S36 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



For the past five years we have persistently endeavored to better 

 inform the public with the food value of milk. Common with all 

 other foods of animal source, milk is relatively rich in protein. 

 This food constituent, present in milk chiefly in the form of casein, 

 is indispensable for the fonnation of body tissues and fluids. Al- 

 though the other food constituents (fat, carbohydrates and ash) 

 are also present in good proportions, it is chiefly as a protein food 

 that milk and milk products find their logical place in the diet; 

 an easily digestible and economical substitute for meat and fish. 

 If the food constituents of milk are compared with those of other 

 animal foods, it will be observed that milk contains more carbo- 

 hydrates and is free from waste. 



Based on its total fuel value, a quart of whole milk contains the 

 same amount of nutritive ingredients as three-fourths of a pound 

 of lean beef steak or one-half of a loaf of bread. 



About one-half of the total fuel value of milk is supplied by the 

 fat it contains. In the skimming of milk practically all of this fat 

 but none of the other food constituents is removed. Skim milk, 

 therefore, possesses approximately one-half the food value of whole 

 milk. It may be seen that as a human food skim milk is far from a 

 valueless material. Consumed at the rate of a pint and a half a 

 day, it will furnish practically all of the human body's daily de- 

 mand for protein. 



At moderately active muscular exercise a man must assimilate 

 food containing 4.48 ounces (0.28 pound) of protein and possess- 

 ing a total fuel value of 3,500 calories, if he is to retain his food 

 bodily vigor. From the following tables, it will be seen that about 

 one-third cf this daily demand may be cheaply supplied by rela- 

 tively small quantities of two of Iowa's leading agricultural prod- 

 ucts, corn and milk. 



I am firmly convinced that when the public becomes fully in- 

 formed as to the value of our domestic cereals served with milk, 

 either whole or skimmed, they will be served more frequently at 

 the breakfast table ; and, if we would have a better and more eco- 

 nomically fed people we should endeavor to increase the consumption 

 of milk in the home 100 per cent. 



On page 21 of this report we present a graphic illustration show- 

 ing the relative cost of some of the more commonly purchased food- 

 stuffs of animal origin. In this chart the dark areas show the por- 

 tion of a dollar required to purchase an amount of the food equal in 

 fuel value to a quart of milk. The values are computed from the 

 average retail prices prevailing in October, 1916. 



