SC - Re:New World Foods-list penguins are period (guinea pigs)

[Tollhase1@aol.com]

I realize the moronic newpaper article has pretty much been beaten to
death on this list.  I apologize for being several days behind on
reading the postings.  However, there is another inconsistency in the
article I noted that hasn't been mentioned yet, so for those still
interested I'll put in my 2 pennies worth.

She talked about the poor peasants gumming their 18th century pease
porridge along with the occasional chicken or pig, bread, cheese, and
ale.  She gives the impression that they were lucky to find anything to
eat and then could barely stand to cram it into their mouths to sustain
existence.  Then, a few paragraphs later, she stated that peasants
supposedly expended 6,000 calories a day, whereas we modern slobs only
need 2,000 a day to stay alive.  These two sentiments are incompatible.

1)  We have fairly precise data available regarding the amount of energy
expended in various activities of daily living.  I compiled a few sample
data for a 135 lb man performing peasant-like activities.  In 1 hour, a
peasant would expend the following calories:

Sawing wood by hand		350
Gardening, weeding, digging	345
Hiking {20 lb pack, 2 mph}	270

Even if a peasant spent 12 hours per day performing any of these
activities, they would barely reach 4,000 calories expended, and I doubt
they'd have the energy left to use up another 2,000 calories before
curling up in the straw with their farm animals and fleas.  As anyone
who's done this type of labor can tell you, you can't physically
maintain this pace for more than a few days without exhaustion setting
in.  Since she was refering to their everyday existence, not special
circumstances, I would question the 6,000 figure {especially since she
makes this generalization for peasants as a class, not just those who
worked the fields all day}.

2)  In order to expend 6,000 calories per day, they would have to take
in at least the same number of calories to maintain body mass, muscle
density, etc.  It would take a miracle for the half-starved ragamuffins
she portrays to procure and consume that much food on a daily basis.  I
used the University of Chicago Department of Food Sciences' program to
calculate the calories/oz of the peasant foods she described:

Ham		51		Pork Loin	56
Roast Capon	65		Wheat Bread	74
Boiled Egg	44		Pea Soup	35
Spinach		 7		Table Wine	20
Beer		12

If you take this diet, and assume that it averages 50 calories/oz, then
Joe Peasant would need to intake 120 oz. or 7.5 lbs. of food a day just
to break-even.  I can't lay my hands on the source right now, but women
on average today eat about 3 lbs. of food a day and men about 4.  So,
peasants would have to have eaten about twice as much food a day as we
do, a major accomplishment when they're having to gum and gnaw it to
death according to her.

3)  If they're eating 7.5 lbs of food a day and working 12 hours, it's
no wonder they didn't have time for the arts and other enlightenment. 
They were too busy leading a hand-to-mouth existence!

This was pretty cursory and may not stand up to rigorous scrutiny, but,
then again, so was her entire article.  

John le Burguillun

Mundanely a State Department of Health employee who plays with numbers
all day and had a little time to kill this afternoon.