648 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



best physiological evidence implies that moderate quantities of food 

 taken at moderate intervals are more easily and completely digested 

 by ordinary people than larger quantities taken at long intervals. 

 The very fact that the custom of eating a number of meals a day 

 has so long been almost universal indicates that it must have some 

 advantages which instinct, based upon experience, approves and 

 justifies. 



ERRORS IN FOOD ECONOMY. 



Scientific research, interpreting the observations of practical 

 life, indicates that a fourfold mistake in food economy is very com- 

 monly made. First, the costlier kinds of food are used when the 

 less expensive are just as nutritious and can be made nearly or quite 

 as palatable. Secondly, the diet is apt to be one-sided, in that foods 

 are used which furnish relatively too much of the fuel ingredients 

 and too little of the flesh-forming materials. Thirdly, excessive 

 quantities of food are used ; part of the excess is eaten and often to 

 the detriment of health ; part is thrown away in the table and kitchen 

 wastes. Finally, serious errors in cooking are committed. 



For the well-to-do the worst injury is that to health ; but people 

 of small incomes suffer the additional disadvantage of the injury to 

 purse. With reasonable care in cooking and serving, a pleasing 

 and varied diet can be furnished at moderate cost. It should not be 

 forgotten that the real cheapness or dearness of a food material de- 

 pends not only on its market price, but also on the cost of its 

 digestible nutrients. It should always be remembered that "the 

 ideal diet is that combination of foods which, while imposing the 

 least burden on the body, supplies it with exactly sufficient material 

 to meet its wants," and that any disregard of such a standard must 

 inevitably prevent the best development of our powers. Some simple 

 combinations will serve to show how few foods may be put together 

 and yet answer all requirements: 



Menu I. "Whole wheat bread ; whole milk ; prunes. 



Protein is furnished by both milk and bread; fat by milk and 

 bread ; carbohydrate by bread, milk and prunes ; iron by prunes and 

 whole wheat; calcium by milk and whole wheat; phosphorus by 

 milk and whole wheat; magnesium and potassium by prunes, milk 

 and bread; and bulk by prunes and whole wheat. 



Menu II. Cream of Potato Soup (or any vegetable soup hav- 

 ing a milk foundation); bread and butter; fruit or a succulent 

 vegetable. 



When one has been accustomed to a larger variety, such meals 

 may seem scant fare, but a little experimenting will soon demon- 

 strate their practicability. 



Any one of the following combinations makes a well-balanced 

 meal if sufficient amounts of the foods are consumed. This does not 

 indicate that they are ideal for all conditions. Persons who have a 

 weakened digestion, babies and small children would not be given 

 baked beans and brown bread, or bread and cheese. 



