Uncooked Foods & How to Use Them - Soil and Health Library

INTRODUCTION.
THE earth moves, and man, its little masterpiece, is growing
apace. After spending ages in scanning stars and flowers, and
mountains and trees—after vain effort to find truth in the
objects about—man has discovered himself. He has come
into his own, the kingdom of self-knowledge, self-control and
self-development. In the early times he was a blind
instrument in the hands of the Great Father. Blindly he
worked and rested, and slept. Blindly he procreated. Blindly
he ate what came to his hand, asking only physical
gratification.
But now—the earth moves, and man has graduated from
the dull life of the flesh, and has entered into his kingdom. He
has great, shining dreams of what he would be and know and
do. He would work harder, think deeper, aspire higher than
his forefathers. He demands of himself tasks of which they
did not dream. To fulfil these demands he must have greater
strength, endurance, nervous vitality. He must increase his
powers. To increase his powers he must know how to work,
how to rest, how to feed his body—to feed his body so that it
may be strong instead of weak, alive instead of dying.
Of all the problems of practical life the question of
feeding is the most important. Not only the individual but the
race suffers from errors of diet. Many solutions have been
proffered. Some of these are better than the conventional diet;
others worse. Of the plans of diet that have been expounded
for the betterment of man there is one that seems to be
ideal—that fulfils every requirement, physiologic, sensuous,
domestic and esthetic. This plan of diet provides a food that
maintains the body and mind in the highest health and vigor,
that is gratifying and enticing to the palate, that needs
practically no preparation and that, by its appearance and its
associations, appeals most strongly to the imagination.
Having said so much it is needless to add that the plan
referred to is the "Uncooked Food," sometimes called the
"Elementary Food" plan.
The picturesque features of the new diet (that is to say
the oldest of all diets readopted)—the beauty, the economy
and the splendid feeding properties of the new diet have made
for it, within the last few years, thousands of advocates
among the most intelligent and advanced classes of people.
Those people have at times felt keenly the need of some
reliable advice as to the preparation and service of these
beautiful foods. In my capacity as writer for HEALTH-
CULTURE, a journal of wide circulation, I have received many
such letters. To none of the writers have I been able to give
the full and satisfactory information desired.
It has been said by some confiding soul that for every
issue needing a man of certain powers the man is somehow
provided. In one instance this has been doubly fulfilled. The
issue was need of information on a very important subject—
diet. And to meet this issue—to give information on this