The end of summer brings with it the culmination of months of tender, loving care for many gardeners around the region. The hours of meticulous weeding, along with the corresponding backaches, have produced a plentiful bounty for many, and a learning experience for others. For some, it is the act itself that brings the most rewards; the satisfaction that comes from watching his/her garden spring to life. For others, however, the end of summer signifies another phase of their yearly ritual. For them, the canners, when the gardening ends, the real fun begins.
Canning is a method of preserving food that dates back over two hundred years. Traditionally, canning was performed out of necessity; a survival tool utilized before the advent of contemporary storage methods. Since the end of the 20th century, however, home canning has taken on a bit of a different role. Consumers today, many concerned about the safety and nutritional value of their food, have begun to experiment with canning as a way of taking control of their food consumption.
Why do people can?
Many fruits and vegetables start losing vitamins and minerals when harvested. After only a few days, nearly half of the nutritional value of fresh produce may be lost unless some sort of preservation activity is employed. It is the high percentage of water in fresh foods that makes them so perishable.
According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, a subset of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, fresh foods spoil or lose their quality for several reasons:
– Growth of undesirable microorganisms
in the form of bacteria, molds, and yeast
– Activity of food enzymes
– Reactions with oxygen
– Moisture loss
How is it done?
Proper canning practices remove oxygen, destroy enzymes, prevent the growth of undesirable bacteria, and help form a high vacuum in jars. Such vacuums form tight seals, which keep the moisture in and the microorganism out.
Proper canning practices include:
– Carefully selecting and washing fresh food
– Peeling some fresh food
– Hot packing many foods
– Adding acids (lemon juice or vinegar) to some foods
– Using acceptable jars and self-sealing lids
– Processing the jars in a boiling-water or pressure canner
The processing of the jars is perhaps the most important step in the canning process. Proper processing is responsible for destroying the bacterium clostridium botulinum, which is responsible for botulism poisoning. The goal in a pressure canner is to achieve a “botulinum cook” of 121 degrees Celsius for three minutes.
Where did canning come from?
The advent of the canning process can be traced to France in 1795. Concerned about his country’s ability to feed its troops, Napoleon offered 12,000 francs to anyone who could develop a new method of preserving food. The contest was won by Nicolas Appert, who developed a system of precooking that included airtight sealing and final processing in a newly designed glass-canning jar. The canning movement found its way to the Untied States in 1812, when Robert Ayars established the first American canning factory in New York. He employed the use of tin-plated wrought-iron cans for preserving oysters, meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Who cans?
Previous generations adopted these methods as a way of survival; often needing to stretch what little food they had as long as possible. Today’s generation, however, is often behaving under a different set of sensibilities. Some people today engage in home canning for purely nostalgic reasons; some are interested in saving money, especially in times of recession; while others are concerned about environmental and nutritional issues.
For Jenna Belanger, her motivation included all of the above. “I’ve always been drawn to my grandparent’s generation and how resourceful they seemed to be,” she remarked when asked about the activity’s appeal. “They didn’t waste anything.” After marrying a man who shared her love of gardening, Belanger finally had the time and space to have a decent garden. Canning seemed like the next appropriate step. “It prevented the items we had in bulk from going to waste. It only takes one afternoon to make a few dozen jars at a very low cost.”
It is common for the prevalence of canning as well as the sale of canning supplies to increase during times of recession. As more and more people struggle to make paychecks stretch, many rely more heavily on their ability to produce for themselves. According to the USDA, the United States saw an 11.5% rise in the sale of canning-related items during 2009 as the country suffered through a recession. Once the tradition of canning is adopted, however, many people continue the practice even after financial constraints have been lifted.
Today’s consumer is inundated with advertisers offering the fastest and most convenient products on the market. Society moves at a pace that is increasing every day. For many people, however, environmental issues and nutritional concerns have begun to influence consumption profiles. More and more people are choosing to grow and then preserve their own food as a way to control what goes into their bodies, even if that means sacrificing a bit of time. Most
Belanger took these issues into consideration when deciding what, and how much, to can each fall. After she had a child, those concerns took on an even greater importance. “I think having kids definitely motivates you to revisit what you are feeding them and where it comes from,” Belanger said. I love that he (her son Lucas) knows some of the food that comes from the ground, bushes, and trees.” As environmental issues become more important to our collective consciousness, society will likely see an increase in people who turn to self-sustained living as part of the solution.
Those interested in canning need to ensure that proper procedures are used. The National Center for Home Food Preservation offers a litany of information to assist in the canning process from start to finish. They offer the following checklist that can be used to ensure canned foods are safe for consumption.