True food values and their low costs

Preface

In presenting this little book to the public I have no excuse to offer. "There is no new thing under the sun." My only object is to give, in a clear and practical way, such information as may enable the ordinary individual to simplify the art of living and get his money's worth.

It is not a cookbook in any sense of the word, and the few tested recipes that are given are not original with the author, but have been tried in his family and not found wanting.

w. s. B.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Tissue-builders. Fuel Producers. Food Values . . i 11. The Proper Proportion of Food 7

III. The Energy Value of Meat . . 15

Chapter I

Tissue-builders. Fuel-producers. Food Values

A man can regulate his health and strength and capacity to work, under ordinary circumstances, by giving proper attention to his diet. Every person, therefore, should be interested, if not concerned, in the questions, what to eat and how. As to the latter problem, how to eat, Mr. Horace Fletcher and others have done much valuable work in calling the attention of the laity to the necessity of thorough mastication and what it does in preparing food for further digestion. To give time to the chewing and grinding up of foods before swallowing them is a good investment for better health. "Fletcherism" also emphasizes the importance of encouraging the sense of taste. If allowed to choose freely without restriction, it will tend to be a guide in the selection of those foods which are most needed.

We all know how the freshness and attractive appearance of food affect the appetite and the power to digest. What the eye sees, the ear hears, and the nose smells, all have an influence, either direct or indirect, on the digestion.

The value of food depends on what it can furnish in material that builds up the body, and material that keeps the body going. It is necessary, then, to know something of the fundamental elements of food. These are of two kinds, tissue-builders and fuel-producers. The principal chemical elements of food are starch or sugar — which may be classed as carbohydrates — fats, water, proteids, or nitrogenous elements, and ash, or mineral constituents. The nitrogenous and mineral elements and water go into tissue-building. Fats, starches, and sugar furnish the great amount of fuel necessary to keep the body going. Acids and salts can hardly be said to belong to either of these classes, but they flavor food, stimulate the power of digestion, and aid absorption.

These elements are found in widely varying proportions in the numberless cells that enter into the structure of the body. Of the solids we should look upon bone as largely mineral, and soft tissues as largely nitrogenous. Water percolates into all the cells and tissues of the body. The body tissues without water might be comparea to a sponge before being soaked.

The young and growing child requires more of the building material than does the adult. In the latter new structure does not have to be formed, only as it is necessary to replace what is used up, or consumed, in the wear and tear of life. Consequently, the demand for nitrogencnis elements and minerals is less, in proportion to the size of the body, in age than in youth.

Professor Graham Lusk makes the following statement in his lecture on "The Fundamental Basis of Nutrition:"

"Since the efficiency of labor depends upon energy and constant repair of the body, it is certainly of no small moment that the citizen should know how best to maintain the machine at a maximum of efficiency. Not only that, but in time of trouble he should know where to turn to find nourishment in the form which is best and cheapest.

"Who will give him this information? Will the manufacturer of canned tomatoes tell him that tomatoes are valueless in his extremity? No, not unless the manufacturer is forced to do so. And how can the manufacturer be forced to give this information? By being compelled

by law to label his can, "This contains calories, of

which per cent are in proteins of Grade C."

In the American home there does not exist any rational basis for the family diet. This is owing principally to the meager knowledge of the comparative nutritive value of various kinds of food.

The tempting and bewildering variety of food offered to the man of the present day demands an insight and knowledge that will enable him to choose so as to increase and not to lower his physical efficiency. The human body must be considered as a perfect machine, using food as its fuel to generate power. The food is measured in terms of fuel value, the heat unit being called a calorie. The amount required varies from two thousand to three thousand five hundred calories, depending upon age, occupation, and sex. The protein element must be supplied to the body, without which it cannot thrive. A family of the average mechanic or workingman, wife, and three children under sixteen years of age, requires twelve thousand calories. Twelve hundred to eighteen hundred calories should be of protein, that is, from ten to fifteen per cent, of the total required.

In a total of one hundred calories, a whole tgg contains thirty-six protein calories, a slice of bread weighing one and four-tenths ounces, fourteen protein calories; a lamb chop weighing one and four-tenth ounces, twenty-three protein calories ; and lentils weighing one ounce, twentynine protein calories.

The necessary number of calories is fortunately contained in our daily supply of food — in the albumen of the egg, the casein of milk, the myosin of meat, the gluten of wheat, the legumin of peas, beans, and lentils — so the body is not neglected.

Upon the amount of energy our body can give us as a machine depends its usefulness and our efficiency. A question of economic value now arises when we consider the price of the material supplied.

The protein is the most valuable as well as the most expensive part of our food supply. It is therefore well to have a list of foods, so that where possible we can substitute the less for the more expensive.

The housewife should know the cost of foods, realize what food value she is receiving for her money spent, and appreciate the fact that, strange as it may seem, the millionaire's dinner and the beggar's lunch may contain the same few, simple elements of nutrition.

She should also realize that the art of cooking can transform the common but nutritious foods into the most appetizing dishes.

To provide for a family of five protein of which five per cent, is animal and ten per cent, vegetable, such as bread. Professor Lusk gives a table with the cost as follows :

10 PER CENT. 5 PER CENT. CENTS

Bread and ^ Ih. salt cod 47

Bread and ^/i lb. smoked ham 48

Bread and Ys lb. cheese 51

Bread and 2^ lbs. milk 53

Bread and 1% lbs. loin pork 56

Bread and l^s lbs. leg of mutton 56

Bread and 1^4 lbs. cod steak, fresh 58

Bread and V/s lbs. sirloin beef 66

Bread and VA lbs. turkey 78

In considering the cost, which has become a necessity to the person of limited income, in relation to the nutritive value of food, the question of waste is an important factor. The Department of Agriculture has estimated the food waste as high as twenty per cent, in most American homes. The causes are: The purchase of expensive materiar providing little nutrition, the amount of food thrown away or poorly prepared, the selecting of food out of season, and poorly constructed ovens.

By checking this waste, the purchasing power of a person's income would be increased, and a corresponding degree of efficiency obtained.

CHAPTER II The Proper Proportion of Food

The different kinds of food — water, salts, sugar, starch, fat, and albumen — must be combined in our diet to form a nutritious whole, A substance which fulfills but one of the purposes required in our food will not support life. A man cannot live on water or salt, yet he would soon die without them. A diet composed exclusively of fats, starch, or sugar is equally incapable of supporting life. The albuminous foods, although they are considered the most nutritious, must be combined with the others to produce the desired result.

The only substance prepared by nature expressly as an article of food is milk. This when analyzed is found to contain water, salt, fat, sugar, and casein — the five elements of food. It has enough of the flesh-producing elements to restore the daily waste, and enough heat-giving elements to feed the oxygen in breathing.

Eggs also contain all the necessary elements. A diet of seven eggs a day will furnish all the nutrition a person needs ; but the elements In eggs are too highly condensed, and consequently are not properly proportioned for a continuous diet.

It is very important to proportion our food so that one kind will supply what another lacks. A certain bulk is also necessary in our food to produce a thorough action of the digestive fluids. If the quantity of food taken is not sufficient to distend the stomach, the churning motion of the muscular coats cannot affect every part of the food. Indigestion is often caused by lack of sufficient quantity of food, and by weakness of the muscles of the stomach. A certain quantity of innutritions food may be required to furnish the necessary bulk and in this way give all parts of the digestive apparatus their proper work to perform.

Many persons argue in favor of a strictly vegetable diet, as we can obtain all the necessary elements in vegetables ; others claim to thrive best on a diet almost wholly of animal food. As a rule we find the highest degree of bodily and mental vigor among those who make use of a mixed diet. Nature seems to have arranged this to her own satisfaction, as shown in the physiological arrangement of the teeth and the alimentary canal. Part of the teeth are of the carnivorous, or flesh-eating, kind, and part of the herbivorous, or vegetable-eating, kind. The aHmentary canal is likewise equally well adapted to the digestion of both animal and vegetable foods, or of an admixture of both. The proper proportion, by weight, may be estimated as one-third animal and two-thirds vegetable food.

Nature has furnished us with an unerring guide in the form of an unperverted appetite, to aid us in the proper selection of our diet, and it may generally be trusted to indicate the proper food necessary to the preservation of health.

The call of Nature, however, is often unheeded, and we find it necessary to exercise intelligence in selecting our food and adapting it in such a way as to counteract the effects of a violation of Nature's laws.

It costs a lot to live these days, more than in days

of yore; But when we come to think of it, it's worth a great

deal more.

In these days people talk a great deal about the high cost of living. One of the principal reasons for a cost of living higher than in the past is the higher standard of living; that is, we eat better food, wear better clothes, and so on.

If we were to select a set of rules for scientific meal-planning, the most important one would be founded upon the fact that we must find in our food the necessary substances for the repairing of our bodies, and for the production of the energy through which work is performed. Food substances, from this standpoint, are divided into:

1. Protein, which builds and repairs tissue.

2. Fat, which yields heat and energy.

3. Carbohydrates, whicfi yield heat and energy, also.

4. Mineral water and ash, which aid digestion and build bone.

5. Water, which aids all other food principles in their work to maintain the body.

Protein is the most necessary of these substances, and the most complicated. It is called by a different name in almost every food in which it is found. It is called albumen in eggs, casein in milk, and gluten in wheat.

Chemical analysis tells us that the ^gg contains practically the same constituents as corn or wheat, but has a larger per cent, of protein. The only vital food distinction between a bushel of wheat and a bushel of eggs is that the eggs are more palatable and nutritious. Professor Sherman, of Columbia University, calls attention

AND THEIR LOW COSTS ii

to the fact that lime starvation is becoming very common among the people of the United States. This is owing to their use of fine flour bread, which contains only one gram of lime to the pound, while whole-wheat bread contains four times as much. Lime is an important nutritive element, and is just as necessary as are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

Milk is considered as near a perfect food as we have. That is why infants thrive on it. It is not by itself strong enough food for an adult, as it contains too much water and not enough solid matter. It may be considered the best source of lime we have. The per cent, composition of milk is :

PER CENT.

Mineral matter 7

Protein 3.Z

Fat 4.

Carbohydrates 5.

Total 100

One pint of milk weighs one pound; two glasses contain practically two hundred calories of food value. It is called a perfect food because it contains all the principals.

The following is a list of food principals and some common foods under each :

PROTEIN

CARBOHYDRATES

/Lean meat ^ Fish

Flour^

Sugar^

Eggs

Starch

Cheese

Macaroni

Dried peas

Crackers

Navy beans

Rolled oats ^

Cottage cheese

Bread ^

Sardines

Cocoa

Lobsters

Potatoes V

Walnuts

Almonds

\ Dried beef /^Peanuts

Peas ^

Beans*>f

Fat

Cod fish ^

Lard

Corned beef

> Butter ^90live oil / Cottolene

Lean ham y/

Bacon V

Currants

Bacon

Prunes ^

Almonds

Chocolate

Chops

Oat meal ^ ^ Dried beans

>0 lives

Gelatine

Peaches

The mistake is often made of serving foods containing the same value at the same meal.

In serving fats, do not use too rich desserts.

In serving lean meats, blend richer foods.

In serving pork, 'use acid fruits, such as apples.

Vegetables, such as beets, cabbage, and cauliflower, may be used with potatoes.

In serving pork, one starchy vegetable is sufficient.

The cheapest and best food is that which furnishes the largest amount of nutriment at the l^ast cost.

Milk should enter largely into the diet of children. It contains casein, or flesh-forming material ; cream and sugar, which are heat-producers ; mineral salts, for the bony structure; and water, as a solvent for all the other materials necessary in nutrition. It should be used with discretion, however; not drunk immoderately, but taken slowly as food, after the pattern given by Nature. Milk, when taken, is a fluid; but as soon as it meets the acid of the gastric juice it is changed to a soft, curdy, cHeeselike substance, and then must be digested, and the stomach is overtasked if too much is taken at once. A large glass of milk swallowed suddenly will form in the stomach a lump of dense, cheesy curd, which might even prove fatal to a weak stomach. Under the action of the stomach this cheesy mass will turn over and over like a heavy weight ; and as the gastric juice can attack only its surface, it digests very slowly. This same milk, however, taken slowly or with dry toast, light rolls, or soft, dry porridge, forms a porous lump, through which the gastric juice can easily pass and which breaks up as the stomach turns it over. Milk should be slightly salted, and eaten with bread-stuffs or sipped by the spoonful.

Milk and Eggs

Milk, eggs, and whole wheat are perhaps the three most essential foods that we have. It is on milk that the human race makes its greatest growth. The fuel value of one pound of milk (about a pint) is three hundred and fourteen calories, while one pound of eggs (about eight in number) would give six hundred and seventytwo calories. The milk would contain fifteen grams of protein, the eggs sixty-one grams; the milk eighteen grams of fat, and the eggs fortyseven and six-tenths grams ; the milk twenty-two and seven-tenths of carbohydrates, and the eggs none. The eggs are, to speak plainly, a more concentrated food, as milk is about eighty-five per cent, water. On the other hand, much larger quantities of milk can be taken. In comparing food values all things must be considered, for bare figures alone are apt to be misleading. With these facts in mind, it may be said that, weight for weight, the actual food value of the eggs is a little over twice that of milk.

The food value of two slices of wheat bread, three eggs (boiled or fried), an ounce of butter, a pint of milk, is sufficient to furnish an ample breakfast for a laboring man. A pint of coffee may be used to supplant the milk if preferred.

CHAPTER III The Energy Value of Meat

"Meat is the muscle of some part of the animal," says Samuel Schmucker Sadtler, in his book, "Chemistry of Familiar Things."

"The muscles consist of bundles of microscopic tubes bound _ together with connective tissue, called collagen, and this includes more or less fat.

"When carving at the table meat should be cut across the grain in as thin slices as possible, not to give people slim helpings, but to cut the microscopic tubes into many sections so the gastric juice can attack them with as much exposed surface as possible."

If the tubes have not been cut into slices in carving, they will take much longer to digest.

Meat is more easily digested when it is lightly cooked, as it is soft and more easily acted upon by the gastric juice.

The nourishing power of food is measured in calories, and from three thousand five hundred to three thousand seven hundred calories of energy per day are required by most people.

The following table showing the nourishing values of meat was prepared by Professor C. F. Langworthy, United States Government expert:

Fresh Beef

CALORIES PER VARIETY POUND

Beefsteak 1090

Brisket 1495

Chuck, including shoulder 1005

Chuck rib 920

Loin 1155

Loin, sirloin butt 1115

Loin, porterhouse 1110

Loin, sirloin steak 1 130

Neck 920

Plate 1450

Ribs 1370

Rib, rolls. 1015

Rib, trimmings 1015

Ribs, cross 1305

Round 835

Rump 1325

Shank, fore 1285

Shank, hind 770

Shoulder and clod 1075

Forequarter 1 135

Hindquarter 1130

Soup stock 170

Beef Organs

Brain 555

Heart 1160

Kidney 520

Beef liver 605

Lungs 440

Marrow 3955

Sweetbreads 825

Suet 3540

Tongue 740

Scraps 2580

Roast 1620

Pressed 1610

Round steak 840

Sirloin steak 875

Loin steak 1300

Beef, Corned and Pickled

Brisket 1385

Plate , 2025

Rump 1270

Corned beef 1395

Spiced beef 2390

Tongues 1030

Tripe 270

Veal, Fresh

Breast 840

Chuck 610

Leg 670

Leg, cutlets 705

Loin 790

Loin, with kidney 770

Neck 670

Rib 775

Rump 1050

Shank, fore 605

Shank, hind 615

Shoulder 580

Shoulder and flank 975

Forequarter 710

Hindquarter 735

Side, with kidney 715

Veal Organs

Heart 720

Kidneys 585

Liver 575

Lungs 530

Lamb, Fresh

Lamb chop 1475

Breast or chuck 1350

Hind leg 1300

Loin, without kidney and tallow 1540

Neck 1375

Shoulder 1590

Forequarter 1430

Hindquarter 1 170

Side, without tallow 1300

Lamb, Cooked

Chops, broiled 1665

Leg, roasted 900

Lamb, Canned Tongue, spiced and cooked 1010

Mutton, Fresh

Chuck 2715

Leg, hind 1085

Loin, without kidney or tallow 1815

Neck 1420

Shoulder 1245

Forequarter 1595

Hindquarter 1495

Side, including tallow 1520

Side, not including tallow 1560

Mutton, Cooked Mutton, leg roast 1420

Mutton, Organs

Heart 845

Kidneys 440

Liver 905

Lungs 495

Mutton, Canned

Corned 150O

Tongue 1465

Pork, Fresh

Pork chop 1535

Chuck ribs and shoulder 1635

Ham, fresh 1700

Head 1990

Headcheese 1790

Loin chop 1655

Loin, tenderloin 900

Middle cuts 1825

Shoulder 1690

Side, lard and fat included 2780

Side, not including lard, etc 2505

Clear backs 2970

Government statistics show that the average income of the average American family is $15.90 a week, or $827.19 a year, each family consisting of five persons. This means an income of $2.27 a day, inclusive of Sundays and holidays.

These data were obtained from two thousand five hundred and sixty-seven families, comprised of thirteen thousand six hundred and forty-three persons, selected from different parts of the United States. The average expenditure of a family for all purposes was $768.54, leaving a surplus of $58.65.

The average amount expended in one year is as follows: Food, $326.90; rent, $117.41; fuel and light, $40.38; clothing, $107.84; insurance, $20.97; furniture and utensils, $26.31; periodicals, $8.35; amusements, $12.28; sickness and death, $20.54; church, lodge, and other dues, $19.06; liquors and tobacco, $23.37; niiscellaneous, $45.13-

Bureau of Labor statistics placed average of one hundred per cent, in 19 13 (price of foodsstuffs) for eight years, as follows:

1907 81.9

1908 84.2

1909 88.6

1910 92.9

1911 91.9

1912 97.4

1913 100.

1914 102.

Smoked Ham The hind legs of a pig, when salted and smoked, are called ham. We broil, fry, roast, boil, and bake ham. The edible portion of ham is forty and three-tenths per cent, water; thirtyeight and eight-tenths per cent, fat, and sixteen and one-tenth per cent, protein. Smoked ham furnishes one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five calories of energy per pound.

Dried Beef Dried beef, eaten with eggs or creamed, is a tasty dish. It is fifty-four and three-tenths per cent, water; thirty per cent, protein, and six and six-tenths per cent. fat. Dried beef has little nutritive value. It supplies only eight hundred and ten calories of energy per pound.

CHAPTER IV Diet and Health

Physiology teaches us that food is that substance which, when properly introduced into the body, builds tissue, restores waste, and furnishes heat. These are the three principal functions of food, which should be performed. The secondary function of food, however, that of social enjoyment, should not be neglected.

A table that is attractive in appearance and congenial companions serve to render more effective the primary purposes of food.

Food may be divided into four classes :

1. Nitrogenous foods, or proteins, which nourish the muscles, brain, nerves, and tendons, and furnish some heat.

2. Starchy foods and sugars, commonly called carbohydrates, which nourish the fatty tissues, and furnish heat.

3. Fat foods (oils), which take but little part in tissue-building, but are fundamentally heat-producers.

4. Mineral foods — sodium chloride, or common salt, lime, phosphorus, iron, etc. — which are particularly useful in nourishing the bones and teeth, aid digestion, and are necessary in the translations of the fluids in the body.

Calorie is a term used to designate the quantity of heat afforded by a food product during the process of digestion. The unit of measure is one gram of water (fifteen grains) ; the unit of temperature is one degree centigrade (one and eight-tenths Fahrenheit). A calorie, therefore, measures the quantity of heat which will raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree centigrade.

When a food is completely burned in the body, the same number of calories is produced as if it were burned in a calorimeter. It will be seen that fat burned in the body produces the same number of calories as fat that is burned outside the body in a calorimeter. The same may be said of sugar and starch.

It may well be said that food is the fuel of the human system, and that man is made up of the sum total of what he eats.

What food is and its true purpose is a study well worth while, for health efficiency and length of life depend on the food you eat.

How important, then, it is to select, combine, and proportion your food according to occupation and the season of the year.

There has lately been established in the Health Department Building, in New York, a restaurant which makes a study of food in relation to efficiency.

The bill of fare furnishes more information about the relation of diet to health than was ever before packed into so small a space. Every day there is a liberal supply of dishes, ready cooked, with the amount of nutrition in each described; that is, how much protein they contain, how much fat, and how many carbohydrates. The little menu card also tells the customer how many calories a day he needs.

Another interesting feature of the menu, besides the names of the dishes that are ready, are two different luncheons, each furnishing the same food value, but differing from each other in price.

The following, for example, is the list furnished for one day :

Low-cost Luncheon, Balanced Ration

CALO- PROTEIN PRICE QUANTITY RIES GRAMS

Tomato soup 5c. I/2 pint 150 3.00

Macaroni, baked with cheese 5c. 3 heaping tablespoons 350 16.5

CALO- PROTEIN PRICE QUANTITY RIES GRAMS

Ice cream 5c. 2 heaping tablespoons 270 6.0 Whole-wheat bread 2 slices 140 5.5

with butter Vz ounce 110

High-cost Luncheon, Balanced Ration

Tomato soup 5c. ^ pint 130 3.0

Potted roast 20c. 3>S ounces 250 20.0

Creamed s p in a c h

with egg 5c. 2 heaping tablespoons 55 2.0

Gingerbread 4c. 2 ounces 220 3.5

Coffee 4c. 1 cup

Whole-wheat bread 2 slices 140 5.5

with butter Yz ounce 110

It is a difficult matter to make people eat according to a set rule, particularly if the food does not happen to be just what the individual may wish for at the time; but introducing the element of cost, together with the actual efficiency of each article on the bill of fare, cannot help but create a favorable impression.

The wise choice of food in relation to health can hardly fail to interest the ordinary man, and when it is shown, in black and white, with mathematical precision, how such a choice will reduce the cost of living, we are more than likely to find ourselves looking on it with favor,

CHAPTER V Nearly Half a Man's Wages Goes for Food

According to recent investigations by the United States Bureau of Labor more than forty per cent, of the income of the average workingman's family is expended for food.

The claim is made after inquiry into the conditions prevailing in two thousand seven hundred families in twenty-four different States.

The mere fact that the average workingman spends so much of his income in such a manner, when he could get the same amount of nourishment, or even more, at a much lower cost, is pitiful and appalling. Another fact brought forward in the investigation referred to is that the more intelligent and well-to-do the housekeepers are, the more economical they are in the purchase of food supplies. Many a mechanic's wife insists upon having the best sirloin steak, while the wife of a man who has many times the income of the mechanic may be satisfied with the cheaper cuts.

It is a singular fact, especially pertaining to meats of all kinds, that the price per pound has little, if any, relation to the nutritive value. A pound of steak costing fifty cents contains no more nutritive elements than a pound of a cheaper cut costing half the amount ; and if the latter is intelligently cooked, it will be quite as appetizing and equally effective.

The report also shows that the average American mechanic is a great meat consumer, perhaps too great a one, and this may account for the large percentage of income expended for food. With the American mechanic alive to the evils of a too-much-meat diet and the economical methods of preparing the tasty and edible cereals, vegetables, and lentils, the percentage of income expended for food may be greatly reduced, also the percentage now spent on physicians' and drug bills, and a corresponding increase in health and longevity result.

Not long ago experiments were made by the Boston Science School along the line of cheap living. From these investigations it was shown that it was possible to live comfortably, if not luxuriously, on sixty-seven cents a day. Meals were prepared for twenty-two cents, and, what is more to the point, eaten with apparent relish by unbiased persons.

In addition, the chemical constituents in the food were carefully weighed and measured, and it was found that a sufficient amount of proteids, fats, and carbohydrates existed in the twenty-two-cent meal to support men working with the customary expenditure of force.

The meal, as planned, was afterwards served by Dean Russell, of Columbia University, who gave it to a party of six of his friends. The teachers in the department of domestic science laid out the program and the students did the cooking.

The cost of materials was two dollars and two cents, from which was deducted the value of the food not actually consumed. This brought the total cost down to one dollar and twenty-eight cents for six people.

The menu and prices follow :

Grapefruit $0.26

Baked haddock 58

Hollandaise sauce 10

Potatoes on the half-shell. 13

Rolls 17

Butter 08

Pickles 04

Tea 02

Lettuce 16

Wafers 01

Cheese 10

Pineapple sherbet 24

Angel cake 13

$2!^

Miss M. B. Vail, instructor in domestic science at Columbia University, who had charge of the luncheon, says that twenty-two cents would be a fair average for all meals; so persons who pay more than two hundred and forty dollars and ninety cents a year for food are doing an injustice to themselves and to their purses.

There is one thing that should always be borne in mind — the actual nutritive value of food is the net worth of that food in replacing broken-down tissue and supplying the necessary heat- and force-calories.