I
., a
by Isabel Stephen
CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. on the dawn
of his on: birthdayarecentlyi advised
an interested world that “drinking was
never really the curse 0! America. Eat-
ing was and h.” ‘
Coincidently Gustav Kuhne, chief 0!
the commissary department of a big
steamship company, declared that Amer-
ion was a great nation—“of steak- _
eaters." The conclusion suggested by
both was that we are literally digging
our graves with our teeth.
These remarks were called to the at-
tention of Miss Sarah Field Splint, who
during the World War was appointed .
chief of the division of home conserva-
tion of the United States FoodiAdmin-
istration by Mr. Hoover. As writer, lec-
turer and consultant Miss Splint has
an international reputation, and as
"Homemaker to a Nation,” she gained a
peculiarly keen insight regarding mat- '
tors pertaining to the kitchen and pan-
try of Mrs. Average Wife.
“Is eating our ‘curso’i” she was asked.
"Do we gorge ourselves on poultry and
aquab, as has been charged, and top
these 011' with beetsteaks?"
Miss Splint seemed to thoughtfully
weigh the matter, and ' then, looking ‘
across the broad mahogany desk which
‘soparated us, replied, with a quisaical
at
r.
As a‘Nationf We Are Still Overweight, Says Sarah ,fielclSplml, Formerly
of, Herbert Hoover’s Staff, Baillie ' “ i ‘3 ' ‘ '
“Curse of Eating”77iat- Chauncey ~
. Depew Deplores Is FaSt Passing as . ‘
Husbands and HousediuesAdOpt the ‘
Balanced Ration and, Protective Diet
\ .. . j .
Shun the Fad Diet! ,
ON’T take up anything
‘ like theorangc juice 1 ,
dict, thespcciai lamb chops
and pineapple menu, or'thc
all-milk meal unless your
doctor says so, warns Miss
Splint, the dietitian.
“Very dangerous with-
out a "physician’s permis-
sion,” she says.
“Another thing to watch
carefully is what we eat
when we are away from
home,” adds Miss Splint.
The caré‘ful diet of the
m‘odcrnly educated housc~
wife can be overcome by
indiscriminate indulgence
away from the family
”dining room.
smile in her clever dark eyes: “Well,
we are a nation overweight. There is no
question about that. Dr. E. V. McColc.
lum, of Johns Hopkins, a great biolo-
gist, and the heads of various large in-g,
surance companies are my authorities
(for that statement. In fact, insurance
companies always charge overratea for
overweights; the greater the avolrdu-‘.
pols the less chance for longevity "
“But steak isn’t fattening, nor squall
nor poultryfl’, it was protested.
“We can is vethe last twoout of
the discussion so for as overindulgence
is concerneduwith the high cost ‘of liv-
ing few of us are apt to die ‘along the
squsb route. Besides Herr Kuhne was
discussing the dishes chos by trav-
elers; his gastronomic. ‘ ' ey didn’t
hover the home kitchens of America.
“A large, thick broiled steak is the
Most popular piece de resistance among
the men folk. Away from home. it is '
the first thing that comes to his mind
,when the waiter takes his order.
“But it’s starch‘, not steak. that stalks
the American table. ,There, the typical
meal is meat, breed and potatoes. This
ponderance of starchy foods it is that
piles on the overweight.
“All dietitians have agreed thatwou
can be healthy if you follow the follow-
lng protective diet: .
‘ First, milk. Every one should drink
from a pint to a quart of milk
day. By that, they don’t mean that
it is necessary for a person to sit
down and drink a pint or a quart 0!
milk every day, but this amount canw
be incorporated some way in the day's -
nourishment. Cream in codes, in
cream soups, blanc mange, custard
and so on. ' . .
Second, raw green food'su'ch as let-
tuce, celery, tomatoes, cabbage.
Third, leafy cooked vegetables, such j
as spinach, beet tops, kale, cabbage,
turnip tops, asparagus.
“BRAIN workers should cat a light
~ breakfast, a light luncheon and a
fairly light dinner. I think that these
sandwich bars which have lately spruug‘
into existence are splendid things. The
leaf of lettuce, meat or tomatoes or
[ ’ cheese, with bread and butter, give a
far better balance than, the heavy stews
average luncheon. .. _.
“The wife of the present day is very
much maligned. The husband who nags
his wife aboutthe marvelous cooking of
his mother, is reviewing those dishes
through a haze of many ears—dosing
‘ ‘ them in an age-formed he 0. -
“Magazines, newspaper articles, radio
‘ " talks—all ’give‘ the Woman 'of today a
vast amount of information regarding
nutrition. ‘ All the‘ big commercial com;
I a
tutors out: visiting women’s clubs and
societies, giving short discourses on
proper meal: planning. These talks his
way: have capacity audiences. ' .
“Women are learning through then
\ .. s
andwsmall steaks which usedito be the' «-
panics and food companies have lec~ “
Miss Sarah Field C'Splint ‘
diluent sources real food values. Take
up any woman's magazine published
Monty years ago and look at the sug-
kested menus. For Thanksgiving or
Christmssrdinnors, as many as thirty
dishesare suggested—and our stomachs
have a capacity oi three pinteat the
outside? ,
ISS SPLINT was “asked to suggest
the menu fora Sunday dinner
which would demonstrate‘ber ideas of a
simple, perfectly‘balanced‘meal. _
"In the first place Sunday shouldn't
be spent in the kitchen. It (is the one
day when the mean! the house is at
home, and Sunday evening has become
a great timssior entertaining. Friends
drop“ in, or‘the family goes ‘for a motor -
rlde. Therefore, the housewife should
so plan her meal that it'will not ‘tiro
her all out,’ and make her like a limp
rag before the time arriveswfqr the so-
cial ‘doings.’ '
“Take this dinner. for instances
Chicken potpie with-cranberry jelly and
candied sweet potatoes and green peas;
fruit salad, chocolate Bavarian cream.
mints and cotton, , - , ,
“The chicken San be cooked on Sate,
arday, and the dough for the posts made
and put in the ice box; cranberry jelly is
obtainable at the grocery store if asup- ‘
ply isnot 0 hand; the sweet potatoes
are parboiled and peeled: the green peas
shelled; the lettuce leaves are, carefully
washed and put in a cheesecloth bag and
left to crisp in the icebox.
the chicken can‘ be taken out, placed
in the. oven, the potatoes sliced, and ,
dotted with hutter‘and‘ilugsr and put in
at the same time; the peaspoured in the
saucepan. While these are coking the y
housewiiezmakes h‘er. abl‘adr rom fruits
she, happens torhave inxthefhouse, ar-
ranging. them ctic-actively} on the crisp
lettuce, leaves and returning it to the 100-,
box untilresdy to serve. The cream
shouldvbe made early in themes-hinge
supper salad ’ which . is very . nutritious
and willfonn the main dish. For this ‘
she wills-squire two tablespoons of gels?
tin, squatter cup ‘of cold water, two?
\
..,
' cups oi'chicken broth, sliced chicken. one
' lurks," she continued, “it is when we
"Within half an hour of dinnertimag
“if .‘compsny' is etpectoddofihlgb tea .
or supper, 'shegcan prepare "a yiellied »
Too many. Americans are valiant trenchermen, and their danger is a good joke to them until
the examining physiciunof a life? insurance company says. “You weigh too much." Then
they exercise at everything from mountain climbing to a gallop on an electric horse
ducing or putting on weight, Miss
Splint? The orange juice diet, lamb
chops and pineapple, the all-milk diet?"
was asked.
“Very dangerous without a, phy-
sician's permission," she answered
,“This can be prepared on Saturday. gravely. “They are very apt to quite
Gelatin is soaked in cold water for live rum the alimentary organs. Hevent
minutes and then adissolved in hot ,i you ever noticed in the newspapers sto-
chicken broth. Canned broth may be rice 0! prominent movie ‘stars‘who tell
used for this: A pm pm is dipped in 2‘s: losing several pounds‘ vra this special
cold water and-the bottom decornte’d
with slices of bard-cooked egg and pi-
mento cut in fancy slices. Pour over a
thin layer oi the cooled chicken/broth
and it is left to stiffen. Chicken“ and
vegetables are arranged in alternate.
layers and between each a little of. the
broth is poured and allowed to stril'en
before the next layer is added. _When’
the mold is filled it is set in theicebox
and is ready for Sunday suppcr.‘ _ , ., in certain sections ~
“Hot drop biscuits are made Just be: :3"; $0 the price is too Didi: “23:6
fore suppertxme. These are foolproof. . tomato juice maybe heatc den d flavored,
mix three cups'ol‘ prepared flour, three. or poured over bread.
tablespoons oi: shortening and one and a, “There are four" diseases which are
quarter cups of milk into a dough that caused directly by wrong diet: .
will drop without spreading. Drop by ., , . H
teaspoons on a greased pan. Bake in a
hot oven. The shortening is cut into the a
flour and the milk added. ‘ '
"And those are really the sort of sup:
pers which are being served, these days.
Aren’t they lots better than the heavy.
indigestiblo meals of the, last genera.
tion? [As a matter of unvarnishod. fact,
people today are not so terribly inter-
ested in eating as they wore in the
days of our forefathers. .
"“It isn’t in the home that danger
and ,a half cups of mixedlivcgetablos
(peas, carrots, string beans, or anything
else she may happen to have in the
house), two hard—boiled eggs and one
pimento.
word a follow-up story, of the young
woman’s visit to a hospital?
‘ “Some people might be able to stand
those special diets splendidly.'but others
would suffer severely. Orange juice is
very healthful becauaeit is so rich in
vitamins; there is nothing better than a
glass of this with breakfast. ' Tomato
juice is very similar to orange juice and
can be substituted when. oranges are
.0
W}.
est awayfrom home. .
' “I remember when I was a. young
girl, Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilmsn,
the celebrated feminist, "once remarked
to me that the time Would come when
we'would have community dining rooms. ..
She foresaw the future is k oi servants, T
but] was aghast at the i . . ~
“Yet we do use the community. dining
room to a great extent, don't we? We?
entertain in smart‘restaurants instead,
of in our own homes. '-In the smaller ,
towns, families have dinner» the .coun- ‘
try club at leastonco a‘week.;"1’.cop§le.
motor out to somelnearby resort in sum,-
' mar evenings and havedinnerthere in
.stead of at home. - Tearotma arokeepc,
.ingopen in the evenings“\and; serving
substantial dinners .to large clienteles. ' ‘
“It is there that‘tbe danger lies. And
, in planning her menus for home meals,
the housewife should take still! outing 5
dinner into consideration. 2 Afterrosders
ing, dinners J’allthe rest of the week," she ' '
wants? in “evening ofl’_ and '. prefers to
have herhusband order. . , ‘
“That visa“ right, but she should, see “
that the hvsrdse’of thehllanced‘raticns ' ‘
for‘therweek‘allovvs for this‘lsp’se. ”It
isn't absolutely. necessary. for her to
have each day oneot each of the three "
sectionsotithe protective dietnlrm‘gn. .
floned ; earlier in this interviews—chomp
it'l- very. “m advii‘iable-Ahut she meme, 1
nea'that‘ths amount consumed ,offsaeb “ p ‘ food ill
authorised or the week is, thesame, as, :mgthat
it would'be if they had been served every {a ' n
day.” “ nope
{‘th't about special diets for, re--§ '
, noun-nabs wife ismuch
jé- betterffeduipp‘ed with knowb
: .edge of food vdlues , than . was
“ her grandmother” says Miss
_ Splint...”
lso been slinpliiied
its
d'Fall her line “over
: mews ‘
Mi .'
~ei . .
diet route—and then u few weeks after,
hegv‘iorkiofgpifieparing ,
'w'ife sigma” “does ,
“They are scurvy, which results from
the lack of fresh vegetables and the cat- ‘
mg of wrong foods. i’
“Rickets. from which many children
suffer. This disease causes faulty bone
structure and bow legs.
~ "Mal pellagra is a disease whiclris
mostly confined to the South, where the
‘poor whims’rlive largely on salt pork
‘ andwhite bread, and omit green things
entirely from their menus. ‘
“Goiter is caused by a lack of’iodins
in the system, and can be remedied or ,
avoided by eating saltwater fish. The"
Middle Western States have many more ‘
cases of goiter than scaeoast towns be.
cause of the difficulty of obtaining fresh
salt-water fish.
“These are the only diseases which
are directly caused by wrong diet, but
thero’are, of course, many individual
instances where people, sulfer' from,
wrong diets. When a "personis tined
and, irritable for no reason onrearth,‘ho
may be pretty sure that he is notrget-
ling the right food supply”,
Hor‘biscuns, Miss Splint was re-
minded, hnve a rather sinister repu-
tation in health circles. . - .
‘V‘Thnt’s nu cxploded.theory," she re-
plied. “So is the notion that fried
dishes are indigestiblea: ‘
Brand has an important part in the
menu; the trouble is that so many peo- '
pie treat it as a trimming, an accessory.
People at table are so apt to till in
_ time consuming bread and butter while .
waiting to be served. Bread lathe star ‘
of life and should be used as such. ,, _ u ’
“There was a time whenHArnericans
Were called a nation of fried-foodcat-
ers. Great indigestible, soggy mama
fOf food were served up, and foreigners
. ._ marveled at, our iron—clad stomachs
, which could digest such unpalatable-_
looking dishes. . _ - ,
"Frying was. supposed to be , ‘thereas—
iest way.’ As a mattereof fact, it re.
_quires more skill to fry thsn‘to roast
- or broil properly. - .
“There are two forms of frying:
L, sauteing, which is cooking in a‘ small
amount of hot fat; and deep, frying,
which means cooking in a kettle of hot
fat in which the food is immersed.
advantage of the very high “smoking
point of 460 degrees F. As no food'need ‘
be cooked in fat hotter than 400 degrees
3., thereis‘a large margin of safety. ' ’
“‘Just exactly where do the items on
‘ the ‘protective diet’ come in?” we'aske'd '
Miss Splint. . . .
"‘They should appear on cabhday’si.
menu. As I explained, the pint toEquart,
of milk can be used in variourforms, so
that each member of-the familygavop.
ages at leastseven pints awash/oils
raw green food'should be on each day:
menu and one cooked leafy vegetable.
That is your ‘protective diet’—mest.’kh,“ , , j
. , A ' in; "
** the expensive ones.
. “The' housewife should always keepin ‘
mindthatwhcn fat begins ‘to-smoke it “
I begins to decompose and certain, indi-
' gestible‘ substances are formed Which?
._ pare irritatingto the digestivejtract and
ralinost sure to cause trouble. Animal
Lists, such as butter and lard,_decompose
“at a comparatively low“ temperature,
‘ while the best vegetable fats have the
bread are additions which
can be supplied according
to, the preferences of the
family. »
“Meat has an important
place in our diet. Not
steaks and roasts alone,
‘ ‘ but the cheapogu‘tsmtliifih
it much maroon 1: one u
are very oftc Yet, it “is a well-
knownfact that chuck and round steaks
go 'beggixig,"as it were, and the demand
' is all forsirloins and tenderloins and the
' est! riced roasts."
high end; to combat this extravagance,
Miss Splint said, Uncle Sam has had the
Department i; of; Agriculture inyestigate
the matter thoroughly. Some very in-
teresting‘matter on the subject, cones-A
queiitly', may “be obtained by all later-
'ves who care to send to
d housem ‘
Hashihingtm, D. C., and request a copy.
of either "Commercial Cuts of Mes
or “Economical Use of _ Meat in the
e.” . .
H‘himiss Splint’s headquarters at present
issituated in the very~imposing Chem-.
ists’ Building in New Yorlo City. [Only
scientists of the highest caliber are per-
mitted on its rent-roll, and=this nome-
mnker to a Nation” is the only. woman ‘
who has so afar beenladmitte'd within its ‘
feasted portals-1.. ~ -~._ .
'ER i‘testing laboratory". is areal
kitchen with two gas ranges. Here
.ioodvslues of various products are de.
termined and recipes concocted. ,
Dainty blue and‘golden brown checked
draperies with fascinating tiny
frame three large windows. Twovglorio
lied kitchen tables are covered with
snowy cloths and set, for ‘the stairs
luncheon. Cooks were busily engaged
at the ranges when we entered to “look
around,” but not the slightest odor pene-
trated the place. , ‘ .
We remarked the fact and, expressed
‘ our surprise, to Miss Splint's assistant,
who was doing the honors oi the place
immediately. after the interview. ,
“The windows, are open and you will
notice that the ranges have been so
placed that all odors escape,” she ex.
plained. "However, if you cook prop-
‘ ‘erly, there need never. be any heavy
' cooking odors in' the kitchen. Women
are often careless and allow the fat to
smoke, or leave covers oll’ pots 'and pens,
and that ' is . what .1 causes ‘ most cooking
smellsu Nearly all cookbooks give hints
on how‘ to neutralize odors.“
There is no hurry or flurry in that tre-
Smendously active little organization.
Everything goes like clockwork—there’s
‘.a_ timegfor everything and everything is
done in that time. ~ * ‘
,“That is .how I always adviseithe _
. 'housswrtez, ° to regulate her household du-
ties," Miss Splint explained. * "Life is
. so complicatedthesedaysthat the wife
~ and mother has to'make time and con-
serve hcr energies for the spiritual
needs; of ' her ‘famlly. Today, it isn’t
more y a matter ‘of 'fecdi
them. ’ ‘ ‘ ngand clothing
“When the home is somethin
besidesfia place to eat hnd sleep held:
,famrlya‘is not .‘so‘liisbl'e to ,‘dig" their
-‘grsvcs.‘with:their teeth)" she laughed.
I ,amnot trying to‘exploit more theories
:whenglvsayrthis. I I ma talking from as;
, tual mefi‘fimch I have gained in
,tcaveling‘wgthrou’ghout the country.
. Housewiveshave confidod'in me and told
.‘ me howjtlrey‘revolptionised their lives
. by WWJWW” three times‘a week
insteadsofeevsry day. :and“ getting the
dinner-"all ready in the morning, so that
it; requires-aonly . about; half ' an hour in
thfievening to gets-it on the table.
, , Ofcourse..;t_ht housewife of today
has fit?“ *‘ fa g ‘lgtht'o' learn, and ' Apiar-
~ :cans-fipanyo .t em— ‘ '
‘ sumo...» ‘ Maw" “1°"
:73" i _ 'rsre’mostly‘ot the -
ling . cont! ‘ t. . and. tho‘housmt
192§rknowsiajvast§amount were about
nutrition and how take-1p her-famny
hbappygandhsaltb‘y ftb'sn:~th _ women of
‘ twovggenerafivfiifm-Wf‘w ‘ ' ‘
. wrecksmflom census ‘”
mi? teeth. but in... ,
Norwalk Chronicler