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The Rise and Fall of Consumer Confidence in the American Food Industry
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2018
About this book
2019 James Beard Foundation Book Award winner: Reference, History, and Scholarship
A century and a half ago, when the food industry was first taking root, few consumers trusted packaged foods. Americans had just begun to shift away from eating foods that they grew themselves or purchased from neighbors. With the advent of canning, consumers were introduced to foods produced by unknown hands and packed in corrodible metal that seemed to defy the laws of nature by resisting decay.
Since that unpromising beginning, the American food supply has undergone a revolution, moving away from a system based on fresh, locally grown goods to one dominated by packaged foods. How did this come to be? How did we learn to trust that food preserved within an opaque can was safe and desirable to eat? Anna Zeide reveals the answers through the story of the canning industry, taking us on a journey to understand how food industry leaders leveraged the powers of science, marketing, and politics to win over a reluctant public, even as consumers resisted at every turn.
A century and a half ago, when the food industry was first taking root, few consumers trusted packaged foods. Americans had just begun to shift away from eating foods that they grew themselves or purchased from neighbors. With the advent of canning, consumers were introduced to foods produced by unknown hands and packed in corrodible metal that seemed to defy the laws of nature by resisting decay.
Since that unpromising beginning, the American food supply has undergone a revolution, moving away from a system based on fresh, locally grown goods to one dominated by packaged foods. How did this come to be? How did we learn to trust that food preserved within an opaque can was safe and desirable to eat? Anna Zeide reveals the answers through the story of the canning industry, taking us on a journey to understand how food industry leaders leveraged the powers of science, marketing, and politics to win over a reluctant public, even as consumers resisted at every turn.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Anna Zeide
Anna Zeide is Assistant Professor of Professional Practice at Oklahoma State University, where her research, teaching, and community activism focus on food and food systems.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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List of Illustrations
viii -
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Introduction
1 -
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1. Condensed Milk: The Development of the Early Canning Industry
10 -
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2. Growing a Better Pea: Canners, Farmers, and Agricultural Scientists in the 1910s and 1920s
41 -
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3. Poisoned Olives: Consumer Fear and Expert Collaboration
74 -
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4. Grade A Tomatoes: Labeling Debates and Consumers in the New Deal
103 -
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5. Fighting for Safe Tuna: Postwar Challenges to Processed Food
135 -
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6. BPA in Campbell’s Soup: New Threats to an Entrenched Food System
163 -
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Conclusion
186 -
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Acknowledgments
195 -
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Notes
199 -
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Selected Bibliography
251 -
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Index
261
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
April 15, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9780520964754
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
264
eBook ISBN:
9780520964754
Keywords for this book
reference book; history book; packaged foods; food preservation; canned food; local growers; local farmers; industry; scholarly; industrial; american; american history; nutrition; consumption; farming; small business; small farm; mass production; factory farming; canning; revolution; sustainability; preserving food; healthy food; health and wellness; marketing; food history; food; canning industry; food and nutrition; consumers
