Abstract
THE text of a lecture entitled "The Place of Vegetables and Fruit in the Well-balanced Diet", which was delivered before the Royal Horticultural Society by Dr. G. E. Friend, is printed in the Society's Journal of July (62, 7, 286–295). A review of modern conceptions of the nutritional needs of the human body dealt principally with the quality of diet, rather than with quantity. Dr. Friend has charge of the health of the boys at Christ's Hospital ; perhaps the members of this and similar closed communities may be regarded as adequate critics of palatability and other human aspects of diet. The nutritional value of fresh fruit and vegetables varies considerably, and but little is known about factors affecting variation. Emphasis is placed upon the necessity for co-ordinating human and plant nutrition. The best way of ensuring qualitative adequacy of protective vegetable foods is to begin with their cultivation. Soil conditions must be suitable for the production of sufficient amounts of vitamins and the minor essential elements necessary for human nutrition. Such high-grade vegetables naturally cost more to grow, and one of the problems of the future will be to convince those who hold the economic control of diet of the value of such improved produce.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Practical Aspects of Human Nutrition. Nature 140, 615 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140615a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140615a0