There are Many Kinds of Food

Since most of us eat their meals with a family, suppose we talk about family meals. First there are the foods rich in animal protein, like milk, meat, eggs, fish and cheese. It is rather easy to build an adequate diet for growth when we use liberal amounts of the protein foods, which come from animals.

But still a large number of people in the world have to depend on plants (these include fruits, vegetables and ce­reals) rather than meat to give them protein because this kind of food can be produced most cheaply. It also provides vitamins and minerals for our diet.

Have you ever thought of all kinds of foods which come from cereals? First think of bread, made from wheat, from rye, from oats, from corn. Then there are the so called “pas­tas” like macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli and many others. Barley is used in delicious soups.

Next let us talk about fruits and vegetables. Can you imagine how drab our meals would be if we had no gardens? We would miss most of the colour in our meals — the colour of a ripe tomato, a bright orange, the greenness of fresh peas, the rosiness of red apples. We would also miss much flavour in our meals. Yellow, orange and green are import­ant colours when we consider nutritive value. Associated with these colours in fruit and vegetables is the important vitamin A. Vitamin C is also found in vegetables of the cab­bage family, turnips, onions, white potatoes. Vitamin C does not like the heat of cooking, it is better to have one raw fruit and one raw vegetable each day.

Sugars and fats furnish extra calories for our diet. Fats also have another important function in nutrition: it is the property of making us feel satisfied. Children and most adults like some extra fat, for example, butter or margarine on bread or fat used in cooking.

Now sugar is another matter. We have become sugar-eaters. We eat ten times as much as our great-grandmo­thers did. But sugar is a good energy food. Also it is capable of making us feel satisfied at the end of a meal.

As for milk and milk products, they form a special class of foods because in addition to the excellent protein they contain, they are also rich in calcium, which is one of the most important minerals used in building bones.

13.Agree or disagree.

1.It is impossible to build an adequate diet for growth without high-protein food.

2.Many people in the world have to depend on plants to get protein because plants are tastier.

3.Plant food provides vitamins and minerals for our diet.

4.Bread is made from pastas.

5.Vitamin A is associated with yellow and orange colour of fruit and vegetables.

6.Vitamin C is not destroyed by heat.

7.Fats make us feel satisfied.

8.Milk is rich in calcium.

14.Which food and drink comes from your country? Which foreign food or drink is popular in your country?

15.Read the text “Food Around the World”. Write the correct question heading for each paragraph.

o Where does our food come from?

o What do we eat?

o How do we eat?