Popularity of canning on the decline

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October 29, 2007

Canners seek taste, savings with their seasonal exertions

By KEVIN COUTURE The Press Republican Mon Oct 29, 2007, 12:00 AM EDT

MOOERS -- Outside, colorful leaves are scattered by a brisk wind. Inside, candles burn, coffee brews and mom is busy canning yummy vegetables and fruit.

Not that many years ago, this fall tableau was a familiar North Country scene.

Leaves still fall. Candles still burn. But it is a rarity today to find people who can their own food instead of buying it at the grocery store.

Norma LaPorte of Mooers is one of those rare traditionalists. She learned the value of canning 48 years ago.

"It saves money, and canned food tastes better than boxed food," LaPorte chuckled during a telephone interview.

Although she and husband Alton have scaled down their number of gardens from three to one, Laporte still looks forward to her fall projects.

She has canned a wide variety of food, including tomatoes, pickles, jams, crab apples, spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, pears, peaches, pickled beats and chili sauce.

LaPorte said that there is one major difference in canning between the time she started and now: "I don't think that the process itself has changed, but the spices, the canning jars, the lids and the tops are more expensive now, as is everything else."

BUSINESS IMPACT

Blair Pray, co-owner of Pray's Farmers Market, said that he has definitely seen a change in the number of food items that are purchased in bulk.

"It's not as popular as it was a few years back. But there is still a fair number of people in the North Country that purchase quantities in bulk."

Pray contributes the decrease in this once beloved pastime to modern technology and changes in the modern family.

"I believe that, in this day and age, time is a precious commodity. There are more families with both parents working, which leaves less time at home. Also, years ago, the family size was a lot bigger. People were having three, four, five, six or more children; canning was almost a necessity.

"Due to modern technology, a lot of canned goods that you buy at the supermarket, they have a pretty good price on them. I think it is almost a trade-off," he said.

PERSONAL SECURITY

Sandi Honan of Altona, a canner for half a century, remembers food preserving as a way of life while she was growing up. She never lost her passion for the hobby.

"My mother canned, of course, all the while that I was growing up. We had a garden, and we lived off the land and the farm."

She said that she always planned to can between 700-900 quarts of food a year.

Honan said that she also cans for emergency purposes.

"Like, with the ice storm, other than not having any heat at that time, there was plenty of food in the house. It just goes back to being secure, being ready, having your cash set up for winter."

"I don't believe many people can anymore, it's getting to be a lost art," LaPorte said. After a pause, she added, "I think that it is satisfying to know that you made it, and it's so tasty."