Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Natural Diet of Man.

John Harvey Kellogg of cornflake fame was a serious vegetarian (he had some other rather strange ideas too, which we have considered previously.) He was not just a vegetarian, he was an evangelical vegetarian, and like all good evangelists he lost no opportunity (and probably created quite a few) to promote his cause. In his book The Natural Diet of Man ( 1923), one of his theories was that vegetarians were physically stronger. He published a list, compiled by ‘Russell’ (I don’t yet know who this is) of thirty-nine examples of races capable of great strength and endurance which showed (he said) that only three (less than 8 per cent) were associated with ‘flesh eating’. A further 14 examples (one third) ate meat occasionally, and the remaining 25 had completely flesh-free diets.

The list and conclusions would hardly be accepted as having much scientific validity today (which goes for a lot of modern ‘health’ claims too), but it is an interesting insight into ….. something. An interesting insight into the opinions of a nineteenth century evangelically vegetarian teetotal anti-sex American on the diet and strength of ‘others’, I suppose.

EUROPE.
DALECARLIAN SWEDE
Grain, milk, cheese, etc, probably fish also.
LAPLANDERS (SOME)
Flesh, blood, barley, coffee, alcohol.
FINNS (SOME)
Rye, barley, potatoes, fruit
RUSSIAN GRENADIERS
Eight lb. black bread, 4 lb. oil, 1 lb. salt, for eight days.
RUSSIAN LABORERS AT A PORT
Rye bread, garlics, etc.
ASIA
SIBERIAN SOLDIERS
Rye bread, soup
GREEK BOATMEN
Black rye or wheat bread, raisins or figs, etc
TURKISH SOLDIERS
Bread, mutton, beans, rice, butter, salt.
PART OF OTTOMAN ARMY
Vegetarian generally, water drinkers
BOATMEN, ETC., AT CONSTANTINOPLE
Bread, cucumbers, sherries, figs, dates, or other fruit, a little fish.
PORTERS AT SMYRNA
Vegetables, grain, or fruit.
KOLASHIN (MONTENEGRO)
Maize, milk, oil, onions, mutton
MONKS OF CYPRUS
Beans and barley bread; flesh rarely
CHINESE LABORERS (COUNTRY)
Rice, vegetables; sometimes a little fish or flesh; in some parts, rice, millet, sweet potatoes, beans etc.
KOREAN COUNTRYMEN (SOME)
Rice, eggs, dried fish, flesh; or rice, beans, spice, vinegar, radishes, occasional flesh.
JAPANESE SOLDIERS
Rice, 36 oz. vegetables, some fish, barley and beans at times.
SAMURAI
Unhulled rice chiefly, some fish or eggs, dried fruit, tea, cool, not cold, water.
TARTARS OF THE CHIN HILLS
Flesh, alcohol, etc
MADRAS MESSENGERS
Boiled rice, etc.
HIMALAYANS
Rice, etc.
SIKHS
Vegetarian chiefly, wheat flour.
ARMENIAN PORTERS
Bread, olives, cheese, onions, salad.

AFRICA
JENNA PEOPLE (CENTRAL AFRICA)
Chiefly yams and maize
ARAB TRIBES IN NORTH AFRICA
Dates, milk etc
CONGO SLAVES
Vegetarian
CANARY ISLAND LABORERS
Coarse vegetables, fruit, grain
SOME NATIVE RACES OF SOUTH AFRICA
Millet, sour milk.

AMERICAS

TOBASCO INDIANS (MEXICO)
Maize, sugar, etc
MEXICAN INDIANS AND MINERS
Maize, sugar, omelets, vegetables.
CHILIAN LABORERS (FROM DARWIN)
Two small loaves, 16 figs, boiled beans, roasted wheat.
YAQUIL MINERS (FROM DARWIN)
Boiled beans and bread
RIO SALADE SPANIARDS
Vegetarian
BOLIVIAN TROOPERS
Maize, cocoa, water.
BRAZIL SLAVES
Rice, fruit, bread, roots.
OPON INDIANS
Maize, sugar-cane, game, bananas, bread-fruit, mangoes, oranges.
FRIENDLY ISLANDERS
Bread-fruit, potatoes, taro, fruit, fish.
IPALAOS ISLANDERS
Bread-fruit, vegetables, fish, yams, potatoes, taro, bananas, coconuts, birds, eggs, turtles, etc.
COMANCHES (RED INDIANS)
Animal, chiefly; buffalo, piƱon-nut, etc.
OSAGES (RED INDIANS)
Buffalo, maize, beans, pumpkins, wild plums.

Well, there you are. Glean what you may from that list. Start your own health-fad industry from it. Drink cool, not cold water. Revel in the idea that Cypriot Monks are amongst the strongest men in the world. Find out where the Ipalaos Islands are (and let me know).
John Kellogg’s wife Ella Eaton Kellogg assisted him in his work, and in 1893 published a book on diet and nutrition called Science in the Kitchen. I have to say there is not much in there that is fun. I have given you recipes from it before, so instead today I give you a recipe from Favorite dishes, by Carrie V. Shuman, published the very same year but with a different attitude.

Chicken Croquettes.
From MRS. SARAH H. BIXBY, of Maine, Alternate Lady Manager.
Chop one-half pound chicken quite fine; add one teaspoonful salt; one saltspoonful pepper; one saltspoonful celery salt; one teaspoon lemon juice; one tablespoon chopped parsley and a few drops of onion juice; moisten with the thick cream sauce.
Thick Cream Sauce --Melt two tablespoons butter; add two heaping tablespoons cornstarch; one teaspoon salt and one saltspoon pepper; add slowly one pint hot cream and beat well.
[The Alternate Lady Manager did not feel the need to spell it out, but these croquettes would probably have been crumbed and fried.]

Quotation for the Day …
The hippopotamus is a vegetarian and looks like a wall. Lions who eat only red meat are sleek and slim. Are nutritionists on the wrong track? Erma Bombeck.

5 comments:

  1. I'm simply stunned that Congo slaves are vegetarians! What about Congo masters, what do they eat??

    What a bizarre list, although it does make me glad that I don't live in Lapland.

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  2. Hello Judith. that particular authors opinion was that they were vegetarian - wonder on what evidence he based that? perhaps congo slaves in the colonies? I am glad too that I am not in Lapland. Any modern Laplanders out there care to respond?

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  3. Then (as still today] the daily diet in central Africa was-is primarily vegetarian - whether [in the past] slave or otherwise. Meat - primarily goats and poultry - being reserved for special occasions and operating as 'savings banks on the hoof'; fish are more commonly eaten - generally dried so as to be transported for sale and/or stored. While more meat are eaten by the wealthy [then as now], it is generally reserved for celebratons. Some quotes from 19th.C. sources:

    From: What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile (1864), by John Hanning Speke:

    Eastern Congo: "The population is considerable, and they live in mushroom huts, situated on the high flats and easier slopes, where they cultivate the manioc, sweet potato, maize, millet, various kinds of pulse, and all the common vegetables in general use about the country. Poultry abounds in the villages."

    From: Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1(1876), by Sir Richard Francis Burton:

    Central Congo: "... Meat rarely appears; river fish, fresh or sun-dried, is the usual "kitchen," eaten with manioc, toasted maize, and peeled, roasted, and scraped plantain: vegetables and palm-oil obtained by squeezing the nut in the hands, are the staple dish, and beans are looked upon rather as slaves' food. They have no rice and no form of 'daily bread'.

    ... The travelling foods are mostly boiled batatas (sweet potatoes), Kwanga, a hard and innutritious pudding-like preparation of cassava which the "Expedition" (p.197) calls "Coongo, a bitter root, that requires four days' boiling to deprive it of its pernicious quality;" this is probably the black or poisonous manioc. The national dish, "chindungwa," would test the mouth of any curry-eater in the world: it is composed of boiled ground-nuts and red peppers in equal proportions, pounded separately in wooden mortars, mixed and squeezed to drain off the oil; the hard mass, flavoured with salt or honey, will keep for weeks."

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  4. Wow Dianabuja - that is an impressive "comment" - it is a blog post all on its own. Thanks for adding to the mix!

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  5. Thanks, Old Foodie - Now, here I've just received notice of a paper to be given in London [for those who live thereabouts] on just the topic we're discussing:

    7th October 2008, Linda Newson (King's College London): Slave diets from Africa to Peru in the early seventeenth century

    This talk is being sponsonred by the the London Group of Historical Geographers. " All are welcome."

    Unfortunately, I'll be here in Burundi [as usual]... But it is certainlhy an intersting topic, and if anyone reading here can attend, would be great to get a feed-back!

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