XXV 



THE DECREASING MEAT SUPPLY 



ONE of the great problems which future scientific 

 agriculture will be called upon to solve is the de- 

 creasing meat supply. There seems to be no question, 

 so far as statistics are concerned, that the increase of 

 the population in the United States is more rapid than 

 the increase in the number of meat animals on the 

 farms. This is especially true of beef cattle, and to a 

 less extent is also true of swine and sheep. 



There are two methods of attacking a problem of 

 this kind: One is the adoption of a modified vege- 

 tarian diet; and second, the increase in the number of 

 animals which supply meat. In my opinion the path 

 of wisdom traverses both of these territories of nutri- 

 tion. There is little question in my mind of the fact 

 that well-to-do urban people eat too much meat. When 

 we sit down to a fashionable dinner we not only have 

 oysters and soup, but also fish, a roast, poultry or game, 

 and usually patties of some kind containing meat, and 

 in general a diet, the nutritive portions of which are 

 furnished chiefly from animal sources. 



DIMINISH THE MEAT DIET. 



For dietetic reasons, and that means also for health 

 reasons, the great variety of products of animal origin 

 furnished at the ordinary well-to-do dinner should be 

 restricted. Aside from milk, butter and eggs, which 



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