Page 160 - Mocarelli, Luca, and Aleksander Panjek. Eds. 2020. Maize to the People! Cultivation, Consumption and Trade in the North-Eastern Mediterranean (Sixteenth-Nineteenth Century). Koper: University of Primorska Press
P. 160
maize to the people!
Table 1. Structure of the average annual consumption of cereals and potatoes per capita in
Yugoslavia, 1928 (in kg)
Wheat 97
Maize 157
Barley 30
Rye 26
Oats 2
Potatoes 10
Total 322
Daily average 0.88
Source: Nikolić 1931, 35.
In terms of averages, maize represented half of cereal consumption.
In reality, however, this average did not exist. If the results were still rep-
resentative for the majority of the state, they certainly failed to reflect the
situation in Slovenia and the structure of food items there. In the case of
Slovenia, maize should be replaced with potatoes. In the interwar period,
approximately 400 to 500 kg of potatoes were produced annually per capi-
ta, in comparison with only 75 kilograms of maize even in the best of years
(Maček 1993, 34-38). The majority of potatoes were used for human con-
sumption, some as animal feed, and the rest for industrial purposes. There
was no doubt, however, that the research demonstrated that the daily diet
of most of the population in the majority of the state depended on maize.
The significant percentage of maize in nutrition posed numerous ques-
tions regarding the health effects of this relatively monotonous dietary pat-
tern in certain parts of the state. Concerns were raised about the excessive
dependence on maize and the associated risks. Italy – the Padan Plain –
provided an example of the phenomenon of pellagra, which the research-
ers were looking into as a consequence of a monotonous maize-based diet.
On the basis of the information from the parts where maize was most com-
mon in nutrition, they concluded that the absence of pellagra could be as-
cribed to two factors. The first one was the extent of maize cultivation,
and the other the consumption of beans. Peasants supposedly produced
enough maize that they could discard whatever was spoiled (mouldy), and
yet enough was left for human and animal consumption. Furthermore, the
consumption of various types of beans that would normally be grown si-
multaneously with maize contributed to a more balanced diet in the long
term (Nikolić 1931, 36-39).
158
Table 1. Structure of the average annual consumption of cereals and potatoes per capita in
Yugoslavia, 1928 (in kg)
Wheat 97
Maize 157
Barley 30
Rye 26
Oats 2
Potatoes 10
Total 322
Daily average 0.88
Source: Nikolić 1931, 35.
In terms of averages, maize represented half of cereal consumption.
In reality, however, this average did not exist. If the results were still rep-
resentative for the majority of the state, they certainly failed to reflect the
situation in Slovenia and the structure of food items there. In the case of
Slovenia, maize should be replaced with potatoes. In the interwar period,
approximately 400 to 500 kg of potatoes were produced annually per capi-
ta, in comparison with only 75 kilograms of maize even in the best of years
(Maček 1993, 34-38). The majority of potatoes were used for human con-
sumption, some as animal feed, and the rest for industrial purposes. There
was no doubt, however, that the research demonstrated that the daily diet
of most of the population in the majority of the state depended on maize.
The significant percentage of maize in nutrition posed numerous ques-
tions regarding the health effects of this relatively monotonous dietary pat-
tern in certain parts of the state. Concerns were raised about the excessive
dependence on maize and the associated risks. Italy – the Padan Plain –
provided an example of the phenomenon of pellagra, which the research-
ers were looking into as a consequence of a monotonous maize-based diet.
On the basis of the information from the parts where maize was most com-
mon in nutrition, they concluded that the absence of pellagra could be as-
cribed to two factors. The first one was the extent of maize cultivation,
and the other the consumption of beans. Peasants supposedly produced
enough maize that they could discard whatever was spoiled (mouldy), and
yet enough was left for human and animal consumption. Furthermore, the
consumption of various types of beans that would normally be grown si-
multaneously with maize contributed to a more balanced diet in the long
term (Nikolić 1931, 36-39).
158
