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Rich Man, too, Has a Food Problem 



The Main Liners of Philadelphia and the Gold Coasters 

 of Chicago have no politicians to sponsor their food problem. 

 Their problem is quite different, and in a certain sense more 

 serious than that of the poor. They wish that they had stom- 

 achs lined with zinc so they could eat hot dogs, greasy fried 

 potatoes, pancakes and sausages in the quantities and with 

 the zest of the downtrodden third. 



What Is an Adequate Diet? 



A farmer once defined a fair price as one which was ten 

 per cent higher than he could get. Similarly, an adequate 

 diet probably is ten per cent better than that which one now 

 receives. 



The chief difficulty in a discussion of the adequacy of diet 

 is the inability to agree on some basis of comparison. Various 

 minimum requirements have been proposed by nutritionists 

 and dietitians. For some thousands of years, however, the 

 Chinese have been living and breeding on a food level sub- 

 stantially below the "nutritional minimum." The "adequacy 

 of diet" is a relative term. By comparison with the diet of 

 his employer, the diet of a city laborer is inadequate. But by 

 comparison with the diet of a southern European, the diet of 

 the American laborer is more than adequate; it is a feast fit 

 for a king. 



The adaptability of the human body to varying diets is 

 amazing to those who have become accustomed to any par- 

 ticular diet. It is difficult for the American reared on roast 

 beef, pasteurized milk, orange juice, and yeast tablets to be- 

 lieve that man can survive on the Eskimo's raw blubber and 

 frozen fish, the Irishman's potato, the Scotchman's oatmeal, 

 the Arab's dates, or the rice of the Chinese. They live on it, 



