November 15, 2008

• SPAM for Dinner?

  This is the first time I have heard about the growing popularity of
  Spam!  I remember eating this stuff as a kid… along with other
  various and sundry nasty canned things like … “potted meat”… canned salmon made into croquets… corned beef hash… and
  who could forget … vienna sausages! 

  You know I think if times get really bad… I’ll just go fishing.. or shoot some food before I eat that stuff… BLECH!

  Well… I spoke too soon.. hubby said maybe we should get some just for
  emergencies since it keeps forever and never goes bad.  Rats! I guess I
  need to look at spam recipes now….
   
  Bee

  

  “Through war and recession, Americans have turned to the glistening
  canned product from Hormel as a way to save money while still putting
  something that resembles meat on the table. Now, in a sign of the
  times, it is happening again, and Hormel is cranking out as much Spam
  as its workers can produce.

  In a factory that abuts Interstate 90, two shifts of workers have been
  making Spam seven days a week since July, and they have been told that
  the relentless work schedule will continue indefinitely.

  Hormel declined to cooperate with this article, but several of its
  workers were interviewed here recently with the help of their union,
  the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 9.
  Slumped in chairs at the union hall after making 149,950 cans of Spam
  on the day shift, several workers said they been through boom times
  before — but nothing like this.

  Spam “seems to do well when hard times hit,” said Dan Bartel, business
  agent for the union local. “We’ll probably see Spam lines instead of
  soup lines.”

  Even as consumers are cutting back on all sorts of goods, Spam is among
  a select group of thrifty grocery items that are selling steadily.

  Pancake mixes and instant potatoes are booming. So are vitamins, fruit
  and vegetable preservatives and beer, according to data from October
  compiled by Information Resources, a market research firm.

  “We’ve seen a double-digit increase in the sale of rice and beans,”
  said Teena Massingill, spokeswoman for the Safeway grocery chain, in an
  e-mail message. “They’re real belly fillers.”

  Kraft Foods said recently that some of its value-oriented products like
  macaroni and cheese, Jell-O and Kool-Aid were experiencing robust
  growth. And sales are still growing, if not booming, for Velveeta, a
  Kraft product that bears the same passing resemblance to cheese as Spam
  bears to ham.

  Spam holds a special place in America’s culinary history, both as a source of humor and of cheap protein during hard times.

  Invented during the Great Depression by Jay Hormel, the son of the
  company’s founder, Spam is a combination of ham, pork, sugar, salt,
  water, potato starch and a “hint” of sodium nitrate “to help Spam keep
  its gorgeous pink color,” according to Hormel’s Web site for the
  product.

  Because it is vacuum-sealed in a can and does not require
  refrigeration, Spam can last for years. Hormel says “it’s like meat
  with a pause button.”

  During World War II, Spam became a staple for Allied troops overseas.
  They introduced it to local residents, and it remains popular in many
  parts of the world where the troops were stationed.”

  Read the rest here:
  http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/15/business/15spam.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

  • 10:11 pm
  • 10 Comments