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.
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