Recipe for Beef Stock Adelle Davis
For Some Clowns, A Square Meal Is No Joke
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September 28, 1977
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A vitamin to insure funniness?
"I don't really think there is one," said Roberta Ballantine, who teaches nutrition to clowns‐in‐training at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, "but good nutrition does give them endurance and keeps them good humored. More and more, those who treat mental illness are finding that poor nutrition makes people gloomy."
The 10th annual session of this school for fools opened Monday in the circus's winter quarters in Venice, Fla. Along with 8 weeks of courses in basic rib tickling, acrobatics, juggling, magic, mime, elephant riding, taking pratfalls and clown history, the 54 would‐be clowns—11 women and 43 men chosen from among 3,266 applicants — will have three Saturday morning nutrition indoctrination lectures.
A self‐trained nutritionist who gained experience feeding five children and her husband, William. dean of the clown college, Mrs. Ballantine is a disciple of the late Adelle Davis. Her textbook, "The Care and Feeding of Clowns," is full of information on how she believes these traveling jesters should market, cook and eat while on the circus train.
She cautions against what she calls "dead foods"—usually those with long shelf life, such as artificial fruit drinks, potato chips, candy bars, most cakes and cookies, almost all products containing sucrose, commercial bread, instant foods, anything with nitrites or anything steamed to temperatures high enough to destroy nutrients, processed cheeses, all hydrogenated fats, meats with preservatives, including hot dogs, shellfish from polluted bays, meat from livestock treated with diethylstilbestrol, or prime and choice beef, because they contain too much fat.
Basin?????? suggested daily regime on the go????? basic four food groups, Mrs. B???ntine recommends regular consumption of meat, fish or eggs, dairy products, whole grains, seeds and nuts, fruits and vegetables.
Recommending vitamins B and C, as well as pills made of the seaweed kelp to reduce stress, and calcium as the way to build bone strength through the development of gristle, Mrs. Ballantine suggests that budding clown cooks have on hand cookbooks such as "Diet for a Small Planet" by Frances Moore Lappe and that they combine recipes from Irma Rombaur's "Joy of Cooking" with Adelle Davis's diet precepts as detailed in "Let's Cook It Right
Tiger's Milk, a high‐protein, high nutrient drink, carbohydrates for energy in the form of brown rice, unrefined flours, and essential oils in foods such as seeds and peanut butter are all highly recommended, along with a high daily supplement of vitamins.
The proper utensils and cooking methods to be employed in the clowns' own kitchen on the circus train and strategy for buying and storing proper foods en route are all covered.
Although a friend traveling with the circus this summer reported that, from what he saw, most of the clowns chose their daily diet strictly from Mrs. Ballantine's taboo list, three of the better‐known performers reported otherwise.
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Ron Severino and his wife, Sandy, who met at clown college seven years ago and who are now advance performers for the circus, swear by Mrs. Ballantine's dietary program.
"Being a clown is physically demanding," Mr. Severino said. "We need complete control over our bodies and if we eat all the popcorn and hot dogs around us, we'll get heavy and sluggish. I went down from 210 to 165 pounds following this diet and I feel great.
"We stock up in health food stores when we come across them, and we have our own trailer in which we grow sprouts and parsley and make our own carrot and orange juice. We eat wheat germ, brewers yeast, acidophilous milk, yogurt, garlic and parsley tablets and dessicated liver. We get several months' supply of wonderful spring water near Little Rock, Ark.
"I broke my foot in clown school and was disheartened because I waited so long to be accepted. But the Ballantines had me take dolomite tablets [a combination of calcium and magnesium], and the bone healed in just four week. Meanwhile I trained on one leg.
"We eat two good meals a day and skip rope—but not near the horses because that spooks them," Mr. Severino said.
Leonard Wolen, who was the oldest student ever to enter the school—he was 36 at the time—also feels a debt to Mrs. Ballantine.
"I didn't have health problems after I learned the hard way to stay away from junk foods and not take on the quick‐energy foolers. I just wish I'd known more about nutrition when I joined as a clown," he said.
Roberta Ballantine sums it up this way: "Food is the fuel that builds and repairs our bodies, because we are not immortal. The game is really a stall—to see how long we can last in good shape, using materials we have at hand for replenishment and restoration."
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/1977/09/28/archives/for-some-clowns-a-square-meal-is-no-joke.html
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