Nutrition problems have been given much consideration in recent years. Today, when devastated areas of Europe are suffering from hardships due to the lack of sufficient food, the whole world is acutely aware of foods and nutrition problems. It is necessary, in order to improve the world food picture, that the need of each country be understood and the available foods used to meet needs without waste, either from the standpoint of economy or nutritional well-being.
Agricultural and home economics workers in Puerto Rico have felt the necessity of teaching the people of their country methods to improve the quality and quantity of food products. The Puerto Rican people need to learn how to get the most from their soil, how to use fertilizers, and how to conserve the value of the soil. Much has already been accomplished in this work, but it is necessary to obtain more interest on the part of the people in improving their production and use of food.
In addition to learning improved methods of production and conservation, the people of Puerto Rico need to emphasize wise use of the available food products. Many foods are available because Puerto Rico has a rich soil, and with the aid of only a small amount of fertilizer, many products may be grown. Vegetables and fruits may be produced throughout the year in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of the people. This makes it possible to have an adequate intake of vitamins A and C, if they eat available foods. Of course, the amount of sunlight the year around gives an ample supply of vitamin D. (Rickets due to deficiency of vitamin D is almost unknown.) In spite of the fortunate geographical position which makes the production of many foods possible, the people still need much information about the best methods of preparing and preserving this food.
Home economists in extension work must make continued efforts to plan programs to meet the needs of the Puerto Rican people. Those who are responsible for choosing and preparing foods must be given more knowledge of foods and nutrition and thus improve the nutritional status of the people and use well the available foods.
In order to develop new plans that would aid the extension program of one area, much can be learned from a study of methods in use elsewhere. For that reason, this study of extension work in foods and nutrition in the southern United States was begun.
In studying the foods and nutrition extension work of the southern United States and Puerto Rico, as much information as possible was secured from the library. In order to augment this material, a questionnaire was sent to extension foods and nutrition specialists working in the southern states of the United states. This questionnaire was designed to obtain information about the type of work done, the methods used, and the success of these methods. A copy of the questionnaire may be found in the appendix. From the foods and nutrition extension information obtained from other states, a comparison is made with the Puerto Rican extension work, and some plans based upon this study for furthering the work in Puerto Rico are presented.
Information from this study, it is hoped, may be useful to the author upon returning to a position in foods and nutrition extension in Puerto Rico.
In this study, it was thought advisable to give brief consideration of the nature of extension work in general, and emphasize the work of specialists, especially the work of foods and nutrition specialists.
In order to develop the problem, it has been necessary to explain at some length the extension work and its background in Puerto Rico. Only with a clear picture of the Puerto Rican conditions, accomplishments and future needs, is it possible to see relationship between extension in this country and the southern United states and apply ideas gained from the study in plans for future extension work.
It is hoped from this study to
(1) Study the food and nutrition needs of the people in the southern United States and the methods used to meet these needs.
(2) Compare the needs of the people of Puerto Rico with those of the people of the southern United states.
(3) Compare the methods used in the southern United States with those used in Puerto Rico.
(4) Apply ideas gained from the study in suggestions to further foods and nutrition work in Puerto Rico. / M.S.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/105989 |
| Date | January 1948 |
| Creators | Buxo, Zulma |
| Contributors | Home Economics |
| Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | iii, 87 leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 27251456 |
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