utrition can always be supplied in the other dishes that accompany
the meal, as a certain proportion of protein is found in almost every
food product. The meat that we use to obtain flavor in sauces and
gravies need not be large in quantity, nor expensive in cut. The poor
or cheap cuts have generally more flavor than the expensive ones,
the difference being entirely in texture and tenderness, freedom from
gristle and inedible tissue. There are many cereals, such as rice,
hominy, cornmeal, samp and many vegetable dishes, especially dried
beans of all kinds, that are greatly improved by the addition of meat
sauce and when prepared in this way may be served as the main dish of
a meal.

Dr. Harvey W. Wiley has stated that the meat eating of the future will
not be regarded as a necessity so much as it has been in the past, and
that meat will be used more as a condimental substance. Europe has for
years used meat for flavor rather than for nutriment. It would seem
that the time has come for Americans to learn the use of meat for
flavor and to utilize more skillfully the protein of other foods.

It may be difficult to convince the meat lover that he can radically
reduce the proportion of meat in his diet without detriment to health.
Many persons adhere to the notion that you are not nourished unless
you eat meat; that meat foods are absolutely necessary to maintain the
body strength. This idea is entirely without foundation, for the foods
mentioned as meat substitutes earlier in this chapter can be made to
feed the world, and feed it well--in fact, no nation uses so large a
proportion of meat as America.

The first step, therefore, in preparing ourselves to reduce meat
consumption is to recognize that only a small quantity of meat is
necessary to supply sufficient protein for adult life. The growing
child or the youth springing into manhood needs a larger percentage of
meat than the adult, and in apportioning the family's meat ration this
fact should not be overlooked.

The second step is to reduce the amount purchased, choosing cuts that
contain the least waste, and by utilizing with care that which we do
purchase. Fat, trimmings, and bones all have their uses and should be
saved from the garbage pail.

Careful buying, of course, depends on a knowledge of cuts, a study
of the percentage of waste in each cut, and the food value of the
different kinds of meat. Make a study of the different cuts, as shown
in the charts on