ORGANIC LIVING
Br
Robert Rodale
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Start Sampling Food Diversity
If you and your family are in a dietary rut, now’s the
time to climb out. Until now, the kinds of food we’ve all
been Sating have been largely predetermined by our
culture, advertising and supermarket mass-marketing.
But the rumblings of food shortages and far-off famine,
combined with new evidence of the importance of eating a
truly balanced diet, should make us question the wisdom
of putting ail our dietary “eggs” in one basket.
Food conformity isn’t limited to America. “Our diet is
too monotonous-potatoes, bread, pork and beef. The
ingredients of our cuisine are always the same,” laments
Dr. Gunter Reinken, head of the “ideas” department of
West Germany’s Agricultural Ministry. “Our farmers
should give less attention to basic foodstuffs and con
centrate of foodstuffs with a difference.” Dr. Reinken is
investigating things like quail, mushrooms and Chinese
cabbage.
A major problem is our preoccupation with beef. Too
many Americans erroneously regard fat-marbled steaks,
roasts and hamburgers as'the only first-rate protein
sources, despite evidence that too much red meat is
harmful. A possible link between heavy beef consumption
and bowel cancer has been uncovered by National Cancer
Institute researchers.
That other meat standby, chicken, is now being mass
produced by the millions in poultry “factories,” where
feed is laced with medicines and additives to help
withstand the effects of severe overcrowding. Old-timers
say the modem chicken can’t compare with the old free
range bird when it comes to flavor.
Healthful meat alternatives are available, however.
Rabbit, for example, compares very favorably with beef
in protein and mineral content, yet contains less fat.
Rabbit raising is catching on among homesteaders
looking for a productive meat source and second income.
Quail, partridges and pheasants may soon be available
at a reasonable price, too. “Small birds convert feed to
meat well,” says L. E. Dawson, nutrition specialist at
Michigan State University. “Meat yield for partridge
carcasses is high-60 to 85 percent-more than broilers and
similar to that of quail. The boneless meat yield, too, is
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Compared with other poultry now on the market,
partridge meat is high in protein (25 percent) and low in
fat (5 percent), he adds.
Beef eaters looking for variety, economy and balanced
nutrition should pass up steak and other muscle meats
occasionally to try organ meats. Kidney, heart, liver,
brains and sweetbreads arid all good sources of vitamins,
protein and minerals, the Department of Agriculture
advises.
An excellent way to expand your dietary horizons is to
eat more fish. Seafood, in particular, is a good source of
iodine and other important minerals. All fish are high in
protein and generally lower in fat than meat. But many
Americans limit their fish menu to canned tuna and frozen
fish sticks.
Consider the case of squid, an abundant seafood that’s
high in food value but very low in price. Squid chowder,
fried squid rings and squid cocktail score very favorably
in taste tests, say researchers at MIT, but American
consumers just won’t try it. Squid may have to be ex
ported to Europe, where it is appreciated.
Fresh-water fish, raised in aquaculture ponds, were
another virtually untapped food resource. Now that’s
beginning to change. “Ten years ago there was no farm
raised catfish industry at all. Now it’s a multimillion
dollar industry that’s growing all the time,” reports Don
Carr, president of the Catfish Farmers of America. He
says 50,000 acres of water in the U.S. are now being
framed for catfish.
Because they are cold-blooded creatures, fish convert
feed to food more efficiently than cattle, chickens or any
other animal.
The passion for food conformity extends to grains, also,
where wheat is king. Our breads, rolls, doughs and
noodles are almost all fashioned from the same mold:
bleached white flour, stripped of its natural fiber,
vitamins and minerals. In most areas, bread and caKes
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made of tasty, whole commeal are only a memory.
Millet, one of the most well-balanced and least
allergenic of all grains, is ignored here in the West. But in
China, millet is the chief carbohydrate food. Rich in
protein, vitamins, minerals and lecithin, millet is quite
tasty and extremely easy to digest. It’s available in most
natural food stores.
Buckwheat was a staple of our ancestors, but it lost out
to wheat early in this century. Now it’s making a
comeback. Scientists report that buckwheat’s protein is
nutritionally superior to wheat and other cereals. It’s
particularly rich in lysine, an amino acid most grains
lack.
Most of us eat more than just one or two vegetables (The
USDA reports com, white potatoes and tomatoes are our
favorites), but there’s still room for improvement.
Greens, for example, could mean a lot more than just
some iceberg lettuce in a salad. Other low-priced
vegetables like collards, beet, dandelion, turnip and
mustard greens actually have much more nutrient value
than lettuce. They all score extremely high in vitamin A,
C, iron and calcium.
une way to branch out is by sampling so-called “ethnic”
vegetables. Some west coast supermarkets, for instance,
are successfully marketing sugar peas, Chinese spinach,
alfalfa root and other out-of-the-ordinary foods.
In the East, look for bok choy, shallots, Hungarian wax
peppers and calabaza (a Latin American squash).
“Specialty vegetables like these can be pretty hard to find
here,” says Dr. William O. Drinkwater, Rutgers
University horticulturist. “But they’re pact of the familiar
dishes of ethnic groups that are clustered in the
metropolitan area, and there’s a tremendous potential
market for them.”
“Lots of us have grown up in the meat-and-potatoes
syndrome,” he says. “We’ve been locked into that. We
haven’t been very fond of most vegetables, and we
generally drag our heels at trying anything new.”
(Editor’s Note: The opinions appearing in “Organic
Living” are those of its author, Robert Rodale, an in
dependent columnist. Rodalc’s comments do not
necessarily reflect the thinking of the Lancaster Farming
editor or anyone else on the Lancaster Farming staff.)
Com Technology
Conference Set
Equipment displays, a
growers panel, and a free
fried chicken lunch will be
featured at the
Delmarva Com Technology'
Conference on December 12.
The event will be held at the
Wicomico Youth and Civic
Center in Salisbury,
Maryland.
Sponsored by the agri
business industry and the
Cooperative Extension
Services of Maryland and
Delaware, the conference
will focus on problems and
Know what's happening on
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Read Lancaster Farming
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solutions in com technology.
Specialists from the
University of Delaware and
the University of Maryland,
as well as agri-businessmen
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technology, will participate
in the annual event
All interested persons are
invited to attend. In
Delaware, free lunch tickets
are available from your
county extension office in
Newark, Georgetown or
Dover, and from your local
agri-businessmen.