If diminished use of milk continues, dairymen may go out of business and permanent harm be done, both to us and to those dependent on us abroad. A factory may close down and when the need comes reopen immediately, but if a cow is killed it takes practically three years to replace her.

The milk we have should be used as effectively as possible. The most economical way for a nation to use its milk so as to get the benefit of all the food in it, is, of course, as whole milk, or evaporated or dried whole milk. The next most economical way is in the form of whole-milk cheese, since all but the whey is used in it.

Cream and butter are much less economical unless all the skim milk is used. As 41 per cent of our milk-supply goes to make butter, we have large quantities of skim milk containing as much protein, it is estimated, as all the beef we eat.

At present we feed the largest part of this to animals or actually throw it away. Since the cottage-cheese drive of the Department of Agriculture, an increasing amount of it is being made into cottage-cheese—a palatable and useful meat substitute. It can, of course, be used as a beverage or in cooking. Whey also has many food uses. Buttermilk, too, is justly popular and healthful. Skim milk is not a substitute for whole milk for children.

Cream, valuable food though it is, is also extravagant in its use of milk. It takes five quarts of milk to produce a quart of cream. Buying whole milk is, therefore, better policy than buying cream and no milk. The sale of cream is now forbidden in Great Britain for this reason.

OUR MILK ABROAD

It is our supply of milk that is helping to meet the milk shortage abroad. Before the war we exported very little. By 1917 our export of evaporated, condensed, and dried milk had gone up twentyfold. In the spring of 1918 we sent over the equivalent in whole milk of almost 50,000,000 pounds a month, and should probably have sent much more were it not for the lack of ships. After the war, when ships are released, the demand for it will be enormous. It will take years to build up the dairy-herds of Europe again, so we shall continue to be their main source of supply.

LEARN AND TEACH THE UNIQUE VALUE AND ECONOMY OF MILK. DO EVERYTHING TO PREVENT IN THIS COUNTRY THE TRAGIC RESULTS WHICH ARE FOLLOWING THE CUTTING DOWN OF MILK CONSUMPTION ABROAD.



CHAPTER VIII

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

Vegetables and fruits represent a different and happier phase of the food situation than our short supplies of wheat and meat. The vegetables especially are a great potential reserve of food, for they can be produced in quantity in three or four months on unused land by labor that otherwise might not be used.

Abroad every resource for vegetable-raising is being utilized to the utmost. France and Belgium have long made the most of all their land. Now England has made it compulsory to leave no ground uncultivated. Golf-courses are now potato-patches. Parks and every bit of back yard all grow their quota of vegetables. The boys in the old English public schools work with the hoe where before they played football.

We in America have no more than touched our capacity for raising gardens. What we have done is merely a beginning. As the war goes on we shall realize more and more the necessity for seizing every opportunity for active service. The accomplishments of the summer of 1917 showed the possibilities of the work, and placed it beyond the purely experimental stage. They have given experience and emphasized the value of expert advice and the economy of community efforts.

Not only is the "plant a garden" a civilian movement, but it has taken hold in the armies as well. The American Army Garden service is planning truck-gardens in France to supply our troops. The Woman's Auxiliary Army Corps of England plants gardens back of the British lines. Last summer the French fed 20,000 of their men from similar gardens.

EVERY POUND OF FOOD GROWN IN THESE HOME AND COMMUNITY GARDENS RELIEVES THE RAILROAD CONGESTION AND GIVES MORE SPACE FOR TRANSPORTING MUNITIONS AND COAL. EVERY POUND OF FOOD GROWN RELEASES STAPLES FOR EUROPE. Extra production of food of any kind, anywhere, takes on a new significance in the presence of half a world hungry.

IF YOU CANNOT GROW VEGETABLES, USE THEM IN ABUNDANCE ANYWAY. They are too perishable to ship abroad and too bulky, containing so much water that it would be an uneconomical use of shipping to export them. But the more America eats of almost any kind of vegetable or fruit, the less of the more durable, concentrated foods will she require. The products are so varied in kind and composition that they can be used to serve almost any purpose—beans and peas to save meat; potatoes and others to save wheat; sweet fruits to save sugar; jams, even, when spread on bread, to save fat. All will improve the health and therefore increase human energies for winning the war.

IN THE WAR DIET

To Save Meat. Beans and peas and peanuts are the only vegetables with much protein, so that they are the ones thought of primarily as meat substitutes. There are many kinds of them, fresh or dried, more than most of us realize. It is worth while to add to the diet not only the ordinary white or navy beans, but kidney, lima, black or soy beans, cow-peas, the many colored beans such as the pinto, frijoles, and the California pinks. It is these latter kinds that are used by the Mexicans as their chief standby. The Army and Navy use huge quantities of the white beans, and the Allied Governments are also buying tons of the pintos.

The 1917 bean-crop, in response to the patriotic appeal, was 50 per cent higher than the normal. Nearly all this increase was in the colored beans, chiefly pintos. The Food Administration, fearing that some of this unusual surplus might be wasted and the farmer discouraged from producing a large output in 1918, bought up the extra crop and distributed it for sale at the different markets.

Though soy beans and peanuts at least are exceptions, the protein in beans and peas is not so satisfactory as a bodybuilder as that in animal foods, so that a diet in which they are a large part should contain also some milk or eggs or a little meat. Two cups (half a pound) of shelled green peas or beans, or one cup with a cup of skim milk gives as much protein as a quarter of a pound of beef. Dried beans and peas are, of course, cheaper than the canned with their larger amount of water. At the usual market prices as much fuel can be bought for 5 cents spent for dried peas as for 25 cents for canned peas.

Meat-savers do not all have to be high-protein foods, since the diet of most of us contains considerably more protein than is necessary. Any vegetable can be a "meat extender." The pleasant flavor of meat can be obtained in meat stews, such as the delicious French "pot-au-feu." Stews can easily be made with less meat and more vegetables than usual. The meat allowance is now so very small in France and the vegetables so scarce in the cities, that the ingenuity of even the French woman is taxed to get a meal.

To Save Wheat. Potatoes to save wheat! The great potato drive to utilize the surplus of our huge 1917 potato-crop, 100,000,000 bushels above normal, has fixed in every one's mind the interchangeableness of these two foods. Potatoes are one-fifth starch—almost the same quantity as in cooked breakfast cereals. Because of this starch, they give as satisfactory a fuel as wheat or corn or any other cereal. One medium-sized potato supplies the same number of calories as a large slice of bread, and contains more mineral salts than white bread. Europe has learned to eat potatoes instead of wheat. When bread has been short potatoes have been the mainstay in every country. They are to-day the largest single element, in terms of energy, in the German war ration.

Sweet potatoes are also first-class wheat-savers. So to a lesser extent are most vegetables and fruits. Very few except white and sweet potatoes contain much starch, but many of them have considerable sugar, which serves as fuel just as starch does—carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, and practically all fruits such as bananas, oranges, and grapes.

To Save Sugar. We want sugar, of course, both for fuel and flavor. The vegetables and some fruits have their sugar so covered up by other tastes that it does not help to make the food sweet. It does, of course, serve for fuel. Bananas especially are fuel foods, containing much starch when green, which changes to sugar as the fruit ripens. The sweetest fruits are the dried ones—dates, figs, raisins, prunes. They have so much sugar that they can well be used in place of candy.

To Save Fat, Although few common fruits and vegetables contain fat, jam is a real fat-saver. It is of high fuel value, and has the advantage of being a "spreading material" so that it can replace butter with bread and cereals. Jam is of great importance in Europe to-day and all the Governments have taken steps to keep up the supply. It is a regular part of the English army ration.

To Keep the Nation Well. An increase in the use of vegetables and fruits is practically sure to mean an increase in health. Many of us, especially city-dwellers, do not eat enough of them. Many a young girl who "does not like vegetables" probably owes part of her languor to inadequate diet. The old-fashioned "touch of scurvy" formerly noticed at the end of the winter and even now not an unknown thing, was probably due to lack of vegetables in the winter diet. The constipation which is so disturbingly prevalent can usually be cured or prevented by eating vegetables and fruits in sufficient quantities. One of the most serious limitations in the diet of many of the very poor is the lack of vegetables as well as milk and the unduly large proportion of meat and bread. In a community in New York City with high mortality rate, 75 mothers whose diet was observed, ate vegetables on the average only twice a week, and fruit about the same number of times.

It is not difficult to understand why vegetables and fruits are so important. Only a few are especially valuable as fuel or as a source of protein, but almost all are high in mineral salts and can supply the "roughage" desirable in the diet. Some also contain the vitamines, the leafy vegetables being especially valuable because, like milk, they contain the two kinds. The "greens," leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, and lettuce, are the ones that help most in these last ways—"protective foods," they have been called. They are rich in the iron, calcium, and other minerals that some of the other foods lack. The use of plenty of these vegetables should go far toward keeping up health.

CANNING AND DRYING VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

The value of these foods both for the nation's health and for saving staples applies just as much in winter as in summer. In war-time, a winter supply, either stored, dried, or canned, takes on special significance because of their substitute value if the supply of staples runs critically low.

The canning industry, because it makes vegetables obtainable at all times and places, has been of great importance in the health and development of the country. Smith, in his "Commercial Geography," says that "canning, more than any other invention since the introduction of steam, has made possible the building up of towns and communities beyond the bounds of varied production." A century or two ago, sailors after a voyage of a year or two, almost always came home with scurvy. Recently Nansen and his men drifted in the Arctic ice for years and remained in good health, because of their supply of canned vegetables, fruits, and meats.

The Government has not been slow in appreciating the need of canned vegetables for the Army and Navy. It has commandeered about 25 per cent of the canned beans, 12 per cent of the corn, and 18 per cent of the tomatoes of the 1917 pack. Large amounts will be needed this year also. Much of the 1918-19 supply for our troops in France is to be canned in France, by arrangement with the French Government, thus saving valuable shipping space.

Drying, or dehydrating, has long been known for beans, peas, and corn, and for dates, prunes, figs, and raisins. But dried potatoes, beets, carrots, and "soup mixtures" are more or less new. The drying, of course, merely removes most of the water from the vegetable, and if the process is properly carried out, soaking the vegetable in water restores its original freshness.

The war, with the need for every ounce of food and the increasing transportation difficulties, has brought the process into prominence. The dehydrated products, if properly stored, seem to keep a long time. Their saving in freight and shipping is plain, when it is remembered that the fresh vegetables and fruits often contain over 90 per cent water, and the dried from 8 per cent to 10 per cent. Ships are too precious to be used for carrying unnecessary water. Our Government has placed orders for several thousand tons of dehydrated potatoes for the Army and may use other dried products as they can be obtained.

Canada has sent abroad within the past 3 years over 50 million pounds of dehydrated vegetables, about two-thirds of which was the vegetable-soup mixture and one-third dried sliced potatoes. When reconstituted this would make about 400,000,000 pounds of vegetables. Germany has been drying her vegetables and fruits far more than we. In 1917 she had over 2,000 commercial plants, and an elaborate system of distributing all the available fresh material to the different plants to avoid waste.

Individuals and communities with gardens or wherever fresh products can be obtained should not be dependent upon commercial agencies. AS FAR AS POSSIBLE EVERY FAMILY AND EVERY NEIGHBORHOOD SHOULD BE SELF-SUPPORTING. HOME AND COMMUNITY CANNING AND DRYING ARE IMPORTANT DUTIES. CAN AND DRY THE SURPLUS. STORE UP ENOUGH TO CARRY THROUGH THE NEXT WINTER. FOLLOW EXPERT ADVICE AS TO METHODS. USE THE GREATEST CARE TO PREVENT SPOILAGE. WHEREVER POSSIBLE UNITE WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS IN COMMUNITY CANNERIES AND DRYERS SO THAT EVERY ONE CAN HAVE THE BENEFIT OF THE BEST EQUIPMENT AND THE MOST SKILLED SUPERVISION.

A GREAT DEAL WAS DONE IN 1917; MILLIONS OF CANS WERE PUT UP AND GREAT WASTE PREVENTED. BUT IN 1918 MORE MUST BE DONE. MORE VEGETABLES MUST BE RAISED AND MORE MUST BE CANNED. A GREAT RESERVE FOR THE WINTER IS MORE NECESSARY THAN EVER.



CONCLUSION

Almost a year of food control in this country has passed and the great new experiment in democratic administration of the nation's food is succeeding. The method of well-directed voluntary co-operation, much more characteristic of our food control than of any other country's, can be judged by its results to date. We have sent abroad six times the wheat that we had believed was in the country for export. We have exported vastly increased shipments of the other cereals, of beef and pork, of fats and condensed milk. With Canada, we are supplying 50 per cent of the Allies' food, instead of barely 5 per cent, as before the war. Meanwhile our own population has been taken care of. No one has gone hungry because of the shipments of food out of the country. The price of the most important food, bread, has been kept stable—a new experience in time of war.

These and others are great accomplishments, brought about through the co-operation of the nation, BUT THEY ARE SLIGHT IN COMPARISON WITH WHAT MUST STILL BE DONE. The huge resources for extra food production and conservation have hardly been touched. The imagination is just beginning to be stirred by the immensity of the whole undertaking and the sacrifice required to win the war. Men, ammunition and food, in a steadily increasing stream, must go across.

"OUR DUTY, IF WE ARE TO DO THIS GREAT THING AND SHOW AMERICA TO BE WHAT WE BELIEVE HER TO BE—THE GREATEST HOPE AND ENERGY OF THE WORLD—IS TO STAND TOGETHER NIGHT AND DAY UNTIL THE JOB IS FINISHED."—PRESIDENT WILSON.



A FEW REFERENCES

American Academy of Political and Social Science. "World's Food." Philadelphia, 1917. (Annals of the American Academy, November, 1917.)

Carter, Howe and Mason. "Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics." Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger, 1918.

Holmes, A.D., and Lang, H.L. "Fats and Their Economical Use in the Home." Washington, 1916. (Department of Agriculture Bulletin 469.)

Kellogg, Vernon, and Taylor, Alonzo E. "Food Problems." New York, Macmillan, 1917.

Langworthy, C.F. "Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, and Other Starchy Roots as Food." Washington, 1917. (Department of Agriculture Bulletin 468.)

Langworthy, C.F. "Eggs and Their Value as Food." Washington, 1917. (Department of Agriculture Bulletin 471.)

Lusk, Graham. "Food in War Time." Philadelphia, Saunders, 1917.

Lusk, Graham. "Fundamental Basis of Nutrition." New Haven, Yale University Press, 1915.

Mendel, Lafayette B. "Changes in Food Supply and Their Relation to Nutrition." New Haven, Yale University Press, 1916.

Mendenhall, Dorothy R. "Milk." Washington, 1918. (Children's Bureau, Publication 35.)

Rose, Mary Swartz. "Everyday Foods in War Time." New York, Macmillan, 1918.

Rose, Mary Swartz. "Feeding the Family." New York, Macmillan, 1917.

Sherman, Henry C. "Chemistry of Food and Nutrition." New York, Macmillan, 1918.

Sherman, Henry C. "Food Products." New York, Macmillan, 1917.

Taylor, Alonzo E. "War Bread." New York, Macmillan, 1918.

The publications of the United States Department of Agriculture and the United States Food Administration.

The United States Food Leaflets.

United States Department of Agriculture: Farmers' Bulletin 487. "Cheese and Its Economical Uses in the Diet." C.F. Langworthy and Caroline L. Hunt. 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 565. "Corn as a Food and Ways of Using It." C.F. Langworthy and Caroline L. Hunt, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 717. "Food for Young Children." Caroline L. Hunt, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 808. "What the Body Needs." Caroline L. Hunt and Helen W. Atwater, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 817. "Cereal Foods." Caroline L. Hunt and Helen W. Atwater, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 824. "Foods Rich in Protein." Caroline L. Hunt and Helen W. Atwater, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 839. "Home Canning by the One-Period Cold-Pack Method." O.H. Benson, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 841. "Drying Fruits and Vegetables in the Home."

Farmers' Bulletin 853. "Home Canning of Fruits and Vegetables." M.E. Cresswell and Ola Powell, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 871. "Fresh Fruits and Vegetables as Conservers of Other Staple Foods." Caroline L. Hunt, 1917.

Farmers' Bulletin 881. "Preservation of Vegetables by Fermentation and Salting." L.A. Round and H.L. Lang, 1917.



INDEX

Agriculture, Department of.—Aids wheat production, 8; campaign for increased use of milk, 53.

Austria.—Wheat-supply, 4; meat-supply, 20-30; sugar-supply, 45.

Banana flour as wheat substitute, 20.

Barley as wheat substitute, 19.

Beans.—Varieties, 56; as meat substitute, 57.

Belgium.—Wheat-supply, 2; meat-supply, 29; sugar-supply, 44; milk supplied to children, 50.

Bread.—Advantages of wheat loaf, 22-23; bakers' bread regulated, 23; conservation of, by housewives, 24-25; restrictions on use in Europe, 25-26; rationing not necessary in United States, 27.

Buckwheat as wheat substitute, 20.

Butter.—Consumption in England, 39; uneconomical way to use milk, 53.

Calorie defined, 10.

Candy.—Manufacturers restricted in use of sugar, 46.

Canning.—Sugar allowed for, 45-46; importance of industry, 60; urged upon housewives for conservation, 61.

Cereals.—Defined, 10; food value, 12, 17; wide consumption of, 12-13.

Cheese.—Valuable protein food, 34; as meat substitute, 35-36; a use for skim milk, 54.

Corn as wheat substitute, 17-18; why Allies can not use, 26-27.

Corn-syrup as sugar substitute, 46.

Cottonseed meal as wheat substitute, 20.

Cream.—Extravagant use of milk, 54.

Drying.—Process, 60; importance of, 61.

Eggs as meat substitute, 35.

England.—Wheat-supply, 2; restrictions concerning bread, 25-26; meat-supply, 29; meat restrictions, 30-31; fat shortage, 39; sugar-supply, 44; milk regulations, 50, 54; cultivation of soil, 55-56.

Fats.—Food value, 37-38; shortage in Europe, 39; resources and exports of United States, 40-41; necessity for conservation, 41.

Feterita as wheat substitute, 20.

Fifty-fifty rule, 16-17.

Fish as meat substitute, 35.

Flour.—Manufacture of, 14-15; 74 per cent extraction allowed, 15; consumption cut by licensing millers, 15; by fifty-fifty rule, 16-17.

Food Administration.—Takes control of wheat business, 6, 8; licenses millers, 15; licenses bakers, 23-24; regulates sugar prices, 46-47; aids increased use of milk, 53; achievements in year of existence, 62.

Foods.—Importance of different kinds, 10-11.

France.—Wheat-supply, 1-2; bread regulations, 26; meat-supply, 29; meat regulations, 31-32; sugar-supply, 44; sugar restrictions, 45; production of fruit and vegetables, 56.

Fruit.—As sugar substitute, 46, 58; food value, 58-59; conservation of, by canning and drying, 59-61.

Garbage conservation, 41.

Gardens.—See Production.

Germany.—Wheat-supply, 3-4; meat-supply, 20-30; meat restrictions, 32; fat shortage, 40; sugar restrictions, 45; conservation of food by drying, 61.

Gluten.—Importance in bread, 22-23.

Graham flour.—Manufacture, 14; inferiority to wheat, 15.

Grain corporation, controls wheat trade, 6, 8.

Honey as sugar substitute, 46.

Hotels and restaurants.—Regulations in use of bread, 24.

Ice-cream.—Manufacturers restricted in use of sugar, 46.

Italy.—Restrictions on macaroni, 25; bread rations, 26; meat-supply, 29; sugar-supply, 44.

Jam as substitute for butter, 58.

Kaffir as wheat substitute, 20.

Legumes.—See Beans, Peanuts, Peas.

Macaroni.—Restrictions in manufacture of in Italy, 25; not a wheat substitute, 25.

Maple-syrup as sugar substitute, 46.

Margarine.—Use in England, 39.

Meat.—Shortage in Europe, 28-32; exports from United States, 32-33; consumption, 33-34; food value, 34-35.

Meat extenders, vegetables as, 57.

Meat substitutes, 35-36; vegetables as, 57.

Milk.—As meat substitute, 36; necessity for children, 49-50; shortage in Europe, 50; food value, 51-52; supply in United States, 52-53; economical uses of, 53-54.

Milk, condensed.—Use in Europe, 50; amount exported from United States, 54.

Milo as wheat substitute, 20.

Molasses as sugar substitute, 46.

Nuts as meat substitutes, 36.

Oats as wheat substitute, 19.

Oils, vegetable.—Use in Germany, 40; supply in United States, 40-41; as substitute for animal fats, 41.

Peanut flour as wheat substitute, 20.

Peanuts as meat substitute, 36.

Peas as meat substitute, 56.

Potato flour as wheat substitute, 20.

Potatoes as wheat substitute, 20, 57-58.

Poultry as meat substitute, 35.

Production.—Decreased in France, 1-2; of cereals doubled in England, 2; of vegetables in England and America, 55.

Protein.—Defined, 11; amount necessary in diet, 34-35.

Rationing: Austria.—Sugar, 45.

Rationing: England.—Bread not rationed, 26; meat, 30-31; fats, 39; sugar, 45.

Rationing: France.—Bread, 26; meat, 31; sugar, 45.

Rationing: Germany.—Meat, 32; fats, 40; sugar, 45.

Rationing: Italy.—Bread, 26; meat, 32.

Rationing: U.S.—Voluntary wheat ration, 25; reasons for not introducing system, 27.

Rice.—Chief diet in India, 13; as wheat substitute, 19-20.

Roumania.—Wheat-supply, 4; meat-supply, 29.

Russia.—Wheat-supply, 4.

Rye, as wheat substitute, 19.

Shipping.—Necessity for saving, 5; released by decreased use of sugar, 46.

Soy bean flour as wheat substitute, 20.

Substitutes.—See Meat, Sugar, Wheat substitutes.

Sugar.—Consumption in United States, 42; shortage, 42, 44-45; restrictions on, 45-46; price regulated, 46-47; conservation of, 47-48.

Sugar substitutes, 46, 58.

Tapioca flour as wheat substitute, 20.

United States: Exports.—Wheat, 5-6; meat, 33; fat, 40-41; sugar, 44-45; milk, 54.

Vegetables.—Importance in conservation, 55; production of, 56; as meat substitute, 36, 56-57; as wheat substitute, 20, 57-58; as sugar substitute, 58; food value, 58-59; conservation of by canning and drying, 50-61.

Victory bread, 24.

Vitamines.—Defined, 11; in fats, 38; in milk, 52; in fruit and vegetables, 59.

War bread.—See Flour, Victory bread, Wheat substitutes.

Wheat.—Necessity in war, 1; shortage in Europe, 1-4; distribution a problem, 4-5; supply and exports of United States, 5-6; controlled by United States Grain Corporation, 6, 8; conservation of by individuals, 8-9.

Wheat substitutes.—Corn, 18-19; oats, 19; barley, 19; rye, 19; rice, 20; miscellaneous, 20; keeping quality, 20-21; vegetables, 57-58.

THE END