Evening star., 1933-03-19
Continued From First Page.)

total about rs per cent Of our entire
food consumption. Between 1920 and
1880 sales of oranges increased from
20,000,G00 boxes to 5O0O0.OO and of
asparagus, cauliflower, carrots. lettuce
and spinach the amount doubled. Fresh
fruits and vegetables are now available
In practically all parts OF the country
at all seasons, thanks to quick trans
port and more effective methods Of
refrigeration. New processes of quick
freezing, of packing in vacuum, in inert
gases and other modern methods of
safeguarding against spoilage are max
ing it possible to keep certain perish
ab.es indefinitely without any sacrifice
Of freshness or flavor"
Paper Used in Packaging.
Packaging has become science. Paper
is increasingly competing with glass
and tinplate as container for liquid
products, a recent arrival being a
square paper bottle for milk More
than 30,000,000 pounds of cellophane
were manufactured in the United States
last year, and most of it went to wrap
foods and tobacco. New processes of
canning and sealing the can have
lately arrived, and now there is talk
of using aluminium plate for food
packing
Equally ingenious are the devices to
increase the attractiveness of the pack
age. Eye stopping" is the way one
manufacturer described his latest COW
cred specially. spectacularly clothed in
red, white and blue. BY putting new
label on an old conservative line of
canned salmon an Eastern merchant
is said to have increased his sales of
this article ninefold. Among city folk
smaller portions in packaged goods are
now popular. One trade paper editor
pointed out "a trend toward 10-cent
food packages"
Another tendency is to specialize on
given groups of consumers. Thus, sew
eral manufacturers are now putting
out a variety of foods for babies. One
such line lists IA items, including pre-
pared cereal that needs only warming,
soups, spinach, carrots, beets, peas, to-
mato juice-each food especially select
ed and prepared to meet the digestive
requirements of infants.
An economist has argued that the
can opener helped the American woman
to win the vote. The can opener was
also an indispensable tool in bringing
In the skyscraper apartment, since it
made the small kitchen practicable It
educated the housekeeper to the use
OF canned goods, not only In emer-
gencies, but every day It helped to
edge other small packaged foods into
the kitchenettes-bacon in glass jars
and -four in five-pound boxes.
Increased Convenience.
"The food business of the next
decade is going to be shaped by an
inevitable change in the home" said
Gordon c. Corbaley, president of the
American Institute of Food Distribu-
ton. And that change is in the di-
rection of increased convenience. We
are not going to live In boarding houses,
or eat in community dining rooms. The
home will continue to be the unit and
the home kitchen-small, compact,
conveniently equipped-will be a place
where science and art meet. A woman
will 60 in there as into a studio
That change is going to cause her
to buy foods in the form which will
facilitate her work and save her time
Most of the drudgery of preparation
will have been done in advance in the
food factory. She will need only to
put in little seasoning. add those in
innate last touches that give indi-
viduality to food, put it on some type
of quick-heating range, pull lever or
two and-the machine will do the rest
Good manufacturers have sensed
this change and are directing their
methods to serving it. Originally the
canning of foods was q measure of
economy But now canning is method
of distribution. The food professors
are using cans and other types of con-
tainers as receptacles for delivering
food from the factory into the home.
lone effect of this tendency has been
to center the food industry closer to
the place of production, and food is
being prepared few minutes or hours
after it is gathered. More and more
the products will be cooked there,
sealed and distributed in convenient
sized packages. Indeed, 1t Is now pos
sible to buy practically every kind Of
fresh fruit, vegetables and meat in
sealed containers, and foresee the
time when all food will be prepared in
central factories and will be distrib-
uted to the small kitchen in package
form.
Quick-freezing Process.
Even the more intricately prepared
foods are today packed in alright con-
tainers, ready for simple warming or for
a final stage Of preparation. Ready-to-
bake biscuits, ready-to-warm stews,
cakes that need only added water or
milk before baking and long list Of
similar products can now be bought In
sealed containers. Certain foods, which
are best If cooked just before eating.
will be kept fresh by refrigeration or by
the action Of certain light rays"
A recent advance of refrigeration is
| the quick freezing process Of packing
perishables. This was developed just
before the depression in connection
with the fresh fish industry in Glouces-
ter, Mass, but the method has since
been applied to wide variety Of meats,
fruits and vegetables. One large pack
ing company is now advertising nearly
100 separate items Of food available In
frosted form. This concern more than
doubled its retail outlets in 1882.
Today q mobile freezing unit on an au-
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