THE FOOD VALUE OF FRESH VEGETABLES


THE FOOD VALUE OF FRESH
VEGETABLES
OME          interesting facts  regarding
      fresh vegetables and the importance
      of including them as often as possi-
      ble in our daily menu, are given in a
 recently issued pamphlet by Henry Leff-
 mann, Professor of Chemistry and Toxi-
 cology at the Woman's Medical College of
 Pennsylvania.  So many of our house-
 wives have come to rely upon canned prod-
 ucts, that it may be well to remind them, as
 Professor Leffmann does, of certain ad-
 vantages of fresh foods which are apt to
 be overlooked in these days of delicatessen
 living.
   "In modern life," writes the professor,
 "especially modern American life, there is
 apt to be an excess of meat and a de-
 ficiency of water in the diet. Vegetables
 and fruits contain large proportions of
 water and comparatively small proportions
 of substances analogous to meat, hence the
 free use of them corrects this unbalanced
 diet.
   "It is, however, when vegetable prod-
 ucts are eaten in fresh condition, that they
 possess  special health-preserving value.
 All forms of preservation-canning, cold
 storage, drying, pickling, smoking, salting,
 or the use of the newer preservatives-
 have some objectionable features. It has
 been long known that diet restricted to
 such forms of food will give rise to seri-
 ous disease. ...
   "While meat food must be well cooked,
 a great many vegetable products may be
 eaten raw, which simplifies, of course,
 housekeeping   and  diminishes   expense.
 The production of any form     of animal
 food requires considerable area of land;
 good crops of vegetables can be raised on
 lmited areas, and by the .use of fertilizers
 in very poor soils.
   "Opportunities are offered to obtain at
 low cost, and by simple methods of culti-
 vating, applicable almost everywhere, a
 great variety of vegetables and fruits, and
 the  general adoption of such    methods
 would reduce not only the cost of living,
 but advance also the health and happiness
 of those engaged in the cultivation."
   In reference to his statement that a very
 large part of the value of a food is its
 freshness, Professor Leffmann adds: "The
 point is difficult to explain, for it is de-
 pendent on some very abstruse principles of


chemistry; but, speaking generally, it may
be said that the structures of animals and
vegetables contain substances that assist in
the changes that take place in them, and
these substances are destroyed or, at least.
rendered inactive by at once heating and
(in time) by drying or otherwise preserv-
ing. Canned vegetables are, therefore,
much inferior to fresh ones as food. Be-
sides, such goods are more expensive, and
unless the containers are carefully made
they may introduce injurious metallic sub-
stances into the food. Some years ago, the
United States chemists found that one of
the most contaminated lines of canned
Zoods in the market was that in glass jars
with a screw top. To secure the seal, a
rubber ring was placed between the cap
and jar, and this ring was adulterated with
substances containing lead-a most dan-
gerous poison.
  "Undoubtedly, canned goods have their
use. They are for such conditions as sea
voyages, short camping outings, army and
navy and other expeditions, but not for
regular diet. One of the unfortunate re-
sults of the facility with which canned
goods may be obtained and used is seen in
the diet at American summer hotels, at
which, even in a district rich in opportuni-
ties for kitchen garden cultivation, the ta-
ble is supplied with canned fruits and vege-
tables from the city.
  "Consumers rarely know the age of the
material they are using. Of late years an
aristocracy has developed among canned
goods, as some are known in the trade as
'swells,' goods that have spoiled by age,
and in which the gases produced by the
rotting have pushed out the ends of the
cans.   Dishonest dealers can remedy this
by punching a hole in the can and closing
it after the gases have escaped; the little
speck of solder will be noticed by few
housekeepers. Surely, on careful thought
one will see the advantage, both in whole-
someness and true appetizing effect, of
fresh asparagus, tomato and corn over the
canned forms ...
   "The immense variety offered by the
vegetable kingdom may make it somewhat
difficult for the housekeeper to select. In-
deed, we have in this respect, in America
especially, what the French call 'the em-
barrassment of riches.' Of the several dis-
tinct types of vegetable food, a high place
for economy and wholesomeness must be
given to the leaf-foods."