The quick answer: The invention of quick-freezing technology is one of the best food innovations. Enjoy near-fresh vegetables year around.
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Preventing Breast Cancer
With December’s joyous arrival, come lists of notable 2011 events. Looking over those who left us, I lingered over Steve Jobs (made billions creatively transforming industries but lived in an ordinary Palo Alto home); Dick Winters (the remarkable WWII officer made famous by the book, Band of Brothers); Nancy Wake (a WWII English agent both beautiful and fearless, who fought with the French Resistance); and Bernadine Healy (MD, cardiologist, head of NIH, AHA, and the Red Cross, and a fierce advocate for the study of women’s diseases).
Dr. Healy, as head of the NIH, initiated the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), the observational study of 93K women, which did more than any project to reduce breast cancer. In 2002 the study linked hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with a higher risk of breast cancer. Within a year 60% of HRT women stopped filling their prescriptions, resulting in a remarkable 15% permanent decline in breast cancer incidence.
The WHI also found that the standard treatment for osteoporosis (calcium and vitamin D pills), though it slightly increased bone density, did not reduce the risk of hip fracture, and raised the risk of kidney stones. See this post for more on bone health. These two WHI findings were remarkable for refuting advice regularly given by doctors.
Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956)
As long as we’re remembering people who’ve passed, we should give a nod to Clarence Birdseye, the inventor most responsible for the frozen food aisle. In 1912 Birdseye went to Labrador where the indigenous Inuit traditionally preserved fish by freezing them at sub-zero temperature. (Fast-freezing creates smaller ice particles and less cell damage.) When fast-frozen fish was thawed, Birdseye observed, it tasted as good as fresh, and much better than the frozen fish he ate at home. Birdseye was the driving force behind improved freezing technology, and founder of the company known today as Birds Eye. His initial 1930 product line included frozen fish, meats, spinach, peas, fruits, and berries.
Here’s what fascinates me about Birdseye: Most of the inventions in food had bad outcomes—roller mills for flour removed the nutrition of the germ and bran; hydrogenation of vegetable oils to make margarine, etc. created toxic trans fats. But Birdseye invention—fast freezing—preserved food’s natural nutrients. Even better, he was inspired by a traditional practice of the Inuit—an example of reinventing food olden ways.
The Freezer Aisle
I visited the local grocery store to observe the evolution of Birdseye’s invention. Perhaps it’s the chill, but I had never taken a close look at the frozen food section. It’s big—over 200 feet of freezers line both sides of one aisle and one side of another—with thousands of food choices. The biggest section, almost 40 feet long, was ice cream. Frozen dinners and entrees had 30 feet, and pizza got 20 feet. The items of most interest to me, vegetables, got 12 feet, and fruit, mostly berries, got 3 feet.
The store posts the price of food in cents/ounce so I did a walking tour of prices. Surprisingly, the foods fell in a tight range. Turkey was cheapest, at 10 cents/oz; ice cream next, 12-20 cents. Dinners ranged from 26-40 cents, with the low-calorie varieties most expensive. (An odd trend, charging more for fewer calories.)
Cost of vegetables: In the vegetable section the store brand (which we rarely buy) had half the space. The private brands, Birds Eye, Green Giant, and Green Giant’s C&W brand, shared the rest. The store brand was cheapest, 16-19 cents/oz. The type of vegetable doesn’t matter—corn kernels, peas, string beans, chopped spinach, and broccoli all cost about the same. I hadn’t noticed that before. Mixed vegetables cost a little more, but I think the variety of taste is lost.
Green Giant veggies are most expensive, running 30 cents with the steamer package. Though it’s convenient, I’m not a fan of cooking vegetables in their package—seems like a good way to leach chemicals out of the plastic.
The type we buy most often, Green Giant’s C&W brand of petite corn, peas, and string beans was in the middle at 22 cents/oz. (Don’t forget that’s $3.52/lb.—frozen foods are a premium product.)
We prefer fresh but do buy frozen when fresh isn’t available. You can buy carrots year around so I was curious about the cost of carrots in the various forms. In the produce section fresh carrots (without tops) are about 4 cents/oz ($.59/lb.). Canned (sliced and cooked) they cost 9 cents. Frozen they range from 15-30 cents, depending on the brand. Bottom line: Canned doubles the cost of fresh, and frozen doubles the cost of canned. If food is available fresh, that’s the best value though there’s more preparation.
Bottom line: I’m a fan of Clarence Birdseye, and traditional preservation by flash freezing. We prefer produce fresh in the season, but extending availability through freezing may just help offset some of the problems with modern food. As to the more processed foods along the freezer aisle—they’re good in an emergency, but I wouldn’t make them a habit. One exception: ice cream, especially Rocky Road.
Please comment: Perhaps the toughest challenge of diet reform is to get the recommended five daily servings of veggies. (Cutting back on sugar is tough also.) Share your favorite ways of adding vegetables—including frozen—to your menu.