On average, I wouldn’t say this is something I think about a ton, but i’m sure that due to moving away from home and being on my own again, it has been brought to the forefront of my mind. What might that be? Well, it’s my mother’s cooking :) and something in particular that I wanted to focus on, is a knowledge that I feel is pretty common amongst members
of the church (that may be a sheltered view, but it’s how I feel)...and that would be canning or bottled goods.
The time of canned goods dates way back into the 18th century and was inspired, we could say, by the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. He didn’t come up with the idea, but he put the word out that something needed to change in the aspect of food and war. The actual driving force of canning goods came about as a military strategy of all things. The French were in great need of a better way to increase and also maintain a regular food supply which was not an easy task...especially for large armies. Hence why a reward of 12,000 francs (a lot of money) was offered for whomever could achieve such a task. It wasn’t until about 15 years later that Nicholas Appert formulated the idea of preserving food in bottles. From that time on, it was adopted by many other countries and continued to develop and remain in high demand in countless wars around the world. In fact, it wasn’t until many, many years later that the act of canning or bottling goods actually became a common household activity.
Now I don’t profess myself to be a canning enthusiast, but it is something that I have learned over time as i have spent time around my Mom and helped out with the task.
Undoubtedly, i am extremely grateful for this knowledge and especially the instant access to canned beans, pickles, salsa, peaches, and many other homemade items. These are some things I really do enjoy about home! Now I have not yet had to try it out by myself, but for 3 of my siblings who now have families of their own, canning goods is an annual event that they participate in...thanks to the the knowledge that they acquired through my mom and other canning buffs in the area and of course, through practice and hard work.
I've never actually thought of how canning food came to be. This was a really interesting post to read. I guess I just thought that canned goods have existed since Jesus..but definitely an interesting bit of history to learn
ReplyDeleteI had no idea! This is really great information! Who knew wars could have so many benefits, despite such hard times?
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting concept- that what was once a necessity, canning is now a sort of recreational hobby for many people. It reminds me of how some of us (myself included) send “snail mail” because it’s just so darn fun. E-mail or facebook messaging is certainly faster- but there’s this certain quality about sending and receiving letters that e-mail can’t compete with. Although it’s easier to buy canned goods from the grocery store- they fail in comparison with the homemade canned food- although much more effort and time is involved with reverting back to the old system.
ReplyDeleteI never would have guessed that canned food would have been invented for the military. It's crazy how such a useful activity can be used for harm.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amanda! sometimes folk knowledge has a charm that other, maybe more efficient, ways of doing things can't compare. I guess this supports the argument that Professor Petersen brought up about how old practices never die, they just become less popular (iron plow concept).
ReplyDeleteThis is officially an awesome post. I guess it figures that something like this would be developed for the military rather than just the simple people. After all, the military has money, and simple people don't. It ties in with the idea of knowledge being only for the select privileged. The common people may have been able to use the idea after it was created, but it was only created when someone with enough power needed it.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like a lot of common things are produced first for the military or government purposes. Velcro comes immediately to my mind... but I never would have thought canned goods fell in that category. Super interesting.
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