© Copyright by Stephanie Esther Fuglaar Statz December 2012 CALIFORNIA’S FRUIT COCKTAIL: A HISTORY OF INDUSTRIAL FOOD PRODUCTION, THE STATE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA _______________ A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Stephanie Esther Fuglaar Statz December 2012 CALIFORNIA’S FRUIT COCKTAIL: A HISTORY OF INDUSTRIAL FOOD PRODUCTION, THE STATE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA _________________________ Stephanie Esther Fuglaar Statz APPROVED: _________________________ Kathleen A. Brosnan, Ph.D., J.D. Committee Chair _________________________ Martin V. Melosi, Ph.D. _________________________ Joseph A. Pratt, Ph.D. _________________________ Nancy Beck Young, Ph.D. _________________________ Sterling D. Evans, Ph.D. University of Oklahoma _________________________ John W. Roberts, Ph.D. Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Department of English ii CALIFORNIA’S FRUIT COCKTAIL: A HISTORY OF INDUSTRIAL FOOD PRODUCTION, THE STATE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA _______________ An Abstract of a Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of History University of Houston _______________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy _______________ By Stephanie Esther Fuglaar Statz December 2012 ABSTRACT In the twentieth century, canned food became ubiquitous in the United States. As Americans moved to new environments, such as cities, food became more difficult to grow or catch, and people became dependant on food markets. Innovations in transportation, processing, and packaging met demands for a stable urban food supply, and regions specializing in food processing emerged. California became the fruit and salad bowl of the nation as its citizens committed farmland to produce, and food- processing facilities across the region dried, canned, and packed the state’s harvest. By the 1920s, the northern California fruit canning industry became the national leader of the canned fruit market. The history of northern California’s canned fruit industry reveals the growth of agro-industrial space and the degree to which industry, agriculture, and cities struggled to gain control over the rich resources in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and Central Valley as California became a dominant political and economic force in the United States. Regional production networks emerged that were essential in supporting the fruit canning industry that included grower organizations, canning organizations, suppliers, growers, and government agencies. The canneries were vital to the region’s economy and influenced the use of resources. Fruit canners supplied millions of jobs and contributed to the booster-created image of California as a source of vitality through their marketing campaigns. Despite the canneries’ many supportive networks, northern California was a contested space in which other networks, which included those of miners, farmers, growers, environmentalists, the federal government, and urban developers, sought to use iv or market the region’s resources. Canneries were among the most important forces shaping the landscape as they influenced land-use choices, dumped enormous volumes of waste, and used prodigious amounts of water. Visions of resource use held by supporters of agriculture and canneries often conflicted with other groups in California. The history of fruit canneries in California presents a view of industrialization not often found in narratives about the process in the East. It also reveals how food tied together consumers and a food producing regions, and how both sides influenced each other through that bond. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Many bright minds and giving souls helped to bring this dissertation to fruition. I would like to thank my advisor Kathleen Brosnan for the patience, advice, and expertise given freely over the years. She inspired and encouraged me to think bigger and work harder. I was fortunate to have a supportive, thoughtful committee as well. Drs. Melosi and Pratt enchanted me through my Masters and Doctoral classes with ideas about regulation, resources, and companies that pulled my mind in different directions and opened new ways of thinking. They too have patiently answered my questions and corrected my work for many years. I met Dr. Young and Dr. Evans later in my graduate education, and they too broadened my mind and supported my early ideas. Historians cannot function without good archivists, and I met some outstanding ones during my research. Special thanks go to the Special Collections Staff at the University of California, Davis, for their assistance while I spent weeks camped out in their reading room. The many librarians at the California State Library answered my questions and pointed me in the right direction. The archivists that work to preserve the agricultural history of California are truly valuable and opened their archives to me freely, especially Jim Reed at San José History, Kenneth Potts and Rosemary Mann at California State University-Stanislaus, and Leigh Johnson at the San Joaquin Historical Society. Thanks also go to the scholars who listened to and commented on the early versions of this work at Agricultural History and Environmental History Conferences. Particular thanks go to the University of Houston Energy, Urban, and Environment vi Group for its insightful review of my work. Julie Cohn, especially, carefully read early drafts and helped me to work through ideas as we discussed our dissertation research. I owe a huge debt to my family and friends for being supportive while I pursued this project and in my quest to become an historian. My parents and sisters have encouraged me for many years. My grandfather first inspired and encouraged my love of history. My husband, Jeremy, read many drafts, listened to me talk for many hours about canning and peaches, and he even helped with early experiments in home canning. Despite all of the input and support I received, any faults in this dissertation are my own. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 1 Creating the Industrial Food System in America 10 2 Leaders of the Pack 35 3 Behind “Sunshine, Fruit, and Flowers” 84 4 A Disease of Civilization 118 5 The Fruit Front 155 6 “Kitchens of the Nation” 194 7 The Cannery Waste Problem 235 Conclusion 283 Appendices 296 List of Tables and Charts ix List of Images and Maps x List of Common Abbreviations xi Bibliography 317 viii LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 2.1 Companies that Formed the California Fruit Canners Association 49 Chart 3.1 Clingstone Peach Acreage 103 Chart 3.2 Clingstone Peach Utilization 103 Chart 3.3 Freestone Peach Acreage 105 Chart 3.4 Freestone Peach Utilization 105 Chart 3.5 Freestone Peach Fresh Fruit Utilization 105 Chart 3.6 Pear Acreage 107 Chart 3.7 Pear Utilization 107 Chart 3.8 Pear Fresh Fruit Utilization 107 Table 4.1 Outbreaks of Botulism Attributed to Commercially Processed or Home Canned Foods, 1899-1969 148 Table 4.2 Food Products Causing Botulism Outbreaks 149 Table 5.1 Acreages of Fruit Crops Planted in Bay Area 162 and Central Valley Table 5.2 California Packing Reported Sales and 183 Earnings 1939-1946 Table 6.1 Canned Fruit Per Capita Consumption, 1909-1963 197 Table 6.3 California Packing Company Operations June 1949 211 Appendix B Population Tables for Northern California Counties 304 Appendix C California Fruit Production Tables 305 Appendix D United States Food Consumption Tables 308 ix LIST OF IMAGES AND MAPS Image 2.1 Del Monte Shield 36 Map 3.1 Clingstone Peach Distribution Map 102 Map 3.2 Freestone Peach Distribution Map 104 Map 3.3 Pear Distribution Map 106 Image 4.1 Clostridium botulinum 132 Map 4.1 Map of Outbreaks of Botulism in United States, 1899-1969 148 Map 4.2 Foods Involved in the Botulism Outbreaks in the United States, 1899-1969 149 Map 7.1 Map of Major California Rivers 257 Appendix A Political Map of California 298 Appendix A Map of California Elevation 299 Appendix A Detail Map of Region of Analysis 300 Appendix A Maps of California Fruit Production Acreage 301 x LIST OF COMMON ABBREVIATIONS B.O.D. Biological Oxygen Demand Calpak California Packing Corporation CFCA California Fruit Canners Association CLC Canners League of California CVRWQCB Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board FDA Food Drug Administration Libby Libby, McNeill & Libby TG Turlock Cooperative Growers NCA National Canners Association SFWPCB San Francisco Pollution Quality Control Board TVG Tri Valley Growers TVPA Tri/Valley Packing Association USDA United States Department of Agriculture xi INTRODUCTION My mother always taught me to keep a few canned goods in case of an emergency. One event drove her lesson home and allowed me to see a particular food in a new light. On September 13, 2008, I was a graduate student living in Montrose, an older neighborhood with lush gardens and shady tree-covered streets near downtown Houston. On that day, Hurricane Ike roared across the shores of Texas and into the nation’s fourth largest city. As a native Houstonian, I did what I could to prepare, but I was not overly concerned. After all, I had lived through hurricanes my entire life, and Houston was about fifty miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and storm damage was usually minimal. So, I gathered a few odds and ends, filled some containers and the bathtub with water, and sat through the storm. One of the most beautiful elements of Houston’s landscape turned out to be a liability as Ike passed through. The hurricane fiercely shook the big beautiful trees that cover the city. The winds detached limbs and ripped entire trees from the earth that, in turn, pulled down power lines. Most Houstonians lost electricity immediately after the storm, and many people had their power restored in a few days or a week.