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My mom, who's from a town in the Appalachian mountains in NC, was just telling me about how she and her sisters would can tons of vegetables in the summer becau
by sudosteph 7y ago
My mom, who's from a town in the Appalachian mountains in NC, was just telling me about how she and her sisters would can tons of vegetables in the summer because there were times in the winter when they would get snowed in for weeks because the roads weren't safe. That surprised me because she didn't even grow up that long ago, she was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s.
I had always pictured canning as a thing people did in the twenties, not in modern era (unless they were hipsters), or just something that had to be done in a factory. But now I'm sitting here wondering, if it's so easy a bunch of kids could do it without poisoning themselves - why can't farms can the excess food themselves? I get that some stuff (canned powdered milk from the article) is harder to do locally, but we still did it with worse technology for many years.
Is it a regulation problem, are they not allowed to? Is it economics - are human-canned goods worth less than the cost of paying people to pick+can? Is it too hard to get canning supplies / train people to can on short notice? Do the grocery stores have deals with certain brands of canned foods that would prevent them from introducing locally canned items?
It's just interesting because while I've only been out shopping twice in the past month, both times the canned good aisle was hit much harder than the fresh produce section. I know this is a temporary thing, but it just feels like preserving food is something that has been done effectively on a local scale for so many years - it seems weird to let good food rot because large-scale canning factories can't keep up with demand.
- catalogia 7y agoMy family has been canning (or freezing) food for years. If you know when local foods are in season, you can buy large amounts of food for very cheap by buying directly from the farmers. Often farmers will set up markets by the side of the road or on their own property. Sometimes farmers will have deals where you go into the fields yourself and pick as much as you want, paying for it by weight at very cheap prices. (If you factor in the cost of your labor, that's probably not a very good deal. However if you think of it as a fun weekend family activity instead of labor, then you can get a lot of food for very cheap.)
- ghaff 7y agoPresumably the farmers are already selling for canning and frozen vegetables to the degree they can. They are not set up to do it themselves at industrial scale. (And, despite mostly panicked buying of canned goods because it probably seemed like the thing to do, most vegetables--outside of tomato products--are bought fresh or frozen, rather than canned, today.) I guess it's because so many people are fixated on stuff that will keep either on the shelf or in a freezer, but the fresh produce section is far and away the area of my local grocery store that looks most normal.
- dehrmann 7y agoYour story halfway answered your own question. You preserve food because you need it later (say, for the winter), not because you have a surplus. As long as production keeps up (and governments will try hard to make that happen) and food processing isn't severely impacted by social distancing, no one will ever want all that canned food. If food production does break down, the concerns are staples, not squash, tomatoes, and peppers.
- TeMPOraL 7y agoIf food production does break down, all that surplus of canned goods would mean cheaper food and healthier meals for everyone. There's argument to be made for canning the surplus on the grounds of derisking. Doubly so, given that the calamity isn't hypothetical - we're right in the middle of it.
- dehrmann 7y ago> that surplus of canned goods would mean...healthier meals for everyone Canning tends to use lots of sugar or salt. > There's argument to be made for canning the surplus on the grounds of derisking You need staples in this scenario, not pickles.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago> Canning tends to use lots of sugar or salt. Extra sugar = lots of extra calories = good in times of food shortage. > You need staples in this scenario, not pickles. Canned veggies in addition to staples would ensure more calories are around, as well as access to wider range of nutrients and more taste variety.
- onetimemanytime 7y ago>> I know this is a temporary thing, but it just feels like preserving food is something that has been done effectively on a local scale for so many years - it seems weird to let good food rot because large-scale canning factories can't keep up with demand. It' temporary only if someone can pick produce and people have the money to buy it. Having your own food supply is also peace of mind, someone who has gone to sleep hungry started to plan and it stuck to the family. Covid will also change habits and lives. You never know when the next tragedy will hit and how will it find you financially. Having basic food at home for x months means you have a head-start.
- kyuudou 7y ago> I had always pictured canning as a thing people did in the twenties, not in modern era (unless they were hipsters), Preppers and Mormons are huge into canning. Lots of Mormons have "canning parties" that double as social events for family/friends/neighbors.
- jelliclesfarm 7y agoYes. Regulations, food safety certifications and a commercial permitted kitchen. One will also have to be inspected and pay a sales tax because it is a value added product and not just food.