Now more than ever in the past few years, people are thinking about their food sources, supply and demand, and the overall cost of the food we purchase in the store.
According to an article on the Life and Health Network website, canning our produce has been making a comeback over the past few years. They cited several reasons for this resurgence in canning, including:
Saving money
Preserving the harvest
Preparing for bad economic times
It's eco friendly
Sentimental connection/gifts
Quality tase
Health
A Brief History of Canning
Ever since the beginning of time, people have had to work for their food. Because the climate conditions were different from place to place, those who lived in less temperate climates had a shorter growing season and had to find a way to preserve their foods.
Unfortunately, many of the ways they did this were not the most healthy.
According to an article on The Spruce Eats website, canning is a "relatively new way" to preserve food.
According to several articles used to research for this article, we really have Napoleon Bonaparte to thank for our modern canning techniques.
Wait! Hold on! Wasn't Napoleon that French guy who always posed with his hand in his military jacket and had something to do with the purchase of Louisiana or something like that?
Well, those are sort of correct. He was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He also played a pivotal role in the Louisiana Purchase which was a land sale deal between the French and the budding United States. For the low price of $18 per square mile, the United States acquired a total of 828,000 square miles or about 530,000,000 acres. The total sale price was $15 million.
There is a lot more to that story, but I know you are curious about how Napoleon started the whole canning process.
Well, in 1795, Napoleon apparently offered a reward to anyone who could come up with a safe, reliable food preservation method to feed his army. So technically, he didn't "invent" canning, but he sure did give a great incentive for others to try things until they got it right!
Several different processes were experimented with and it was found that heat-processing food in glass jars was a great way to preserve a variety of foods for a long period of time. There were several innovations made over the years to make the process as safe and easy as possible.
I remember watching my mom can beans and other foods when I was a kid. I helped by taking the containers down to the basement for storage when they were ready.
Canning techniques continue to improve and now a single lid is popular while some still prefer the 2-piece lid for canning.
Safety While Canning
Now that you have learned a little history, let's get into the "meat" of canning. And yes, you can preserve meat through canning!
Let's look at some safety concerns with canning.
Whenever you are dealing with extreme temperatures, sharp knives, glass jars, and preparation surfaces, safety should always be a top consideration.
Let's look at keeping your food preparation areas clean and sanitized first.
Many people neglect their food preparation areas while canning. They will maybe run a dish rag over the counter a few times during the process, but not give much thought to the microbes and other bacteria that are touching their food. Some canners use bleach to sanitize their work surfaces, but that doesn't seem very palatable. In fact, it seems downright unsavory!
While the process of canning should kill most of the bacteria and microbes that might be hanging around on your food products prior to canning, why take a chance?
When canning, you can use Vital Oxide and BioProtect to keep your preparation surfaces and your processing tools clean and safe.
BioProtect will give you the overall protection of your workspace for up to 90 days. Use as a non-toxic, food-surface-safe antimicrobial shield that protects surfaces from microbes such as odor-causing bacteria, algae, and fungi (mold and mildew) for your increased health and safety.
Along with the BioProtect, use Vital Oxide for in-between cleaning and sanitizing of your work surface.
Did you get a bug bite or a rash while you were out in your garden harvesting your bounty? No worries, LastGerm has you covered with Pure&Clean First aid spray and Hydrogel that will take the itch out of them quickly and safely.
While in the kitchen did you get a burn or cut yourself whilst preparing your food? Never fear. Our Pure&Clean products will reduce your healing time! Check out some of the case studies that show that the Pure&Clean products work! You can check out some of the case studies that have been done with Pure&Clean products here and here.
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In our partnership with Pure&Clean, we can provide solutions to many of the problems that ail you. For example, the very versatile Pure&Clean Hydrogel can work wonders on your bug bites and sunburn, and more. Check out the following about the product.
Pure&Clean Hydrogel Statements:
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Pure&Clean Hydrogel is a one-step, easy-to-use, no mix, no dilution, no-rinse solution that deactivates many harmful microorganisms that are common in and around the wound area.
Pure&Clean Hydrogel is intended to be used in the management of cleaning and debriding of skin abrasions, lacerations, burns, minor irritations, cuts, and intact skin. Its pH is in the physiologically acceptable range of your skin and is also shelf-stable.
Check us out and see what we have to offer. If you have questions or would like to speak to an agent, feel free to reach out. We are here to help you make your life safer and better!
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