Making Real Use of the Garden's Crops INGA ^;£,£ US0N > 



WHERE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES CAN REPLACE OTHER FOODS. COMBINATIONS FOR BALANCED DIETARIES 



OF THE VAST quantities of perish- 

 able food stuff raised in the war gar- 

 den efforts of the year ample sup- 

 plies have been put into storage. 

 The present problem is selecting and com- 

 bining these foods that there may be 

 brought about the most efficient and eco- 

 nomic use of the products of the garden 

 during winter. Fundamental to the attain- 

 ment of that object is an understanding of 

 the nature of fruits and vegetables and of the 

 role they play in the diet. 



As a first step study of the vital needs of 

 the family to discover how under the present 

 condition of limited food supply and unlim- 

 ited prices, they may best be met, great 

 knowledge is not necessary. If, then, the 

 housewife can supplement that knowledge 

 with skill in the cookery of fruits and vege- 

 tables, originality in combination and in serv- 

 ing, and in the observation of a few general 

 rules or guides to practice, the problem of the 

 three square meals a day will cease to be the 

 proverbial bugbear to the household that 

 has used its garden area wisely. 



The study of food values and of food func- 

 tions involves the use of a few unfamiliar 

 terms, but those terms may be quite as readily 

 comprehended as Chrysanthemum, Gladiolus, 

 or Dahlia. We have already come to use with 

 considerable freedom the terms protein, car- 

 bohydrates, and fats. The first named food 

 principle, it will be remembered, is the tissue- 

 building part of foods, that part which is 

 found in large proportion in lean meat, eggs, 

 milk, cheese, and in beans and peas. The car- 

 bohydrate group includes all foods rich in 

 starch and sugar, and the best known repre- 

 sentatives are potatoes, cereals, and sugars. 

 Such foods we think of as energy yielders, or, 

 in other words, as producers of heat and ac- 

 tivity. Only in comparatively recent years 

 has it come to be generally understood that 

 very many of the fruits and vegetables, low 

 in protein and carbohydrates and formerly 

 used because of freshness and palatability, have . 

 large value as body regulating substances. 



What Fruits and Vegetables Can Do 



' I "'HE special function served by fruits 

 *■ and vegetables is fourfold. Because 

 of its bulky residue it gives a laxative ten- 

 dency. And again, because of bulkiness, 

 fruits and vegetables are the more satisfy- 

 ing to the appetite. Within the last 

 half dozen years this group of foods has 

 come to be known as an important source of the 

 very minute quantities of certain food acces- 

 sories which are regarded as highly essential 

 to growth. To such food accessories has 

 been given the name vitamines. And it is 

 significant that fresh fruits and fresh vege- 

 tables are more advantageous sources of vit- 

 amines than those same products preserved 

 by canning or drying. The organic acids 

 found in fruits and vegetables give to them 

 pleasing flavors, exert a laxative effect and 

 serve other useful purposes. The fourth 

 function is that of supplying to the body the 

 essential mineral salts. The mineral constit- 

 uents of greatest importance are iron, cal- 

 cium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sul- 

 phur, and chlorine. The average dietary 

 is often lacking in these food constituents and, 

 of the elements named, the first three cannot 

 be safely left to chance. This discrepancy 

 may be accounted for in the fact that the 

 food selected has not included generous 



amounts of eggs, legumes, whole cereals, 

 fresh fruits, and fresh vegetables. // each 

 day's ration contained two medium sized -pota- 

 toes, a serving of some other vegetable, and 

 the equivalent of a medium shed apple in fresh 

 fruit, the needs for mineral -matter and of 

 growth promoting substances other than pro- 

 tein would probably be supplied. Special 

 care should be exercised then to make sure 

 that the dietary includes a generous supply 

 of foods in which iron, phosphorus, and cal- 

 cium do occur. Foods rich in iron are egg 

 yolk, lean meat, spinach, fruits, and cereal 

 grains. Generous use of milk, legumes, cel- 

 ery, cabbage, and cereals will insure an ade- 

 quate supply of calcium salts to the body. 

 Phosphorus contained in egg is considered to 

 be more completely utilized than that derived 

 from any other source; but beans, wheat, and 

 oats also serve to supply that element. This 

 is not to say that the foods named as the de- 

 sirable source of supply of one mineral consti- 

 tuent do not also supply other mineral consti- 

 tuents. From the foregoing statements it is 

 apparent that the group of vegetables known 

 as legumes serve as a source of each of the three 

 veryimportant mineral constituents. Legumes 

 include beans, peas, lentils, and soy-beans. 



The Potato Substitute 



AN UNDERSTANDING of the nature 

 ■^ ■*■ and amount of mineral constituents 

 contained in the different food stuffs will en- 

 able one to correctly provide "substitutes" 

 for the staple food products for which the 

 present demand exceeds the supply. A case 

 in point is the need for potato substitutes. 

 Rice and other cereals and cereal preparations 

 such as macaroni have come to be referred to 

 as "the potato substitutes." In so far as we 

 are concerned with the starch content, the 

 foods named may be so regarded. Their 

 inadequacy in other respects should be as well 

 understood. In the digestion of foods there 

 are set free alkaline salts known as base- 

 producing elements and acid-producing ele- 

 ments. The perfect combination of foods is 

 that in which there is at least enough of the 

 base-forming elements to neutralize the 

 amount of acid-producing elements set free, 

 thus changing them to harmless compounds 

 which the body then throws off. A familiar 

 illustration of such an ideal combination is the 

 serving of potatoes with meat. 



Dividing Excess of Acid 



TN AN average serving of meat the excess 

 ■*■ of acid-producing elements is neutralized 

 by the excess of base-producing elements in an 

 average serving of potatoes. It is an inter- 

 esting fact that an excess of foods of the base- 

 producing type is not in any sense objection- 

 able. Such an excess of acid production is 

 harmful because the natural reaction of the 

 blood and other body fluids is alkaline. 

 Among the plant foods conspicuous for the 

 extent of their use, and which contain an ex- 

 cess of acid-producing elements, are rice and 

 other cereals and cereal preparations such as 

 macaroni and hominy. Acid producers in- 

 clude meats, fish, and eggs, from among 

 animal foods. Base producers are fruits, 

 vegetables, and milk. That fruits have ah 

 acid taste but are regarded as base-producing 

 foods may seem paradoxical. From this, 

 then, it is obvious that, while among fruits 

 and vegetables there may be quite free sub- 

 stitution, yet rice which contains an excess 



132 



of acid-producing elements cannot take the 

 place of the potato which gives rise to base- 

 forming elements. The substitution of rice, be- 

 cause of its starch content, must be accom- 

 panied by the addition of succulent vegetables. 

 From a review of tables giving statements 

 of food composition the housewife will discover 

 that the vegetables and fruits rich in the 

 starch form of carbohydrates are the Irish 

 and sweet potatoes, and the unripe banana. 

 Those containing an abundance of the sugar 

 form of carbohydrate are beets, carrots, par- 

 snips, corn, the ripe banana, apples, and dried 

 fruits. Vegetables giving a relatively high 

 percentage of protein may be used in part to 

 replace the meat, eggs, and cheese. Represen- 

 tatives of this group are shelled beans, peas, 

 lentils, and the soy beans. Those rich in iron 

 are: spinach and other greens, beans, peas, and 

 onions. In calcium — spinach, cauliflower, 

 rutabaga, celery, turnips, legumes and berries. 

 In phosphorus; legumes, cauliflower, potato, 

 rutabaga, spinach, gooseberries, parsnips, and 

 onions. In potash salts, spinach, legumes, 

 potatoes, bananas, cabbage, lettuce, and the 

 root vegetables. While in general all fruits 

 and vegetables supply quite generously the 

 mineral constituents named, it is sometimes 

 of special value to know the more exact com- 

 position and to know what fruits and vege- 

 tables serve as a more abundant subsidy. 



Practical Vegetable Combinations 



nrO ILLUSTRATE suitable meal combin- 

 ■*• ations in which meat and potatoes may 

 be very acceptably replaced by vegetables 

 the following menus are given: 



I— Roast beef Potatoes II— Beef Stew Rice 



Spinach A [Toot vegetable, beets or 



Bread Butter Beverage carrots 



Sliced oranges Wafers Lettuce or other greens 



Bread Butter Beverage 

 Fresh fruit 

 III — Baked beans and to- VI — Bean loaf and spiced 

 mato sauce gooseberries 



Steamed brown bread Creamed potatoes 



Escalloped onions Bread and butter 



Fruit cup and Sponge Cake Apple, celery and nut Salad 



Wafers 

 SUPPERS: 

 I — Cream of Sweet Potato , II — Salt mackerel — steamed 

 Soup Boiled potatoes with butter 



Nut bread Escalloped to- sauce 



matoes Creamed onions 



Baked apple Wafers Bread and butter 



Fresh apple sauce Cookies- 

 III — Baked omelet Bacon IV — Cottage Cheese 



Bread and butter and jelly Buttered carrots and peas 



Sauce Cookies Bread and Butter 



Berries Spice Cake 



In explanation of the foregoing menus it 

 should also be stated that it is regarded as 

 highly desirable that fruit — preferably fresh 

 fruit — replace in large measure the pies and 

 heavy puddings that are customary desserts. 

 Liberal introduction of a variety of vegetables 

 is recognition of the important part that the 

 vegetable cellar and the vegetable pit should 

 play in the family commissary. Again, it 

 will be noticed that there is suggestion of the 

 frequent use of nuts — that because of their 

 highly nutritious character, and, the fact that 

 considering their actual food value, they cost 

 no more than many of the generally recog- 

 nized staples. 



Meat Substitute 



TN REPLACING meat in the diet it should 

 *• be remembered that for one fourth pound 

 of lean beef there may be allowed one half 

 pound of dry beans or peas, two eggs, or a 

 pint of milk. A general guiding rule to be 

 observed in the selection of vegetables is not 

 to combine in one meal any two o. the same 

 general character. 



