On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 491

wholepointofLent.Inhis366Menus(1872),
BaronBrisseasked:“Arethemeatlessmeals
ofourLentenenthusiastsreallymealsof
abstinence?”
The Influence of Modern Technology The
age of exploration and the advancement of
fine cooking brought a new prominence to
fruits and vegetables in Europe. Then the
social and technical innovations of the
industrial age conspired to make them both
less available and less desirable. Beginning
early in the 19th century, as industrialization
drewpeoplefromtheagriculturalcountryside
to the cities, fruits and vegetables became
progressivelyrarerinthedietsofEuropeand
North America. Urban supplies did improve
withthedevelopmentofrailtransportationin
the 1820s, then canning at mid-century, and
refrigeration a few decades later.Around the
turn of the 20th century, vitamins and their
nutritional significance were discovered, and


fruits and vegetables were soon officially
canonizedasoneofthefourfoodgroupsthat
should be eaten at every meal. Still, the
consumption of fresh produce continued to
decline through much of the 20th century, at
least in part because its quality and variety
werealsodeclining.Inthemodernsystemof
food production, with crops being handled in

massive quantities and shipped thousands of
miles,themostimportantcropcharacteristics
became productivity, uniformity, and
durability. Rather than being bred for flavor
and harvested at flavor’s peak, fruits and
vegetables were bred to withstand the rigors
of mechanical harvesting, transport, and
storage, and were harvested while still hard,
often weeks or months before they would be
soldandeaten.Afewmediocrevarietiescame
to dominate the market, while thousands of
others, the legacy of centuries of breeding,
disappeared or survived only in backyard
gardens.