CHAPTER VII 



FOOD AND NUTRITION 



I. A STUDY OF FOODS AND DIETARY 



376. Importance of Studying the Food Problem. The 



business of obtaining food is the most important one in which 

 man is engaged. This business includes, not only agriculture, 

 which is the art of obtaining foods indirectly from the soil, 

 but also the carrying of the food from the farm to the market, 

 the milling, the packing, and the other manufacturing proc- 

 esses by means of which the food is prepared for the con- 

 sumer, and the retailing of the finished product to the con- 

 sumer. A large portion of our population is engaged in the 

 work of obtaining, transporting, preparing, and retailing food. 

 The food bill of our country amounts to more than any other 

 single bill. 



With the early pioneer, the food problem was comparatively 

 simple. He raised his own wheat and corn. He took them to 

 mill and had them ground into flour or meal. His wife made 

 the bread in her own kitchen. The pioneer produced his own 

 meat and slaughtered it himself. He produced his own sugar, 

 maple sugar, or sorghum. He produced, of course, his own 

 milk, butter, and cheese. Very few foods were purchased at 

 the grocery. 



Now all is changed. Even the farmer often buys his flour, 

 meat, cheese and butter. The population of cities has largely 

 increased. Food must be produced for city dwellers as well as 

 for those directly engaged in the production of food. We have 

 a greater variety of foods offered for sale in our modern markets 

 than the pioneer ever thought of. Food is brought from all 

 parts of the world. Much of the food offered for sale has 

 passed through one or more manufacturing processes. The 



343 



