Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 288, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 December 1918 — Potatoes Feed the World [ARTICLE]

Potatoes Feed the World

Different Ages and Sizes of Tubers Demand Special Preparation and Aid in Keeping Body Tissues Alkaline

The general use of potatoes in the average family and the better customs prevailing in many homes in preparing the tubers for food are, based on sound economic and dietetic reason?, according to specialists of the office of home economics of the United States department of agriculture. Potatoes are easy to cook in a variety of ways. From the point of view of dietetics, they furnish starch in one readily digestible form; contain mineral substances of importance to the body, and—a fact'“less generally known — tend to make the. tissues and fluids of the body alkaline, so counteracting thetendency of meats, eggs, fish and like foods to create add conditions. Since the body does its work best when its condition is either neutral or slightly alkaline, potatoes, like most vegetables, perform an important function in the diet besides furnishing energy-producing material. This scientific fact justifies the custom that is prevalent in many families of serving a goodly supply of potatoes or other vegetables with each helping of meat. Potatoes, however, while a valuable addition to a mixed diet, alone are not suited to meet the needs of the body because of their poverty in proteins and fat. Of these latter Important elements protein is furnished in meats* eggs, fish, milk, beans and similar foods, and fat in butter, bacon, table oils and the fats and oils used in cookery. Greater care than commonly is exercised should be taken in peeling potatoes. Very often 20 per cent of the potato is pared away. This results not only in the waste of considerable potato but also in the loss of one of the most valuable portions of the tuber, since the soluble mineral salts are present in the material near-the skin, which should be removed and thrown away. These salts can be preserved by a more careful removal of the skin, as by shallow paring or rubbing, and also by boiling or baking the potatoes in their jackets. Paring before boiling, however, may be the most desirable method of cooking potatoes, which through an undue exposure to light may have acquired’a bitter taste, or those which have been kept until late in the spring* since in this way more of the disagreeable flavor is eliminated. Such potatoes may also be soaked before cooking.' While these methods may be desirable with potatoes which have been exposed to light, they result in the loss of considerable food value without compensating advantages when applied to new or well-matured potatoes. If such potatoes are boiled after paring, they should be dropped into boiling water instead of being placed on the stove in cold water. By the latter method there is twice the loss of protein, or tissue-building elements, resulting from the former. The loss of mineral matter is about the same by each method. There is no loss of starchy material in boiling unless portions of the tuber break oft. * Practically the only loss when potatoes are baked in their skins is of the water which escapes as steam. The more or less common custom of pricking holes in the skin of baked potatoes or breaking them is explained by the fact that unless the steam which is formed inside the skin is allowed to escape it will change back into water and produce sogginess. Potatoes which have turned green and sprouting tubers have present a considerable quantity of solanin, an acrid poisonous substance which, though not dangerous in the quantities ordinarily met with, gives a disagreeable flavor. It is best, therefore, to avoid such potatoes or to cut out green or sprouting portions. j