224 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



to study the food consumption of our farmers and rural and urban 

 wage-workers in different regions with special reference to their 

 hygienic and economic requirements. 



It is believed that the results of nutrition investigations already 

 made may be practically and beneficially applied in a wide way to the 

 feeding of men wherever a considerable number of persons are to be 

 fed on a systematic plan. This applies especially to boarding schools, 

 college clubs, reformatory and penal institutions, hospitals for the 

 insane and other dependent classes, and the Army and Navy. A 

 beginning has already been made in this direction, but there is still 

 room for a large amount of investigation before definite suggestions 

 of general application can be made. The importance of this subject 

 may be illustrated by reference to the hospitals for the insane in the 

 State of New York, in which the special agent in charge of our inves- 

 tigations has already made some studies under State auspices. The 

 annual cost of the food supply to these hospitals has been over 

 $1,000,000. The investigations already made show that not only may 

 the total cost be considerably reduced and large wastes prevented, 

 but that the dietaries of the inmates of these institutions may be 

 much improved by attention to the facts and principles established 

 by nutrition investigations. These preliminary investigations have 

 also shown the need for more accurate inquiries regarding the food 

 requirements of different classes of persons in these institutions. In 

 the State of New York alone not far from 100,000 people of the 

 dependent and delinquent classes are maintained in public institu- 

 tions at an annual expense of $26,000,000, of which about $6,000,000 

 is expended for food. This will give some indication of the vast 

 interests at stake in this matter when we take the whole country into 

 account. Certainly here is a field of investigation upon which the 

 Department might well enter, and in which results of great practical 

 value might be expected. 



For the extension of the nutrition investigations in the two lines 

 above mentioned, namely, (1) dietary studies of farmers and rural 

 and urban wage workers, and (2) studies with reference to the utili- 

 zation of the results of nutrition investigations in public institutions, 

 I recommend that $5,000 be added to the present appropriation for 

 nutrition investigations. 



In my report for last year I called attention to the fact that inves- 

 tigations were needed to determine the food habits and requirements 

 of people living in tropical countries. This matter is evidently 

 becoming of increasing importance to our people. The continuance 

 of soldiers, sailors, and civil officers of the United States in such 

 regions would of itself justify the institution of investigations to 

 determine the best dietaries for their use while there. With our rap- 

 idly expanding commerce and the going out of considerable numbers 

 of our people to reside in tropical regions, there is additional reason 

 for undertaking such studies. Moreover, we need to study the die- 

 taries of the native populations which have recently come under the 

 jurisdiction of the United States, with a view to determining the rela- 

 tion of their food habits to their health and industrial efficiency. 

 Such investigations may easily become an important factor in the 

 agriculture, trade, and commerce of these regions, as well as in the 

 formulation of plans for the improvement of the conditions of life 

 among these peoples. Therefore I recommend that an appropriation 

 of $5,000 be asked for to enable this Department to undertake studies 

 of the food supply and consumption of people living in the Tropics. 



