Evening star., 1932-02-13

An eminent food ScientlSt mas an
Swered the question, "What Is the oesI
basic food for growing child II the
family budget must be held 70 ar
absolute minimum"
His answer. shorn of all subtleties. is
Bread and milk Now there are
thousands of people all over the United
States who knew that without being
scientists. but it is always pleasant tC
have ones personal opinion backed uI
by authority.
All men and women who spent theil
childhoods in country towns know q
great deal about bread and milk. II
was standard there. ,,
Somehow it is impossible to believe
that the children Of the cities, at least
in the past. ate as much of this de-
lectable foodstuff as the little ones OF
the country towns and the farms.
This situation was somewhat OF an
anomaly. in view of the fact that the
bulk of the milk was sent to the great
cities where supervision OF milk stand
ards was a great deal more strict than
in smaller communities.
During the early COS 1t was no un--
common thing for all the members OF
a small town family to come down
with acute nausea, caused by drinking
what was called blue milk
Such isolated cases, however, did not
prevent every one from realizing the
full food value of bread and milk and
appreciating its delicious taste
The introduction of this staple food
into the schools of America, especially
in the city elementary schools, brought
one of the great joys OF eating into the
full glare of publicity.
Bread and milk is another one OF
the old-fashioned things, like fried
mush. which needs publicity, and
plenty of it. to remove the last linger-
ing traces of a certain foolish sophisti-
cation which tends to look down
upon it.
The two go together in a most salts
factory way. The milk compliments
the bread and the bread the milk
The unconscious taste of millions OF
human beings has sanctifled this in
the actual eating for scores OF years,
but it remained for modern food
science to show the almost complete
character of cows milk, and how well
the proteins of bread supplement the
list of food elements in the liquid.
The scientist who has advised bread
and milk as the basic diet for children
during the depression. in such cases as
may need some such reduction to a
minimum, owing to money shortage,
might have widened his advice to take
in their elders.
Bread and milk is just as good a
food for "grown-ups" as for children.
Perhaps better 1t has the advantage
of furnishing about as complete meal
as one dish can, and at the same time
giving a sense of fullnesS which is
essential.
This sense of having eaten some
thing is necessary if any sort of meal
is to do one any good. The old-style
remark about certain foods sticking to
the ribs meant just about that.
It is no longer considered wrong TO
enjoy ones meals. Science has shown
that the epicure of old was about right.
Digestion is better when ones mouth
waters at the sight, smell or even
thought of certain foods.
AS a matter of fact, the mind plays
a great part in food selection among
civilized beings. 1t is probably true
that 8 out of 10 dishes selected by
persons who stand in front of cafe
terra counters are merely a matter of
mental selection, guided by a basic
craving in the blood stream for certain
needed elements for growth, repair and
energy.
Milk alone, if enough Of it is taken,