WHAT IS FOOD?
IN LIFE people have to eat in order to perform the various chores. This means that somebody has to produce food for others and himself to survive and yet see another day. Then what is food.
When we from the Bible man was tasked to take care the garden of Eden but when he sinned he was kicked out and had to fend for himself, grow his own food therefore, he had to till the land to grow and produce food to feed himself.
Today our families have to eat and so is the country just as Adam did he had to feed the family and this was done through growing the food. Our country has to do the same. Our farmers know that the people have to eat hence, the growing of the various crops to feed the nation. Farmers big and small know the needs of the various crops. It is from these crops that we get our energy to perform the various tasks and so develop the country, the energy comes from eating the food that the farmer has produced.
Man’s energy comes from the plants that are grown as food in the various localities of this country. The two abundant substances found in many plants are starch and cellulose. Potatoes that people enjoy to eat have a lot of starch and all this starch is made from sugar.
Most of the plant materials are as a result of sugar. It is the process of photosynthesis that builds or manufactures carbohydrates which are a composition of sugar, starch and cellulose.
These are members of a group of plant chemicals. These are the energy foods of living creatures. Motor cars engine get their energy from petrol or diesel and living things that includes man get their energy from carbohydrates mostly from sugar, starch and cellulose.
The carbohydrate foods are fuel foods, they serve to keep the body warm and provide it with energy for moving about and doing work. Therefore, the farmer when preparing the field for any crop looks at the needs of such plants or crop. Some plants need long period of sunshine others short periods.
The sunshine comes into play. The sunshine is needed by the plants or crops to make or build up the carbohydrates which as beneficiaries need as the end users in order for us to productive. The farmer must make sure that his crop gets enough of this sunshine. Carbohydrates are a source of energy.
It is the rainy season now farmers are engaged in planting all sorts of crops. The various crops that are being grown are not for fun. Man has to grow food to keep alive. Others just know how to eat but where food comes from they do not know.
The various crops that the farmer grows, what should be remembered is that the energy contained in all carbohydrates come and indeed comes from the sun. the green plant uses carbon dioxide and water and sunlight to make sugar. This solar energy is locked into the sugar that is made. This energy is also present in starch and cellulose. And it is this same solar energy that animals liberate inside their bodies when they use up the carbohydrate food-stuffs.
Yes, carbohydrates are used as a source of energy. What about the foods that builds up the bodies of animals? The farmer who grows the food for us also keeps animals or
livestock. A farmer would talk about rations for his livestock he is keeping and does raise issues of protein foods as well as carbohydrate foods. What are these proteins? What do they do and where do they come from?
When we look at the bodies of these animals such as the cow or indeed the human beings. All the important parts of these bodies with the exception of hard bones and layers of fat, are made of protein. Animals build these parts such as muscles, lungs, liver, blood-vessels etc., are made up of different proteins.
Here animals build these parts of their bodies from the proteins that they eat.
Some animals eat the bodies of other animals in order to get this necessary protein food. And some such as the cow for example get all their protein the need from eating plants.
But whether the animal gets its protein food direct from plants or second-hand by eating the bodies of other animals, all protein come from plants to begin with.
The proteins we find in animals are different in appearance from plant proteins, but they are made from these plant none the less.
In farm animals the creatures that need the greatest proportion of proteins are:
1. Young growing animals
and
2. Mother animals
In both cases rapid growth is taking place, young animals have to build their growing bodies, and mother animals need to eat extra protein food in order to produce the bodies of their young ones. And to grow strong healthy bodies of young animals they must have access to mothers’ milk. No wonder such animals such as cows, ewes, sows, and such mammals contain a great deal of protein in their milk. Milk is nature’s own food for young creatures including human babies, and it is the ideal food for them.
In order to produce this milk, the mother animal needs extra protein in her food, just as laying poultry need extra protein in order to produce eggs. No good farmer fails to supply protein food when they are needed.
The correct feeding of farm animals needs a great deal of knowledge and experience and on the farm it is usual nowadays for the farmer to give exact instructions about the quantities and kinds of food his stock is to eat each day. Therefore, the farmer has to take care to remember the difference between:
a)
b)
Energy foods (carbohydrates and fats), and
Body-building foods (proteins)
The foodstuffs that the farmer gives to his stock contain both protein and carbohydrates. Hence, the crops that he grows on the farm such as cereal grains – maize, wheat sorghum etc., are carbohydrate producing foods whereas groundnuts, soybeans, sunflower are protein foods. And when necessary give fodder like hay, the farmer is able to provide suitable diets to his stocks. But he needs to know exactly what he is doing.
Ignorance could soon lead to sickness among his animals or loss of money by wasteful feeding. Good farming is a job for experts, it requires not only hard work, but knowledge and fore sight as well.
This is how this food ends on our table. The farmer is doing his job on crop and livestock production. Producing for all of us.