Every citizen of our nation today is being asked to conserve food, clothing, household appliances, automobiles, and other things which we have been accustomed to using so lavishly in the last few decades. The effort to conserve food is without doubt one of the most important factors in national defense, but the wise use of food has always been an important factor in building for physical, mental, and spiritual health—be it in time of war or peace. The war has served to bring home the truth more forcibly to us, and we are now more willing to adjust our food habits to present needs.
Food conservation involves judicious planning. It includes : (I) Wise selection of food to suit the family need. (2) Careful buying. (3) Intelligent preparation to prevent loss of nutrients. (4) Avoiding waste through clever use of leftovers. (5) Preservation of foods in season when they are cheap. (6) Home production of fresh vegetables and fruits whenever practicable.
In the Spirit of prophecy we find many references to these basic principles of food economy. Much is said concerning the choosing of proper food. "Care should be taken in the selection of food. Our diet should be suited to the season, to the climate in which we live, and to the occupation we follow. . . . God has given us an ample variety of healthful foods, and each person should choose from it the things that experience and sound judgment prove to be best suited to his own necessities." —"Counsels on Diet and Foods," p. 94.
The admonition also is given to choose simple, nourishing foods, avoiding expensive, health-destroying luxuries, and thus have more money to place in the treasury of God. Some of the poorest diets have been observed among wealthy families. Careless buying, without previous planning and with a lack of knowledge of what constitutes a family's food needs, often results in wasted money. The prudent housewife who is responsible for the purchasing of the family's food will observe the following buying rules:
1. Shop around to learn where "best buys" are to be found.
2. Compare prices of foods with equal food values.
3. Buy in quantities when economies can be effected.
4. Read labels to find out what is in food packages.
5. Buy by weight, not by dime or dollar's worth.
6. Buy by grade and get the quality paid for.
7. Watch scales to be sure how much is received.
8. Learn the seasons when certain foods are cheapest.
9. Compare cost per ounce or pound of different sizes.
10. Keep up to date about the foods the family needs.
Intelligent preparation of the food bought is the next important step in food conservation. In every phase of cooking, the question that should be considered is, How shall the food be prepared in the most natural and inexpensive manner? "Scanty, ill-cooked food deprives the blood by weakening the blood-making organs."—"Counsels on Diet and Foods," pp. 257, 258. Scientists tell us that seventy to eighty per cent of the essential minerals and vitamins naturally found in foods are lost through poor methods of cooking. This constitutes a serious waste which could be largely eliminated by becoming acquainted with better methods of food preparation and using them. The housewife who realizes the necessity of conserving food values puts into practice the following simple rules:
1. She does not stir air into the foods while they are cooking. (This is destructive to some of the vitamins, especially C.)
2. She never uses soda in cooking vegetables. (This is very destructive to the B vitamins.)
3. She does not cook any food too long. (It is better to have it slightly underdone than overdone.)
4. In boiling foods, she raises the temperature to the boiling point as rapidly as possible. (This prevents vitamin losses.) Then she turns the flame low to complete the cooking process. (This conserves fuel.)
5. She will not throw away water in which vegetables have been cooked, but will use it in gravies, soups, and sauces. (This water contains minerals and water-soluble vitamins.)
6. She doesn't use long methods of cooking, such as stewing, when shorter methods are possible.
7. She uses as little water as possible.
8. She prepares fruit salads and chopped or grated vegetables just before serving.
9. She starts cooking frozen foods while they are still frozen.
10. Whenever possible she avoids peeling fruits and vegetables. (The food values of potatoes, for example, are preserved by peeling after cooking.)
One of the most impressive and yet simplest lessons in conservation of food was taught by the Master when He was here on earth. After feeding the multitude the simple repast of bread and fish, He gave the instruction, "Gather up the fragments . . . that nothing be lost." Note similar instruction from the Spirit of prophecy:
"There should be careful study that the fragments of food left over from the table be not wasted. Study how, that in some way these fragments of food shall not be lost. This skill, economy, and tact is a fortune. . . . There are many poor families, who, although they scarcely have enough to eat, can often be enlightened as to why they are poor ; there are so many jots and tittles wasted."—Id., p. 258.
It is estimated that ten billion cans of food are consumed in the United States annually. If the thirty-four million housewives of the nation waste one-half an ounce from each can, the total amount of food waste from this source would amount to the staggering sum of 312 million pounds. We cannot afford to contribute to such waste when thousands of our fellow men are starving.
The Victory garden's contribution to the family food budget lies not only in the production of cheaper vegetables; it supplies food that is higher in nutritional value. The destruction of vitamins by exposure to air after being harvested is considerable in some foods. As much as fifty per cent of vitamin C in spinach is lost when it stands at room temperature for two days and becomes wilted.
"If people only knew the value of the products of the ground, which the earth brings forth in their season, more diligent efforts would be made to cultivate the soil. All should be acquainted with the special value of fruits and vegetables fresh from the orchard and garden."--Id., p. 312.
"It would be well for us to do less cooking and to eat more fruit in its natural state." "The more we depend upon the fresh fruit just as it is plucked from the tree, the greater will be the blessing."—Id., p. 309.
It is only as we practice these principles of food economy that we can know that we are contributing our part toward a stronger and healthier nation.
