Methods and results of investigations on the chemistry and economy of food / By W. O. Atwater.

  • Atwater, W. O. (Wilbur Olin), 1844-1907.
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Methods and results of investigations on the chemistry and economy of food / By W. O. Atwater. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. PUBLIC NEED OF INFORMATION ABOUT FOOD ECONOMY. Food constitutes the chief item of the living exiDenses of the people, of our agricnltnral production, and of our exports. Half the earnings of wage workers in this country and in Europe is spent for food. The health and strength of all are intimately dependent upon their diet. Yet most people understand very little about what their food contains, how it nourishes them, whether they are economical or wasteful in buy- ing and preparing it for use, and whether or not the food they eat is rightly fitted to the demands of their bodies. The result of this igno- rance is great waste in the purchase and use of food, loss of money, and injury to health. Underneath all this is still another evil. Our food products as a whole are not such as are best fitted for healthful and economic nutri- tion or for the most profitable export. Our agricultural i)roduction is out of balance. Here, again, the facts are not clearly understood, as they must be to make the needed reform possible. The reason for this ignorance is simple enough. Fifty years ago no man knew what our bodies and our foods were composed of; how the different nutritive ingredients of the food served their purj)oses in nutri- tion ; how much of each of the ingredients was needed to supply the demands of i^eople of different age, sex, and occupation; and how best to adjust the diet to the wants of the user. We do not to-day know as much about these things as we ought. For that matter, we never shall be able to lay down hard and fast rules to applj^ to all cases, because of the differences between individuals in respect to their demands for nutriment and the ways in which their bodies can make use of different kinds of foods. But the research of the past twenty-five years has brought a great deal of definite information. Nearly all of the exact inquiry in this direction has been done in Europe, and the greater part of it in Germany. We are beginning it in the United States. To remove this ignorance two things are needed. The first is a more definite knowledge of the actual facts. The second is that the infor- mation be brought to the people. The knowledge can be gained by research. To secure its diffusion the results of inquiry must be pub- lished in detail. They can then be popularized and made useful to the people at large.