equally full of protein, but lacking
the bulk or filling property of the
meat and the family object. What
(married) man would eat ounces of
salted peanuts in place of a outlet even
when told the nutritive value was
equal? But If the nuts were baked
into a lot of nut bread, hash Drowned
with potatoes or crumbled and baked
over a dish of macaroni he would
probably swallow them down smiling
ly. When prepared correctly, the
dried vegetables, lintels, beans, dried
peass ETC.. are excellent meat substi-
tutes containing both the necessary
bulk and protein. Then there is
cheese which can be prepared IN many
appetizing ways besides the old-fash-
ioned rarebit.
Try laying slices of bread, slightly
buttered, peppered and salted, over
one another in a deep baking dish.
Dice from one to two cupsful of cheese
and sprinkle over and between the
bread. Beat together one egg and two
cups of milk. Pour over the bread
and bake slowly until set
Another na1ata hla dish Ia n1ada hV
dotting slices of bread with cheese,
butter salt and pepper. Lay each slice
fiat in a pan and bake until the bread
is a golden brown and the cheese
melted.
Baked Lcntils and Nuts
Mix one cup boiled lentils with "
cup any kind nut meats chopped fine.
Season with salt, pepper and grated
onion. Put into creased baking dish.
Moisten well with water or stock.
Make crust of liz cups -four and 2