How We are Fed Part 1

How We are Fed.

by James Franklin Chamberlain.

PREFACE

In the ordinary course of events, most individuals take some part in the manifold industries which engage the mind and the hand of man, by which alone our present-day civilization can be maintained. These great world activities touch the daily life of _every_ member of society, whether child or adult, worker or idler.

A chain of mutual dependence, too often unrecognized, binds together the members of the human family, whether they belong to the same community or dwell on opposite sides of the earth. The links of this chain are made up of the articles which const.i.tute our daily food, our clothing, homes, fuel, light, our means of communication and transportation, and only by continuous cooperation are they kept together.

The highest motive in education is to present the conditions which will lead to the most complete living; to build up the best possible members of society; to develop character. An individual who does not understand the life of which he finds himself a part, cannot be in full sympathy with its conditions and hence cannot be of the most service to himself or to others. Only to the extent that education and life follow the same general course, can each be truly successful. Far too little is done in our schools to acquaint children with their relations to the great industrial and social organization of which they are members. Even grown persons have, as a rule, a very indefinite knowledge of these relations.

It is a recognized principle that our knowledge of geography has its foundation in our knowledge of the home. The natural connecting link between the immediate surroundings and the outside world is the _present daily life of the home_. Through the industries seen in the community, the commodities in general use, and the history of their creation and supply, the pupil acquires an insight into the life about him as well as into that of other parts of the world. He also realizes the great truth that the world and its people are in intimate touch with _him_. In this way he is led back and forth along the routes which civilization has followed in its progress, which it also follows to-day, as mankind clasp hands across oceans and continents. Thus the remote and abstract become immediate and concrete. Facts are seen in a setting of reason, and a logical and interesting basis for the study of physical, climatic, and human conditions is furnished.

This study begins with the commodities in constant use and finally encompa.s.ses the whole world, but always with the home as the base of operations. It will create a knowledge of the interdependence of individuals, communities, and nations, and a genuine respect for the work of the hands and for the worker. The importance of this respect is not likely to be overestimated. Without it a true democracy cannot long exist.

Reading should not only serve for the acquisition and the expression of the thought contained in the printed page; it should, in addition, stimulate to _new_ thought--to independent power in reasoning. On this account questions are inserted which the pupil is left to answer. These are suggestive of a much larger number, which should be worked out by the teacher. Too many of the questions found in books do not "stimulate thought" or "independent power in reasoning." They are purely informatory and not at all formative.

No attempt has been made to treat every article of food. Those in most general use, as well as those which will best serve to develop a knowledge of geographical conditions and of man's relation to man, have been chosen.

A given industry is pursued in somewhat different ways in different places. It has not been thought wise to describe each modification in these pages. For example, the method of handling wheat in California is different from that employed in Minnesota. The value of the work will be increased if the teacher will bring out these points.

_All places mentioned should he definitely located_, both as to position on the map or globe and with reference to the home. When developed from the standpoint of direct, personal interest, a knowledge of the location of places as well as of other facts mentioned is most likely to be retained.

The ill.u.s.trations used have been very carefully selected for their _teaching value_. They give a clearness to mental pictures which can be derived only through observation of that which the ill.u.s.trations symbolize. Much experience in the use of geographical ill.u.s.trations has shown that pupils need to be directed in their examination of them. To secure the best results they must be made the centers of thought-developing questions.

Thanks are due the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company of Minneapolis, the Swift Packing Company of Chicago, the Walter Baker Company of Dorchester, the United Fruit Company of New Orleans, and Dr.

Charles U. Shepard of Pinehurst Plantation, for the excellent ill.u.s.trations furnished by them.

JAMES FRANKLIN CHAMBERLAIN.

STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, LOS ANGELES, March, 1903.

HOW WE ARE FED

THE PAST AND THE PRESENT

Long, long ago people did not live as we do to-day. Their homes were very different from ours, for they were made of the skins of wild animals, of the limbs and bark of trees, or of tall gra.s.ses. There were no stoves, chairs, tables, or beds in their houses. Instead of lamps, gas, or electricity, a fire on the dirt floor or in front of the house, furnished the light.

The clothing of these people was as simple as their homes. It was made of skins and furs in cold countries and in warm countries of braided gra.s.ses and the fibers of certain plants. You may be sure that tailors and dressmakers were not consulted as to the latest styles, for the styles did not change and there were neither tailors nor dressmakers to talk to. Each family made its own clothing, and there was not a sewing machine to be found.

How would you like to use a bone for a needle? Sometimes, instead of sharpened bones, long thorns were used. The sinews of the deer, or of some other animal, usually furnished the thread.

When the people were in need of food, they went into the forest and gathered roots, nuts, and fruits. Wild animals were killed by means of such weapons as bows and arrows and spears, and fish were caught in the lakes and streams.

The food was not cooked as ours is; for, as I have told you, there were no stoves. Sometimes the meat was broiled over the fire, sometimes baked in a hole filled with ashes and coals, but it was often eaten raw. It was not easy to have a variety of food, and there were times when it was very difficult to obtain anything. When food was abundant, the people feasted, and when it was scarce, they were often hungry. How would you like to wait for your breakfast while your father went to the woods or to the river in search of something to eat?

When the meals were prepared, they were not neatly served as yours are, but each person took his portion and sat on the ground while he ate it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 1.--Indians at Dinner.]

All of this seems very strange to you, I know. If you live in the city, you are accustomed to seeing the butcher, the baker, the milkman, and the grocer call every day. There are stores where people can buy whatever they want to eat, drink, or wear. You wonder how any one could live in such a way as I have described, but there _are_ people who live in this fashion to-day, although you have never seen any of them. They are _uncivilized_. Where do you think they are to be found? When people live in this way, it takes most of their time to provide themselves with the things that are necessary to life. They have little opportunity to improve their ways of living and of thinking.

Civilized people divide their work. Some provide food, some make clothing, some build houses, and some furnish fuel. Each one does his or her part. In this way, you see, they learn to do their work better and better, because each gives much time and thought to one kind of work.

This plan gives each one time to study and to learn something about the world and its people. Think how much better our homes, our clothing, and our food are, than are those of uncivilized people, and how many other advantages we have.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2.--White People at Dinner.]

It is only possible to live as we do, when each one works for others as well as for himself. If any one fails to do his part, the rest must suffer until some one is found to take his place. It is to prepare yourself to do _your part_ in some useful work for others, that you are going to school day by day. You do not now know just what that work is to be, but I want you to remember that _all_ honest work is n.o.ble. It is not so important _what work_ you do, as it is that you should do your work _well_. No matter what your work may be, you can carry sunshine in your face and helpfulness in your heart. If you do this, you will be known and loved. Hard work, coa.r.s.e clothes, and lack of money can never hide these things, neither will the finest of clothing cover a selfish or untruthful nature.

Let us look at this dinner table loaded with good things to eat and drink. There are bread, b.u.t.ter, meat, vegetables, milk, tea, fruits, and other things. You see at once that many persons must have worked to provide this food, for only a small part of the work was done in the kitchen. If these things could but speak, they might tell you stories as wonderful as fairy tales. They have been gathered here from the fertile plains of the West, from the sunny South, from Brazil, from the islands of the Pacific Ocean, from far-off China, and even from the waters of the sea.

THE STORY OF A LOAF OF BREAD

In the dark granary of a farmer's barn in North Dakota once lived a modest family of grains of wheat. The bright, warm days of the summer time, during which they had been placed in this dark room, soon grew shorter and cooler. The swallows, whose mud nests were in the rafters overhead, told the wheat brothers that winter was coming, and then flew away to the balmy southland.

Soon biting winds and blinding snow came sweeping over the level land.

Sometimes the farmhouse was almost hidden under the drifts, and the farmer had to shovel out a path to the barn, so that he could feed the horses and cattle. By and by the days grew warmer, the snow disappeared, and the birds returned one by one. The farmer and his men got out their plows and harrows, and prepared the soil for the seeds soon to be planted.

The wheat was now shoveled into sacks and taken to the fields. Here it was placed in great machines drawn by horses, which scattered it evenly over the land and at the same time covered it with soft soil. The men whistled and sang as they worked, and blackbirds, bluebirds, and larks flew back and forth, singing and searching for bugs and worms, as well as for the shining kernels of wheat.

The wheat was not content to remain underground, but kept trying to push itself out into the world. One night there came a warm shower, and the next morning what looked like tiny, green blades of gra.s.s appeared all over the field.

All through the spring and summer the wheat kept growing, and finally there appeared at the ends of the stalks cl.u.s.ters of kernels, just like those which the farmer had planted. Some of these kernels had produced families of twenty or thirty. These cl.u.s.ters are called _heads_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 3.--Harvesting Wheat in Southern California.]

As the south wind pa.s.sed over the field it brought the wheat messages from Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and other states, telling of relatives who were already turning golden in the summer sunshine. One day some of the kernels thought they heard a voice from California. Do you think they did?

The grain in some of the fields was called _winter wheat_. This was because the grain had been sown the autumn before, and had remained in the ground all winter, covered by a blanket of snow. Why was it sown in the fall? The wheat of which I am telling you was called by the farmer _spring wheat_.

Soon machines, each drawn by several horses, appeared. They cut the waving grain, and bound it up in bundles called _sheaves_. These were set up in double rows to dry, and afterward put into another machine which separated the kernels from the stalks, which were now called _straw_. This work the farmer calls _threshing_. See if you can find out how this used to be done.

After threshing, the wheat was put into sacks and taken to the nearest railroad station. Freight cars then carried it across the level prairies to the beautiful city of Minneapolis, built beside the Falls of Saint Anthony. What river is this city on? Of what use are the falls?

There are tall buildings called _elevators_ here in which the wheat was stored for a time. Before being put into the elevators it was examined and _graded_. As there was wheat from many farms it could not be kept separate, so each farmer was told how much he had, and how it graded.