BECOMING SHOPPERS: NC Food Consumption and Production

Why was canning so important?

Take a look at the film above to get an idea about how important canning has been in American history. Keep in mind, though, that the film's creator, the American Can Company, made the film to promote their products and to highlight the importance of their company in American history. Tellingly, the company titled the video The Miracle of the Can.

Although the film is clearly a promotional tactic, it is true that development of the canning process changed the ways Americans ate food. Canning seals food inside of a jar, usually with preservatives, so that it does not need to be refrigerated. Individuals can food during the summer to save for the winter, and companies can food so that it can be shipped across the country and stocked on supermarket shelves without having to worry much about it expiring.

Can It If You Can't Cool It

Would you leave meat sitting out overnight? How about fruit—would a bowl of cherries last all summer if left out?

Of course not. And people living without refrigerators or freezers didn't want to leave their foods out for long periods of time, either. Before the refrigerator and freezer, the best way to preserve food for a long time was to keep it sealed in an air-tight container. Cans had already been around for a long time when the Great Depression hit, but canning was very difficult to do safely. If no done right, the canned food could be poisonous. Extension Service agents worried that North Carolinians often didn't have the knowledge or means to do their own canning.

Canning Safety

There were many ways that canning could go wrong and make people sick. If the contents weren't properly heated to boiling temperature, bacteria might survive and continue growing in the can. If the can had a leak, bacteria could be introduced. Foods with high acidity—like fruits and pickled vegetables—could be easily canned because their acidity acts as a natural preservative that repels bacteria. Other foods, like most vegetables, meat, seafood, poultry, and dairy products, had low acidity and required much more careful canning involving pressurized boiling.