Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 91, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 April 1918 — RICE FAVORED AS NUTRITIOUS FOOD [ARTICLE]

RICE FAVORED AS NUTRITIOUS FOOD

St Consumption Could Be In- \ creased in United States More \ Wheat Could Be Saved. Igreat value not realized i Most Important Article of Diet in i China and Japan—lncreased Production Would Release Grain for Our Allies. f Here in the United States It Is difficult to realize that there is no other (edible product, excepting meat, upon (which more people In the world are deC endent for food, than rice. We might dvantageously consume much greater (quantities of this nutritious food and (grow the increase in our own rice fields, according to the 1918 crop-pro-IduCtion program recently announced (by the United States department of agriculture. An increased production land consumption not only would exBmd a profitable industry, the federal •ecialists declare, but the eating of ore rice in the place of wheat would (release a greater quantity of the bread {grain for shipment to the allies.

Per Capita Consumption. ‘ The average per capita consumption of rice for food in this country is scarcely six pounds a year, and most of this is consumed in the Southern states. The high esteem in which rice is held in other countries is indicated by their per capita consumption. Norway and Sweden consume over 9 pounds per capita; Russia over 11 pounds; England, 27 pounds: France, 84 pounds; Italy, over 101 pounds, and Germany more than 93 pounds. But even these European countries do not begin to eat as much rice as Japan and China. There rice is the most Important article of diet. Each man. _ woman and. child In Japan, on the average. consumes 147 pounds of rice each year, and those In China, 158 pounds. The placing of such dependence upon rice as a staple food certainly proves beyond a doubt that it is highly nutritious; analysis of rice supports this proof. Pound for pound rice is about as nutritious as wheat. Every 100 pounds of cleaned rice contains 87.7 pounds of nutriment, of which 8 pounds are protein. 0.3 pounds fat, 79 pounds carbohydrates, and .0.4 pound ash. The analysis of wheat flour shows that it contains 87.1 pounds of nutriment in each 100 pounds, of which 10.8 pounds are protein. 1.1 pounds fat, 74.8 pounds carbohydrates, and 0.4 pound ash. Thus the total nutriment in rice Is a trifle greater than in wheat. Wheat has the advantage in protein •nd rice in carbohydrates. Foodstuff f^ - Orient. ‘ Although rice is tfce great foodstuff *of the Orient, it is not used there in making a' raised bread. In this country dietitUns have made excellent bread by substituting as high as 25 Cr cent of rice for wheat flour, and ve obtained a white yeast bread of (excellent flavor. • Unpolished rice is offered and accepted as a product superior to the (polished rice, but in reality its food lvalue is only better by so small a decree that It is practically negligible. (In the preparation of the polished and the unpolished rice, the cuticle, aleu-

rone layer, and germ, which contains much protein and other Important food constituents, are removed, reducing greatly the nutritive value of the grain. The real difference between these two mill products is largely in the coating of the polished rice with glucose and talc, and the absence of coating material on the unpolished. The superiority of the brown rice over either of these lies in the fact that the entire seed as nature produced it is used, except the inclosing husks or hulls, Uhlch have been removed.

Some Good Rice Recipes. As a staple article of diet, rice may be boiled in salted water and used like potato or sweet potato as a vegetable at' a meal at which tish, meat, eggs, beans or other foods rich in protein are served. Wholly or jairtially cooked rice can be used with cheese, minced meat or poultry, fish, eggs, beans, gravy, etc., for a variety of made dishes, the combinations constituting dishes in which most of the needed food elements are present. It also may be used as a major or minor ingredient in stews and soups. Instead of serving ri cy pl al n as a vegetable, it may be stewed with tomatoes, cooked in a double boiler with tomato juice, soup stock or milk, or it may be seasoned with curry powder. onions or other seasoning materials. By using skim milk in this way a partially economical dish is produced. As a cereal for breakfast, rice may be boiled in milk and sweetened, or eaten with butter and salt. If it is desired, dried fruits such as dates or raisins may be cooked with the rice. Cold boiled rice, mixed with pancake or muffin batters of wheat, buckwheat or cornmeal, for Instance, makes a pleasing addition to such food products, reduces the quantity of wheat needed, and furnishes a method for using the left-over cereal. Mashed Potatoes Different $ Most housekeepers know how delicious mashed potatoes can be made by beating them until light with hot milk, margarine or butter and salt and pepper, four tablespoonfuls of hot milkand one teaspoonful of the fat for every medium-sized potato. To make the mashed potatoes, a little “different” they can be turned Into a potato souffle by adding the beaten white of eggs (two eggs to six medium-sized potatoes), piling lightly in a baking dish and baking in, the oven till brown. Grated cheese added to this souffle is good. , _i_, '