Chapter 2
I Technology Transported; 1788-1840
II Technology Established; 1840-1940
III The Coming Of Science
IV From Science To Technology: The Post-war Years
V Products And Processes
VI Conclusion
VII Acknowledgements
References
Index
Search
Help
Contact us
It is inevitable that in what is, in effect, a summary some aspects of food technology, such as fish technology, should have received scant attention, or, like confectionery and poultry technology, have been neglected altogether. Nor has it been possible to discuss the interactions of food technology with 'neighbouring' technologies. There is, however, one aspect of this which must be mentioned and that is the influence of food technology on primary production, which it increases because of its ability to store and transport food.[204] Food technology is sensitive to the quality of the final product and experience has taught it to demand the produce of specific varieties of plants and animals. It then influences cultural and harvesting practices, and determines the location of crops and the patterns of agriculture. Peacock, Hoadley, Edgell and the sugar millers were all aware of this many years ago. The harvesting at night of grapes for winemaking is but a recent manifestation of it. As a distinguished Australian food technologist put it:
With the decision to pack canned beetroot, we had our first opportunity to select locality, variety and grower, and, given the knowledge, to control the crop.[205]
To control it, that is, in the interests of the quality of the final product and in so doing to interact with and to some extent determine agricultural technology. Such interactions are common and seldom fruitless.
People in Bright Sparcs - Edgell, R. G.; Hoadley, Abel
 |
Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering |  |
© 1988 Print Edition page 142, Online Edition 2000
Published by Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, using the Web Academic Resource Publisher
http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/144.html