MH page 302

If milk is used, it should be thoroughly sterilized; with this precaution, there is less danger of contracting disease from its use. Butter is less harmful when eaten on cold bread than when used in cooking; but, as a rule, it is better to dispense with it altogether. Cheese is still more objectionable; it is wholly unfit for food.[The safeguarding of the purity of all foods of dairy origin is a matter of prime importance. While frequent testing of dairy herds, together with thorough pasteurization and refrigeration, serves to this end, such foods, if from uncertain sources, or if carelessly handled, constitute a serious menace to health; for, as stated in U.S. Department of Agriculture Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1705 by a Government expert, Rowena Schmidt Carpenter: “The same chemical constituents and physical properties that recommend milk as a human food make it an excellent food for bacteria.” The reader will understand that the reference to cheese does not include cottage cheese or foods of a similar character, which were ever recognized by the author as wholesome.—Publishers.]

Milk should be sterilized and butter/cheese avoided or minimized for health. The paragraph contains empirical claims about milk sterilization and dairy products, alongside publisher notes regarding food purity.

Scanty, ill-cooked food depraves the blood by weakening the blood-making organs. It deranges the system and brings on disease, with its accompaniment of irritable nerves and bad tempers. The victims of poor cookery are numbered by thousands and tens of thousands. Over many graves might be written: “Died because of poor cooking;” “Died of an abused stomach.”

Poorly prepared food depraves the blood and damages the digestive system. It makes physiological claims about poor cooking impairing blood and organ function, combined with narrative rhetoric.

It is a sacred duty for those who cook to learn how to prepare healthful food. Many souls are lost as the result of poor cookery. It takes thought and care to make good bread; but there is more religion in a loaf of good bread than many think. There are few really good cooks. Young women think that it is menial to cook and do other kinds of housework, and for this reason many girls who marry and have the care of families have little idea of the duties devolving upon a wife and mother.

Cooking healthful food is a moral duty and an important domestic skill. Focuses on moral responsibility, domestic education, and the spiritual value of good bread without direct medical claims.

Cooking is no mean science, and it is one of the most essential in practical life. It is a science that all women should learn, and it should be taught in a way to benefit the poorer classes. To make food appetizing and at the same time simple and nourishing, requires skill; but it can be done. Cooks should know how to prepare simple food in a simple and healthful manner, and so that it will be found more palatable, as well as more wholesome, because of its simplicity.

Cooking is a vital science that should be learned and taught simply and economically. Discusses cooking as a practical science and educational priority.