Kansas Academu of Science. 147 



FOREIGN ADDITIONS TO OUR DIETARY. 



E. H. S. Bailey. 



TO WHAT extent are we dependent upon foreign markets 

 for our food supply? This question, more than ever be- 

 fore, has recently impressed itself upon the people of the coun- 

 try. It is often this question which determines whether a na- 

 tion shall stand or fall in a great struggle. Is that nation 

 self-contained as to her food supply? Has she resources 

 within herself so that if all outside provisions are cut off by a 

 blockade her inhabitants will have sufficient food? 



Every one realizes that the quantity of a given food can be 

 greatly increased by planting increased acreage, as well as by 

 more intensive farming. The variety may also be enlarged 

 by the introduction of foods which are not at present grown in 

 this country. Notwithstanding our immense food resources, 

 there are some products which have always been obtained from 

 foreign sources. This is partly due to the fact that we have 

 no strictly tropical climate, and partly because we have found 

 it easier to buy products abroad than to develop the cultiva- 

 tion of them at home. Of course, every country is supplied to 

 some extent with foreign foods. In some countries, as in the 

 British Isles, a large proportion of the foods come from out- 

 side sources. They can never be independent of other lands. 



Some staple foods are necessary to subsistence; with those 

 we are fairly well supplied. It is true that, if isolated, we 

 should have to double our sugar production to be comfortable, 

 or live on less sugar per capita, as many other nations do. 

 Resides the staple foods, there are numerous fruits and vege- 

 tables and many luxuries which add a wholesome variety to the 

 diet, and which would be missed if they could not be obtained. 

 Many of these come from abroad. 



Food products, considered in a large way, may be classified 

 as follows : 



(1) Those products produced in the United States in abun- 

 dance, and which are seldom imported from a foreign country. 



(2) Those foods which are produced here, sometimes in suf- 

 ficient quantities so that we export them, and which are some- 

 times so scarce that they must be imported. 



