The numerous investigations upon nutrition made in various parts of the United States under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, make it possible to state with much certainty what articles of food are eaten, and in what quantities, by different classes. It is evident from these statistics that the people eat what their markets provide, except when poverty prevents purchasing. For instance, the family of a sewing woman of New York City averaged for one person a day in animal food, 26 grams of protein, 34 of fat, 15 of carbohydrate - equivalent to 485 calories; in vegetable food, 31 of protein, 7 of fat, 222 of carbohydrate - equivalent to 1100 calories, or a total of 1585 calories and 57 grams of protein. This is less than a mere subsistence has been estimated to be. The articles of food consumed by this family were beef shank, pork chops, sardines, eggs, butter, milk, barley, wheat flour, bread, wheat, rye, rolls, cakes, crackers, sugar, beans, potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, and tomatoes. The largest quantities of animal food consumed were in the form of eggs and milk; of carbohydrates, bread, sugar, potatoes, and canned tomatoes. How far short of the possibilities of the market this diet falls, is self-evident. It shows idiosyncrasies, however, or, more probably, the limitation that a lack of time or of ability to cook may have placed upon it.

Most mechanics in the United States eat food that will afford them from 100 to 150 grams of protein and from 3000 to 5000 calories. Many will average from 90 to 120 grams of protein. Atwater and Wood call especial attention to the fact that "our dietary is out of balance," and state that "the one-sided-ness is greater in the South than in the North." By this is meant that the ratio between protein and calories is greater than it should be. In the South a larger amount of protein of vegetable origin is eaten than in the North.

The same comment might be made upon the dietaries of the families of professional men, as the table on page 5 1 will show.

The following table of dietaries of student clubs in various colleges of the country is interesting:

Weight Of Different Classes Of Food Purchased Per Man Per Day

The greatest quantities of animal food were consumed in Maine, Missouri, and Connecticut, and the least in Tennessee. Maine leads again in the use of vegetable foods, and Connecticut falls behind. In the schools of the two northern States a much the numbers above given for Proteins, Fats, and Carbohydrates represent Quantities in Grams.

Table Showing Diet Of Professional Men

Larger proportion of beef is eaten than in the two others. In Missouri a noticeably large amount of pork is consumed. In Maine poultry and fish are conspicuous features of the dietary, while they are comparatively little used in the colleges of the other States. Milk forms a large element of the diet in the States of Maine, Connecticut, and Missouri, and a noticeably small element in Tennessee. The diet of the club at the State College in Maine is much more generous in all respects than the others. The table on p. 53 will make this more evident.

In Tennessee 38 per cent, of the food value was contained in animal food, and 62 per cent, in vegetable. In Missouri it was about equally divided between the two. In Connecticut 53 per cent, was furnished by animal and 47 per cent, by vegetable foods. In Maine 40 per cent, was furnished by animals and 60 per cent, by vegetables.

The table opposite gives the same facts with reference to the diet of student clubs in colleges for women, and contrasts them with those of similar organizations for men, and with the diet of professional men and mechanics. The dietaries of these college clubs do not portray accurately those of the people of the different sections of the country from which the students are drawn, but represent them fairly.

The negroes of the southern states have a particularly unvaried diet. In Alabama, about Tuskegee, where their diet has been most studied, their staple foods are fat salt pork, corn meal, and molasses. Cooking is most primitive; only two families of those investigated had stoves.