Evening star., 1934-09-25
70 OB|[L|ONS PAID
F0RL|BERAL DIET
Statistics Show u. S. Can
Thrive on 1.79 Acres
of Land.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.

Uncle Sans grocery bill should be
at least $4,000, 100000 a year.
On liberal diet" however, it will
run somewhat above S20,000,000 900.
In such a case it will pay for approx
mately 20,000.000 900 quarts of milk
900000 tons of potatoes, 427 600 tons
of dried beans, peas and nuts: 6000.-
600 tons of tomatoes and citrus fruits
100000 tons Of lettuce, spinach and
cabbage 100000 tons of dried fruits,
20,000000 tons of other vegetables and
fruits, 100000 tons of butter, bacon
and other fats, 100000 tons of sugar.
10000 900 tons of lean meat. poultry
and fish: 5000, ,0000 900 dozen eggs and
100000 tons of grain.
Such, at least. is the Department of
Agriculture's estimate of a liberal
national diet. but Uncle Sam can keep
fat and healthy on considerably less
If the state of his purse demands it..
The saving would be accomplished
chiefly by increasing the consumption
of -four and cereal, chiefly wheat and
corn. to approximately 13,000,000 tons.
The liberal diet" calls for twice as
much vegetables, fruits, lean meat and
eggs as the minimum adequate diet.
Less Money. More Grain.
This illustrates, according to the De-
partment of Agriculture report, that
the less money there is to spend for
food anywhere in the world, the
greater becomes the dependence on
the staple national cereal, whether it
be wheat or corn in America or rice
in China.
The formulae for the national diet
were based on extensive computations
The first step was to calculate how
much of different kinds of food is
needed by individuals in order to sup
ply the essential calorleS, protelns,
minerals and vitamins in good pro-
portions. The Bureau of Home
Economies has done this for every
age. taking account of the differing
needs of adolescent girls and boys
and of men and women doing light
and heavy muscular work. The calcu
1ation was based on the age, sex and
occupational group figures OF the 1880
census.
Margin of Safety.
AS a result three diets were COM
piled, the minimum, the moderate and
the liberal All provide enough of the
essential food qualities SO far dis
covered and measurable in quantitative
terms to leave fair margin OF safety
for growth and health.
On the basis of retail prices during
1892, when they were at low level,
the per capita cost of the three diets
ran S85. S145 and S165. Judging by
family living studies, according to the
Agriculture Department report, the
majority of families in the United
States spend about as much as is
called for by the minimum and mod
crate diets. In nutritive value, how
ever, the suggested diets are much
higher than those which most families
now select.
Acreage Necessary.
Preliminary estimates of the Pro-
duction Planning Section Of the
A. A. A. indicate that 268 acres, not
counting pasture, is nedeed per capita
to supply the foods of the liberal diet;
224 for the moderate and 1.79 for
the minimum. These figures are
based on the average per acre yield
of different food crops in the United
States during the 10-year period from
1928 to 1882, with an allowance for
exports, seed and land needed to raise
food for the horses and mules used on
the farms. Allowance also is made
for the waste and shrinkage between
farm and kitchen. Thus Uncle Sam
TO keep himslef well fed, must have
about 273,000,000 acres under cultiva-
ton. About 327,0OO,000 acres were
harvested in 1888. About 274,000,000
acres is required for pasture land.
The value for food of a grain
hitherto almost unknown to the
American diet has just been demon
strated by chemists of the Bureau Of