Dissertation Research: The Technology of Taste: Food Production Technology in the United States 1900-1960

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This dissertation project concerns the role of technology, and to a lesser degree science, in the industrial development of food in twentieth century America. This research explains the development of industrial processes in the food industry from the turn of the century through the 1960s. In particular, it looks at the canning industry, the rise of industrial agriculture and the dissemination of fresh produce, the frozen food industry, and the development of dehydration technologies as case studies in food technologies as well as technologies that altered the flavor of foods that were mass produced. The project elucidates technological constraints on food processing and consumers' responses to these industrialized foods. By analyzing the science and technology of food production, this proposal sheds light on the relationship between consumers and producers and how each group understood taste. In other words it explores how producers and consumers established which industrialized foods tasted good or good enough given that processed foods were fundamentally different than foods produced at home. The broad impact of this dissertation is that it brings together three very different historiographies to understand the radical shift in eating habits in the first half of the twentieth century and broadens an understanding of the relationships between technology and technological actors. By treating producers and consumers equally in the technological process, historian can better comprehend changes in consumer culture and social values. Additionally, this research will reach a broad audience including scholar, students, and the public. Presentations based on this research are proposed for the Society for the History of Technology, the Organization of American Historians and Association for the Study of Food and Society. The author anticipates incorporating this material in Survey of American History and History of Industrialization course, as well as developing a course on Food History that uses science and technology as its central theme. This work will also inform discussions the researcher participates in conjunction with Delmarva Discussions, a discussion group at a local library, which is open to the public. NSF funds will support trips to various archives, such as the collections relating to food processing technology at the University of California at Davis and Berkeley; the Cornell University archives on Duncan Hines as well as material on Pillsbury and General Mills from the Minnesota Historical Society.