1.4 - History of the Meat Industry

1641 – William Pynchon (1662): What did he do?

• First meat packers

• Packed salted pork in barrels

• Exported to West Indies

1641 – William Pynchon (1662): Why did he do it and what were the effects?

• Mutually beneficial trade.

• New England had an abundance of pork

• The sugar plantations of the Caribbean required a steady supply of preserved meat to feed enslaved workers and laborers.

• A staple export

Dr.Wesley Eaton?

• helped with meat industry and food safety concern

• applied chemistry to meat science and quality

• helped make meat production a systematic, teachable field

1773 – Benjamin Franklin:

• First meat scientist

• Proposed A “More First Meat Scientist Compassionate” Slaughter Method (Electrical Stunning);

• Claimed The Electricity (Electrical Stimulation) Made The Meat “Uncommonly Tender”

1818 – Cincinnati, Ohio

• first meat packing plant

• The nation’s capital of pork processing – “Porkopolis”

What is the significance of the Cincinnati river?

• can use this river to transport the pork by boat everywhere

• there are a lot of other major cities near by that the meat could be transported to

1821 – Boston

• First American cannery

• William Underwood and Samuel Prescott

• Heating process is an important factor in food preservation and that in order to have a successful canning process

1862:

• Land-Grant College Act

• Focused on teaching practical subjects “agriculture and the mechanic arts.”

1887:

• Hatch Act

• Established agricultural experiment stations at existing land-grant colleges to conduct research on agricultural practices and issues

What were the 2 parts of the Morrill Act?

• Land-grant college act

• Hatch Act

• by Justin Morrill 

1867:

• Using ice

• Refrigerated railcars: invented by Gustavus Swift

• first oversees shipment in australia

1893:

The First Mechanical Ice Maker

1901:

• meat curing technology

• very big in ireland

• they had a lot of salt

• mostly wealthy people ate this

• jewish influence in New York → corned beef was one of the easiest cuts to keep kosher

Dexterous finger women:

good with hands to process meat manually

1916:

• voluntary

• Created to allow orderly marketing

• 1927: Federal Meat Grading Service was formed

In the early days, certified graded had to be:

in-person

Nowadays (meat grading):

cameras can be used to take pictures of specific parts of the meat cuts so graders can do this online and the processing facilities don't have to pay for transportation

1920’s: Improved

• improved meat fabrication

• New meat cuts

• Improved yield

• More specialized line workers

1920’s: Ex

• extension service

• Meat cut demonstration

• Meat cookery demonstration

1920’s: Band

• band saw

• Easy to cut meat

• One man’s wages were $2,000/yr

• Solving rush hour problem

1920’s: Meat becomes affordable

• “Monster” Meat Grinder

• Large-scale equipment

• Whole body grinder

• No need to process

1970’s:

bandsaw breaking pork carcasses

1980’s:

more commercial equipment, freezing tunnel, bowl chopper, automatic stuffer, etc.

How did meat become more affordable?

mainly done by making the meat industry more efficient

1924:

• refrigerated truck

• Including fresh meats

• Weekly home delivery

1935 - 1940: What happened?

• The Great Depression

• dustbowl

1891:

George A. Hormel established today’s Hormel Foods Corporation as Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in Austin, Minn

1937:

• SPAM

• Ham in a can

• Popular during WWII

• 7 billion sold in 2007

Not all could afford meats, what other options?

• meat and bone cakes

  • edible

  • nutritious

  • can be cooked, seasoned, etc. 

1948:

• Aureomycin discovered

• Improving animal health and nutrition

• Made confinement rearing possible

• But risk of Antibiotic resistance

Aureomycin was specifically used for?

animals to prevent disease from spreading to the whole herd

Why can Aureomycin be both good and bad?

• reduced/prevented loss due to sickness/disease

• allowed animals to be housed in closed areas

• ensures meat is still safe to eat

• bacteria and viruses can develop resistance over time

1950’s":

less labor

1950 – 1960’s:

• store design and marketing

• one stop shopping

• Retail grocery chains use central meat cutting facilities; boxed beef begins to have an impact; vast improvement in equipment