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

本学位论文项目关注的作用，技术，并在较小程度上科学，在工业发展的食品在二十世纪美国。这项研究解释了从世纪之交到20世纪60年代食品工业中工业过程的发展。特别是，它着眼于罐头工业，工业化农业的兴起和新鲜农产品的传播，冷冻食品工业和脱水技术的发展，作为食品技术的案例研究，以及改变大规模生产的食品风味的技术。该项目阐明了食品加工的技术限制和消费者对这些工业化食品的反应。通过分析食品生产的科学和技术，这一建议揭示了消费者和生产者之间的关系，以及每个群体如何理解味道。换句话说，它探讨了生产者和消费者如何确定哪些工业化食品味道好或足够好，因为加工食品与国内生产的食品有根本的不同。 本论文的广泛影响是，它汇集了三个非常不同的史学来理解饮食习惯在20世纪上半叶的根本转变，并扩大了对技术和技术参与者之间关系的理解。通过在技术过程中平等对待生产者和消费者，历史学家可以更好地理解消费文化和社会价值观的变化。此外，这项研究将达到广泛的受众，包括学者，学生和公众。基于这项研究的演示文稿被提议为技术史学会，美国历史学家组织和食品与社会研究协会。作者期望将这些材料纳入美国历史和工业化史课程的调查，以及开发一门以科学技术为中心主题的食品史课程。这项工作还将为研究人员与Delmarva讨论会一起参加的讨论提供信息，Delmarva讨论会是当地图书馆的一个讨论小组，对公众开放。 国家科学基金会的资金将支持前往各种档案馆，如在戴维斯和伯克利的加州大学与食品加工技术有关的收藏;康奈尔大学关于邓肯海因斯的档案以及明尼苏达州历史学会关于皮尔斯伯里和米尔斯将军的材料。

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.