"Meat" from Plants?

Freshly dug peanuts, indehiscent legume fruits.

       Meat, eggs, and milk are often regarded by many people as the only foods that contain protein, an important food substance without which the body would be unable to build up new tissue. In certain parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean area, Mexico, and Central and South America, these foods are either far too expensive to be purchased by the poorer people or they are not obtainable. Legumes, such as peas and beans and nuts, are therefore used as meat substitutes.
       The best-known and certainly one of the most nutritious legumes is the peanut, which is not a true nut but a bean-like legume enclosed in a pod. Rich in oils and protein, the peanut is not only an ideal food for human beings, but it is also a valuable food for cattle. From the peanut we get peanut butter for our sandwiches, peanut oil for our salad dressings, and oil for making soap and margarine. The peanut vine, the hull or shell, and the thin skin that covers the peanut itself may be used instead of hay as fodder for cattle.
       The food value of peanuts is particularly high. One pound of peanuts gives us more protein than a pound of steak, more carbohydrates than a pound of potatoes, and approximately as much fat as a pound of butter. Peanuts can be kept for several years without spoiling, whereas meat and dairy products spoil quickly. The peanut is also notable because it is one of the few plants that produce true fruits underground. As soon as the flowers have fallen, the flower stalks droop and push into the soil. The peanuts are developed underground.
       Another legume that has become increasingly important in recent years is the soybean. Cultivated for hundreds of years in China and Japan where today it is the most important legume, the soybean was introduced into the United States a little over a century ago. The soybean has many uses. It contains oil that is used in making soap, rubber and celluloid substitutes, enamel, and candles. It supplies us with flour, coffee and butter substitutes, and breakfast foods. It furnishes the farmer with nourishing food for his cattle.
       All growing plants absorb food from the soil. If certain crops are planted year after year in the same soil, the food content of the soil gets lower and lower and the quality of the food crops gets poorer. It is necessary then to give the soil a rest and even more important to restore to the soil vital food materials so that the soil can again produce rich crops. This can be done by adding natural or artificial fertilizers to the soil. Certain plants, especially legumes, are capable, with the aid of soil bacteria, of storing in their roots an essential food substance found in the air. When the legume crop is harvested, the roots left in the soil decay, thereby releasing to the soil this plant food, called nitrogen.
       Thus the legume or pea family is of great agricultural importance to man. Among the many contributions of this plant family, a few of the more outstanding are the following: wholesome yet inexpensive foods like peas and beans; essential oils like peanut and soybean oil; necessary and inexpensive fertilizing crops like clover and alfalfa; nourishing food for cattle; and ornamental garden plants like sweet peas and honey locust trees. 

Back To The Index

Culinary Videos for Child Care by Institute of Child Nutrition