THE FOOD VALUE OF VEGETABLES. 



21 



THE FOOD VALUE OF VEGETABLES. 



By Fred Stoker, M.B., F.L.S. 



[Read November 5, 1918 ; Rev. W. Wilks, M.A., V.M.H., in the Chair.] 



I feel greatly honoured by being asked to lecture before this learned 

 Society to-day, particularly upon this subject and at this time, when 

 the produce of allotment and garden has had more than a small 

 share towards securing the final victory we are now all looking forward 

 to as not very far off. At the same time I am extremely diffident 

 as to my capacity for doing justice to my subject, and I ask your 

 indulgence for the many shortcomings which I fear will be only too 

 apparent as I proceed. 



Before the war, most of us ate vegetables simply as an adjunct 

 to animal food, and do so still to a considerable extent ; we either 

 failed to appreciate their inherent food value or we refused to recognize 

 it. As much, or nearly as much, meat was eaten when vegetables 

 formed part of the meal as when they did not. We took, for example, 

 nuts at the end of a meal simply because we liked nuts, and not because 

 we required more food. 



The last few years have shown us the wastefulness of such customs, 

 have made us economize in animal food by substituting for it the 

 fruits of the earth, with such benefit to our physical welfare that 

 very few would be satisfied to return to the old regime. 



Therefore it will be my endeavour in this address not only to 

 indicate how best this substitution may be made, but also to point 

 out how our gardens and allotments may be most profitably utilized 

 so far as actual food is concerned. 



To do this it is necessary to know what we demand of a substance 

 before we describe it as a food, and how vegetables bear this test. 

 Then we must have a method of ascertaining the actual nutrient 

 value of a particular plant and also its relative value in proportion 

 to the area it occupies, the time it is on the ground, and the cultiva- 

 tion it requires. From these data it is simple to arrive at the economic 

 value, which, though not actually within the scope of this lecture, 

 it may be interesting briefly to mention. 



A food may be defined as a material which will supply energy, 

 provide for growth, and make good the tissue-waste of an organism. 

 Usually a mixture of complex chemical compounds, foods commonly 

 contain many substances which are quite without value to the animal 

 economy. 



If any ordinary article of diet is analyzed, it is found to consist 



