The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1950-01-05
Fifty-Year
Food Review
BY cEcILY BRoWNsToNE.
Associated Press Food Editor

Al YOU dEC OllS VI tilC pEOplG
who would like to see good old
fashioned cooking come back in
to its own, and are inclined to
blame some OF the 1949 Ameri-
can table connections on modern
scientific eating" stop a min
ute--and look back so yeans.
Once upon time most Amer
leans figured that the best thing
to do with food was to eat it.
But in the 19O0's, influenced by
European chemists, our own
scientists began to do some
Analysing, and eventually the
science of nutrition was born.
To be sure, the early experts
made few startling mistakes.
At one point some specialists
condemned the use of fresh fruits
and vegetables: and whole set
of other laboratory professionals
had to work hard to demonstrate
their values.
No one would question the
nutritional research that now
adays advocates a balanced
diet"--its findings are indis-
putable. But every once in a
while, even among the scien-
lists, up pops the wheat germ
nd-dried-milk or the soy-beans-
will-cure- the ills-of the world
school.
Potatoes Are Slipping
An important looking chart
called Trends in Our Eating
Habits from 1909 to 1850 just has
been released in Washington. 1t
shows that while Americans still
like their meat we are no longer
the meat-and- potatoes nation we
once were. Rock-ribbed individ-
ualists who feel that combination
(and plenty of it) helped build
this country's Drawn. really have
something to worry about. Po-
tatoes seem to have lost their
place-figures show that, along
with grain products, we've been
eating less of them steadily and
surely.
What do you suppose we've
been downing with our steaks
and chops and finnan haddie in
stead of the buxom potato? Your
guess is good if it's some of the
other members of the vegetable
clan or a tossed salad
adherence of Let of ordinary
men and the delight of gourmets.
We Like Citrus
One of the most spectacular
changes in our eating habits in
the last 5O-year span is our use
Of citrus FRUITS; oranges, grape
fruit, and lemons. Could it be
we're impressed with the vitamin
c (ascorbic acid) they offer and
that we know we need a good
source of that vitamin daily be-
cause our bodies can't store it?
What accounts for these
changes in eating habits? Chang
es in income, the fact that some of
the nutrition education has tax
en-, land improvements in food
production, marketing, and trans
portation.
Along with citrus fruits we've
taken the tomato to our hearts
and stomachs. Another excellent
source of vitamin c, it's widely
accepted. Tomato juice before
dinner is so usual nowadays
you'd think it had been with us
always - but actually the tomato
wasn't canned in this form until
about 1890.
We've been helping keep our
diets balanced by constantly in
creasing our use of milk in the
years since 1909 =. not just for
drinking, but in bread and other
bakery products, in candy, and
other foods.
Ready To- Eat Foods
Recent ready o-eat develop
mentS have been exciting-cakes,
pies (cruSts and filings, pud-
dings, popovers, mullins, fried
shrimp, soups, and practically
anything else you can think of
come canned, packaged, or frozen.
1t looks as if these ready-to-eat
foods were here to stay.
Food fads have been with US
constantly for the past so years
aided and abetted by our intense
interest in dieting. Food-fad
quacks just naturally took over
where patent medicine promoters
left off.
Another influence on meals
has been our disinterest in din
ing rooms. Dining alcoves, break
fast hooks, foyer tables, and lap
eating hold sway. As result the
number of courses in meal have
been whitfield down. Thank
heaven we still splurge on holt
days.
And how about recipes? l got
a shock recently when turned
to my 1915 edition of Fanny
Farmer. Next time you have the
urge to blame the current ladies'
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