Canned: The Rise and Fall of Consumer Confidence in the American Food Industry

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. Americanshad just begun to shiftaway from eating foods that they grew themselves orpurchased 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 answersthrough the storyof the canning industry, taking us on a journey to understand how food industry leaders leveraged the powers of science, marketing, and politicsto winover a reluctant public, even as consumers resisted at every turn.