Foodstuff

“ In 1988 and 1989 the Liberian economy posted its best two years in a decade, thanks to a resurgence of the rubber industry and rapid growth in exports of forest products. Richly endowed with water, mineral resources, forests, and a climate favorable to agriculture, Liberia is a producer and exporter of basic products. Local manufacturing, mainly foreign owned, is small in scope. Liberia imports primarily machinery and parts, transportation equipment, petroleum products, and foodstuffs. ”

“ We get warmth and strength from fat meat, wheat, rye, barley, rice, milk, sugar, fruit, peas, beans, lentils, macaroni, and the roots of vegetables; we gain flesh from lean meat, unbolted flour, oatmeal, eggs, cheese, and green vegetables; and, if we want to think clearly, we must use fish, poultry, the different grains, and a good variety of fruit and vegetables.
The food most generally in use among the masses is just that which meets their requirements. No hungry man will spend money for what he knows will not satisfy his appetite, and a natural appetite may always be trusted. ”

“ The flavour and texture of food, its taste, in fact, stimulates the production of those secretions—such as the saliva and the gastric juice—by the action of which the food is digested or dissolved, and becomes finally a part of the body, or is assimilated. As food, then, must be relished it is desirable that it should be varied in character—it should neither be restricted to vegetable products on the one hand, nor to animal substances (including milk and eggs) on the other. ”

“ Those who think it necessary to pay any attention to their health, at table, should take care that the quantity of bread, of meat, and of pudding, and of greens, should not compose, each of them, a meal, as if some only were thrown in to make weight, but carefully to observe that the sum of, altogether, do not exceed due 12bounds or incroach upon the first feeling of satiety.”
All the products of the vegetable kingdom, used as aliment, are not equally nutritious. ”

“ Foods may be considered under different classifications. First, as to general appearance and use three classes may be made,—foods, beverages and condiments. As types of the first division of these foods may be mentioned cereals and their preparations, meat and its preparations (except meat extracts) , fish, fowl, and game. Beverages are those liquid food products which are more valued for their taste and flavor than actual nutritive value. As types of beverages may be mentioned wines, beers, distilled spirits and liquors of all characters, tea, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, etc. ”

“ Pure air and sufficient food properly combined and proportioned are essential. Choose more of the lighter forms of protein and starchy foods, as fish, eggs, almonds, green peas, bacon, a moderate amount of lamb and beef, rice, sago, wheat, and vegetable gelatines. Foods rich in minerals are celery, apples, tomatoes, greens, oranges, and practically all the fresh fruits and vegetables, especially the small berries. Melons and starchy vegetables in large quantities are suitable for muscular workers. ”

“ Shows how food is digested and gives the constituent elements of all food products, their cost, food values, time of digestion, etc., Comparative value of beef, mutton, pork, eggs, fish, fowl, oysters, the grains, breads, peas, beans, milk, butter, cheese, sugar, beer, fruits, nuts, etc., which make flesh, bone, nerve; which gives most for least money. ”

“ It is my desire to present in this book food combinations as perfect as can be produced from food material with our present methods of milling and preliminary treatment. Many people have become so delicate in structure that they cannot use coarse breads and cereals; therefore, a variety of different cereal foods have been included. Vegetable foods, such as are rich in minerals, have been added to the breakfast foods in place of sugar and beverages. ”

“ Classification of Foods.—For increasing weight and producing heat, the fatty portions of meat, butter, and lard, together with wheat, Indian corn, and sugar, are best adapted; for muscle-making, lean meat, peas, beans, oatmeal; for brain and nerves, shell-fish, lean meats, peas, and beans. Those who lead an active, bustling life, especially if they take an abundance of out-door exercise, will naturally crave strong food in unstinted supply. The busy brain-worker, who is housed all day, and scarcely rises from his chair, needs to be much more careful in his diet. ”

“ The midday meal should consist of fresh meat, fish, or poultry, with an abundance of green vegetables and a liberal helping of sweet pudding. The articles of diet which are most deficient in our lists are milk, butter, and sugar. ”

“ And then, in the mysterious depths of vegetable existence is organized that wonderful quadrille of the aliments of nutrition, the history of which has now been sufficiently explained to you.
The vegetable kingdom, therefore, is simply the great kitchen in which the dinner of the animal kingdom is being constantly made ready; and when we eat beef, it is, in fact, the grass which the ox has eaten, which nourishes us. The animal is only a medium which transmits intact to us the albumen extracted in his own stomach from the juices furnished to him in the fields. ”

“ As much of our food requires cooking, how we shall cook it so as to render it more palatable, more digestible, and with the greatest economy of time, fuel and money, [18] is an object deserving the most careful attention. The art of cooking lies in the power to develop certain flavors which are agreeable to the palate, or in other words, which "make the mouth water," without interfering with the nutritive qualities of the food prepared, to understand by what method certain foods may be rendered more digestible, and to provide variety. ”

“ The things to be found on board for a vegetarian are bread, butter, milk, fruit, nuts, jam, marmalade, rice, cheese, potatoes, cabbage, salad, cakes, tea, coffee, biscuits and porridge. This is really a large variety out of which many meals containing quite distinct articles can be made. Nothing can be more nutritious than porridge, bread and butter and a cup of cocoa or if you like tea. ”

“ Vegetables, fruits, cereals, bread, nuts and meats furnish the essentials. Sugar and fat have only part of them. Coffee and tea have no food values except for the milk and sugar added. They tend to check certain normal secretion in the body and should not be used during growth. ”

“ By the substitution of a little cheese and an orange for the oatmeal, a meal containing about the same fuel value and proportion of protein could be arranged, and it would certainly appeal more to the appetite, and furnish better proportions of ash constituents.
In the construction of the menu for the day or meal, we must consider not only food values and time of day and combinations which shall be digestible, but flavor, color, texture, and temperature of our foods. The study of digestible combinations belongs to the science of nutrition. ”

“ The preparation of food is of two kinds—public and private. The public consists in the ordinary modes of converting minerals and gases into vegetables, and vegetables into animals with milk, cream, cheese, flesh meat, and marrow-bones. ”

“ My recovery was rapid, and again I went on duty. Our food was substantial, consisting of bread, potatoes, pork, beans, beef, rice, tea, coffee, and sugar, while by the kindness of neighbors we were often treated to milk, eggs, and chickens. ”

“ It is a fair inference from these facts that creatures like ourselves, who are not provided with a crop or compound stomach, and manifestly secrete less saliva than horses or other grain-munching animals, require some preliminary assistance when we adopt graminivorous habits; and one part of the business of cookery is to supply such preliminary treatment to the oats, barley, wheat, maize, peas, beans, &c., which we cultivate and use for food. ”

“ The most special feature is an additional vow to keep a perpetual Lent of the strictest kind, not only flesh meat but fish and all animal products—eggs, milk, butter, cheese, dripping—being forbidden, so that the diet was confined to bread, vegetables, fruit and oil, and water was the only drink. ”

“ Many people at the ages of sixty and seventy still lead an active life, while others retire from activity at forty-five or fifty. Therefore, the food should conform to the person's mental and physical requirements. If the teeth are poor and the digestive powers weak, the food should be light, consisting mainly of well cooked cereals, baked potatoes, rice, cooked greens, a small amount of meat, raw fruits and raw greens in combination with fatty foods, as salads, milk and buttermilk, toasted breads and soups. ”

“ Drinks as in soft diet.
5. Vegetables: tomatoes, green peas, string beans, potatoes (Irish and sweet) , lettuce, cresses, asparagus, onions, celery, spinach and mushrooms.
6. Desserts: custards, creams, jellies, ripe fruits and stewed fruits. No pastry or rich puddings.
FOODS FOR DIFFERENT MEALS FOR THOSE WHO CAN EAT, BUT WHO DO NOT HAVE MUCH APPETITE. Breakfast; drinks: tea, coffee, cocoa, milk or albuminized fruit juices; cereal with cream; eggs; omelet, scrambled or poached on a piece of round toast, or soft boiled in a hot cup ”

“ Hence our food-supplies, whether natural or prepared, offer increased variety of flavor, if not of nutritive qualities, and foods which were formerly restricted to the few are now commonly found on the tables of the many.
"Scientific research in every civilized nation has also diligently busied itself in the elucidation of the subject, and our knowledge has been increased in reference to the chemical composition, preparation, and physiological effects of food. ”

“ Flour, meat, rice, grits, cracked peas, beans, potatoes, apples, turnips, cabbages, greens, onions, sugar, tea, coffee, eggs, bacon, wood, kindling, matches, soap, pictures, thread, needles, pins, and in fact almost every article that can be eaten or worn or made use of in any way. ”

“ We have found, that, in analyzing the constituents of the body, water is the largest part; and turning to food, whether animal or vegetable, the same fact holds good. It forms the larger part of all the drinks, of fruits, of succulent vegetables, eggs, fish, cheese, the cereals, and even of fats.
Fat is found in butter, lard, drippings, milk, eggs, cheese, fish, meat, the cereals, leguminous vegetables,—such as pease and beans,—nuts, cocoa, and chocolate. ”

“ Count as 1 serving: 1 slice of bread; 1 ounce ready-to-eat cereal; 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 cup cooked cereal, cornmeal, grits, macaroni, noodles, rice, or spaghetti.
OTHER FOODS
To round out meals and meet energy needs, almost everyone will use some foods not specified in the four food groups. Such foods include: unenriched, refined breads, cereals, flours; sugars; butter, margarine, other fats. These often are ingredients in a recipe or added to other foods during preparation or at the table. ”

“ Within a few years some valuable methods of keeping meats, fish, oysters, fruits, fruit juices, milk, butter, etc., in a healthful, nutritious, and palatable condition for a considerable time past the ordinary period of their decay have been discovered. ”

“ The diet must be nutritious, cabonaceous, and of sufficient quantity. Beef, milk, rich cream, plenty of good butter, eggs, fish, wheat bread from unbolted flour, supply the appropriate alimentary substances for perfect nutrition and the maintenance of animal heat. ”

“ Hence our appetites and the bountiful provision made for us extend our choice to both the vegetable and animal kingdoms, and it is possible to find vegetable foods on which man could live as long as upon animal food alone. Bread is in vegetable foods that which flesh is in animal foods, and each within itself contains nearly all the elements required for nutrition. ”

“ Give children meat twice a day; white flour in their bread, because it is digested better than whole flour; all the sugar they want at meals; milk rather than tea, and tea rather than coffee; but let it be tea, not a dose of tannic acid. ”

“ There are several questions which frequently arise in the mind of a person who begins to study food values. One is, why are articles included in the menu of almost every meal which have almost no value as nourishment? In many cases such articles [261] are appetizing and refreshing; such are lettuce, celery, muskmelons, cucumbers and many soups and desserts. They also contain much water, of which the body has great and constant need. They also give bulk to our food, which is a necessity because some of the processes of digestion do not begin until the organs to which they belong are expanded. ”

“ Fruit and fruit juices keep the blood in a healthy condition when the supply of fresh meat, fish, and vegetables is limited and salt or smoked meats constitute the chief elements of diet. Fresh fruit is generally more appetizing and refreshing than cooked. ”

“ Cookery, or the art of preparing good and wholesome food, and of preserving all sorts of alimentary substances in a state fit for human sustenance, of rendering that agreeable to the taste which is essential to the support of life, and of pleasing the palate without injury to the system, is, strictly speaking, a branch of chemistry; but, important as it is both to our enjoyments and our health, it is also one of the [2] least cultivated branches of that science. The culinary processes of roasting, boiling, baking, stewing, frying, broiling, the art of preserving meats, bacon, and hams ”