1 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,399 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Savior Prediction of iHeartRadio. I'm Annie 2 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: Reese and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have a 3 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: classic episode for you about spam. Mmmmm, it was a 4 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:22,639 Speaker 1: fun one. Oh yeah, oh well, I being fun fun 5 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,760 Speaker 1: and there's a there's a lot of kill joy in 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: the history section. But h But otherwise, other than the 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: labor practices, delightful. Yeah, the festival I remember fondly. Yeah, sure, yes, 8 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: And as I've mentioned recently, I have spam currently. I've 9 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: made spam subia a couple of times. I feel like 10 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,760 Speaker 1: I'm getting it down. Yeah, like not hard. It's not 11 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:55,120 Speaker 1: the easiest thing either. Sure well, the correct rice texture 12 00:00:55,240 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: can be tricky and yeah, um yeah, well that would 13 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,039 Speaker 1: be a whole other thing. But it is delicious and 14 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:09,839 Speaker 1: I do have some. I'm intending to make some again 15 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: soon because I thought craving for it lately. Okay, yeah, 16 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: I I also have a can I've been kind of 17 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,759 Speaker 1: putting off, going like, oh, I'm gonna have a day 18 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,039 Speaker 1: when I'm gonna really want that. So yes, yeah, and 19 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,320 Speaker 1: how far we have come since March of twenty eighteen, 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: when this episode originally aired. Because I don't think you 21 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: would ever knowingly had spam at that point, and you know, 22 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: since then, um, you know, we went to Hawaii. We 23 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:41,839 Speaker 1: discussed it in our holiday marketing bonus this best December. 24 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: You've made your own spam Masubium. But yeah, while we 25 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: were out in in in Hawaii, we definitely had some spam. 26 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:51,960 Speaker 1: I think spamassubi was one of the very first things 27 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: that you had on the island. Oh yeah, I mean 28 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:58,040 Speaker 1: it was a very like we got to the hotel 29 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: and we saw a convenience store and we were all like, 30 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: let's go go, and it's one of the things they 31 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:07,559 Speaker 1: offered there, which was amazing. Oh yeah, yeah, And there's 32 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: definitely at least one plate of locomoco it's consumed. Oh 33 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: at least I think several, but at least one. So good. 34 00:02:17,360 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: And furthermore, like like so many of y'all after this 35 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: episode originally aired, wrote in I mean like physically sometimes 36 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: about spam along with some like spam postcards and various 37 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:41,960 Speaker 1: weird merchandise and trinkets. I this one sparked some enthusiasm. 38 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: It certainly did, and in fact, this is probably this 39 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: is probably largely related to the job that we do. 40 00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: I just got a Google Update alert that was like, hey, 41 00:02:53,600 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: spam is cool again. I was all right, okay, I 42 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: don't know that a wasn't cool for some people, but 43 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: all right, sure, sure, all right, I were good for it. Yeah, 44 00:03:11,480 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: I'm sure. I will say that spams sales have spiked, 45 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: or I mean, did did spike during the early pandemic. 46 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,160 Speaker 1: They were up about twenty eight percent by September of 47 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:26,240 Speaker 1: twenty twenty. I think that's versus the previous year, and 48 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: it was not just a pandemic fluke like perhaps as 49 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: a as a larger economic trend and probably a negative 50 00:03:34,480 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: sign of the times. By the end of twenty twenty one, 51 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: spam sales had been rising and like rising at record 52 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: rates for seven years in a row. Wow. Yeah again, 53 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: I guess good first spam. Um. It might mean that 54 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 1: a lot of us are in dire financial straits, but 55 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: good first spam, good first, which from what we understand 56 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,560 Speaker 1: as an excellent museum. Um. Oh yeah, I still have 57 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: not been Still want to go same hard, same Yes, Well, 58 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: I guess we should let past Annie and Lauren take 59 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: it away. Hello and welcome to food stuff. I'm Annies 60 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: and I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. And today we're talking about spam. 61 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: Spam and not the email kind, although briefly, yeah, just 62 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 1: a little bit about that, but mostly the canned meat product, 63 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: which you probably knew because you're listening to a podcast 64 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: about food. Probably, I don't know. We could go real 65 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,359 Speaker 1: a wall with our with our talk. We could, and 66 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: I kind of want to one day. I think we'd 67 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: get a lot of angry emails, though, I think we would. Um, 68 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,919 Speaker 1: but so stuff. Evenston History class already has a whole 69 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: episode about this. Thank you. If you would like to 70 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: hear their take on it, and I suspect that you would, 71 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: you can go listen. Yes, Um, what are what are 72 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,599 Speaker 1: your thoughts experiences with spam? Lauren? Um? I didn't grow 73 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 1: up like like, no one in my family started to 74 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,240 Speaker 1: me growing up. But I had a friend um in college, 75 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:21,279 Speaker 1: who would would serve it like like slice slices of 76 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 1: it fried and then start into like mac and cheese 77 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 1: or something like that, and it's like salty and delicious. 78 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: For her. It was a nostalgia thing. Uh huh, Yeah, 79 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: I get that. I get the feeling. Nostalgia is very 80 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: much involved in a lot of oh yeah, yeah, oh 81 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: hugely yeah, because because okay, So so what about you, though, Um, 82 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: I'm not sure I've ever had it. I I know 83 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: I took my little brother to a restaurant in San 84 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: Francisco called LeHo LeHo Yacht Cup, which has a lot 85 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: of spam items on the menu, So I might have 86 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: had it, but I've never knowingly had it. Yeah, you've 87 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 1: never gotten like, oh man, what I'm doing right now 88 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:03,279 Speaker 1: is eating spam exactly. Okay, So what is spam? Oh 89 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: that's a great question, isn't it. Spam is a canned 90 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: luncheon meat product. Lunch and meat is the legal term 91 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:16,760 Speaker 1: for a cured cooked meat food product that consists of 92 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: common uned meat plus some reasonable portion of flavorings, preservatives, 93 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: and binding agents, all mixed together and molded into a 94 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: loaf for slicing and serving. A loaf. A loaf yes 95 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: common uned, by the way, means pulverized, as in reduced 96 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,280 Speaker 1: to fragments, and in the case of spam, that luncheon 97 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: meat is made up of, it's a mixture of things 98 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: of pork meats, modified potato, starch, salt, sugar water, and 99 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: sodium nitrate for color. Ah Sodonum nitrate is what gives 100 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,919 Speaker 1: some preserved meats their distinctive pink color. It's also in 101 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,120 Speaker 1: there for preservation. Spam is shelf stable. No refrigeration is 102 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,599 Speaker 1: required as long as the can is sealed, and that 103 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: can can last years past its best by date and 104 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:08,120 Speaker 1: like technically indefinitely. So in the apocalypse zombies are about, 105 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: I'm searching for food. Yeah, spam, it says many years 106 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:16,240 Speaker 1: date past, but it was just disregard. It might taste 107 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: a little bit off, but I'll never know about it. Yeah. 108 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:25,400 Speaker 1: Hormel says that spam is like meat with a pause button. Oh, 109 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: that's kind of creative. Yeah, if I appreciate it. The 110 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:34,520 Speaker 1: recipe for spam has remained pretty much unchanged since its inception, 111 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,280 Speaker 1: apart from the addition of that potato starch in two 112 00:07:37,280 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: thousand and nine to keep Oh they are of gelatin 113 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: from forming on the top when you cook it. To 114 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: someone who's never had it or seen it, that is 115 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: so fascinating to me. Oh yeah. The name itself stands 116 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: for scientifically processed and will matter. Or perhaps that is 117 00:07:52,640 --> 00:07:56,000 Speaker 1: just a fun myth. It probably is because Hormel the person, 118 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: not the company, but the company named after Hormel. Anyway, 119 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 1: he claims it was a combination of spice and ham, 120 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: the result of a naming contest with a one hundred 121 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: dollar reward. All of these naming contests, I know, Okay, 122 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: I haven't heard about any of these. I did get 123 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: in on that the prize winner is said to have 124 00:08:14,000 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: been an actor by the name of Kenneth Dagnall, whose 125 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,880 Speaker 1: brother was once a vice president at Hormel. So some 126 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: nepotism maybe, okay. Is at the time that one hundred 127 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: dollars would have been equivalent to about fifteen hundred dollars. 128 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: That's nothing, No, certainly not. You can now get spam 129 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:34,360 Speaker 1: of the oven roasted turkey variety, Spam, hot and spicy, 130 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: Spam light with fifty percent less fat, Spam with bacon 131 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: all right, Spam, karaoke spam, jalapeno and spam spread for 132 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: all your spreading. Spam needs talk twisters perfect. There are 133 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: two facilities in the US that produce the stuff, Austin, Minnesota, 134 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: not Texas, and Fremont, Nebraska. And that's it. It is 135 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: a distinctly and very recognizably American brand slash product. Yes, 136 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: nutrition wise, spam is high in protein and low in carbs, 137 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: but it's also really high in saturated fats. It's almost 138 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: eighty percent fat. Oh, just a two ounce serving has 139 00:09:17,640 --> 00:09:20,240 Speaker 1: about a quarter of your daily recommended intake of fat 140 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: for a two thousand calorie per day average diet. It's 141 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: also really high in salt. So if you need to 142 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,679 Speaker 1: watch those things, I would say to treat spam as 143 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: a treat. Yes, absolutely, Yeah. Though, Hey, if you've ever 144 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,520 Speaker 1: heard that lunch meats and other preserved meats and even 145 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,880 Speaker 1: preserved cheeses like American cheese are bad for you because 146 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: they contain these antimicrobial preservatives like sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite, 147 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: well that's not actually generally why preserved meats are bad 148 00:09:48,559 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: for you see above reading salt and fat content. But 149 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: studies show that nitrates and nitrites can form other compounds 150 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,680 Speaker 1: in the body, some of which can cause cancer. But 151 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: nitrates are common in many leafy greens and our water supply, 152 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 1: and even in our own bodies, and they might be 153 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: helpful in preventing heart disease. And you can help prevent 154 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: them from forming those carcinogetic compounds by eating vitamin C 155 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 1: along with them, which is why the USDA requires processed 156 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 1: meats that use them also include vitamin C in their recipes. 157 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:22,400 Speaker 1: Oh really, and laws in most places prevent very much 158 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: of them from being used in the first place. So 159 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: I mean, like, yeah, like, don't go crazy with the 160 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: cheese Whiz, but you know, don't worry too much about 161 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: nitrates or nitrites. No. Did there are two bottles of 162 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: cheese Whiz in our office kitchen? Are there? Why? I 163 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: thought you brought them soon with you? Ah? The spray cheese? No, 164 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: no, no no, no, what I'm talking about. When I talk 165 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: about cheese Whiz, I talk about the canned stuff, the jars. 166 00:10:47,559 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: There's so there's a difference between spray cheese and canned cheese. Oh. Absolutely, 167 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: you have so much to teach me, Laura. I cannot 168 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,679 Speaker 1: wait to do an episode on fake cheese. You have 169 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: been talking about that for a while. Okay, all right, 170 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: maybe it's going into our into our list today. All right, 171 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: we'll find out. Anyway. Since it came onto the food 172 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: scene in nineteen thirty seven, courtesy of the Hormel Corporation, 173 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: more than eight billion cans have been sold. While it 174 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: is an American icon, and I saw it described that 175 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,240 Speaker 1: way in several articles, I'm not coining that term It's 176 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,559 Speaker 1: available in forty four countries around the world, and Tormel 177 00:11:23,640 --> 00:11:26,480 Speaker 1: licenses the name and recipe to other producers outside of 178 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: the United States. As of twenty seventeen, they estimated that 179 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: the twelve point eight cans of spam are consumed every 180 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:38,320 Speaker 1: second across the planet every second. Who It's fairly cheap, 181 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:41,679 Speaker 1: which means during times of economic difficulty, spam sees and 182 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:45,160 Speaker 1: uptick in sales. In the two thousand and eight recession, 183 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 1: this equated to a ten percent increase in sales in 184 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:53,079 Speaker 1: the US. Probably no surprise. So why tops the list 185 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:56,319 Speaker 1: in spam consumption with an average three pounds per person 186 00:11:56,400 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: a year or seven million cans a year for an 187 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,800 Speaker 1: island with population of one point four two million. So 188 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,160 Speaker 1: you can do some math therapy. You would like McDonald's 189 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: menus and who I have spam based products for McDonald's 190 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: fact of the episode. Yes, okay, so if you're going 191 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,840 Speaker 1: to make yourself a quick breakfast, you wouldn't do yourself 192 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,319 Speaker 1: wrong with the Filipino spam salogue and the apologies. My 193 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,800 Speaker 1: tagalog is really terrible. So um, so if I'm mispronouncing 194 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,400 Speaker 1: everything right in and tell me that I'm a bad person. 195 00:12:27,440 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: It's okay, no, don't do that. I don't know if 196 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: you are going to hear that, but that was producer 197 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:40,200 Speaker 1: Dylan being like terrified for me. I don't, okay, don't, 198 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: don't write it and tell me that I'm a terrible person. 199 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,520 Speaker 1: But but you know you feel free to correct me gently. 200 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: I won't. I won't be offendiftable if you have if 201 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: you want to send in a voye anyway, okay. So so, 202 00:12:49,480 --> 00:12:53,280 Speaker 1: spam salogue is a partman teau for um, a dish 203 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: of garlic fried rice which is um synangag and a 204 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:01,040 Speaker 1: fried egg a putong it log serve with slices of 205 00:13:01,080 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: pan fried spam, frequently with a fresh tomato or cucumber 206 00:13:05,400 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: on the side. So yeah, garlic fried rice, spam slices 207 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: fried fried egg sounds great. Yes, There are, of course, 208 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: multiple spam festivals. There are, of course there are. There's 209 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,959 Speaker 1: the Spam Jam in Waikiki, with music and tastings from 210 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: local restaurants and all kinds of anthropomorphic costumed spam characters 211 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: that you can get your photo taken with. There's another 212 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:31,000 Speaker 1: Spam Jam in Austin, Minnesota, the birthplace of spam, where 213 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: there's also a Spam Museum across the river from the 214 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: main plant, where former factory workers are spambassadors for visitors. 215 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,240 Speaker 1: We will be talking a bit more about that town 216 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: in a minute, but I've got a lot of questions. 217 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,439 Speaker 1: Just I'm just curious, Like, is the whole town spam 218 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: I listeners, please send pictures if you have them. Yeah, 219 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: it sounds very intense. I it does from from what 220 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 1: I understand, like the like the business of the town 221 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 1: is this Hormil factory. So yeah. Um, there's also another 222 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: spam festival in um is Latin is Latin Aisleton, California. 223 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, feelings, but they've got a spamley cup 224 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: cooking competition. Goodness. Yeah, the puns keep rolling in and 225 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: then of course an annual uh there are annual spam 226 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: carving slash sculpting contests in a few places, with a 227 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,960 Speaker 1: particularly a large one in Seattle. Oh man, let us 228 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:38,640 Speaker 1: if you've been send photos, please please please, Speaking of 229 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: a spam fandom spammedom. Oh yeah. There's an English fellow 230 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: who legally got his name his middle name changed to 231 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:52,440 Speaker 1: I Love Spam. His name therefore is Mark I Love 232 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: Spam Benson. He got the Queen's permission. He got the 233 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: queen's permission. It's on his passport and everything. Did he 234 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: go up to the queen and said, your majesty. I 235 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: didn't hear what the process was. But in twenty seventeen, 236 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: he and his wife were married in the Spam Museum 237 00:15:09,760 --> 00:15:14,720 Speaker 1: in Austin, Minnesota. She said, when his obsession came to light, 238 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: I had already fallen in love with him. Oh, Hormel 239 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:21,280 Speaker 1: financially helped the couple make this whole dream come true, 240 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: and then sent them to the Spam Jam in Waikiki 241 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: for their honeymoon. Well, that's lovely. I'm trying to think 242 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: of like instances where this middle name thing is gonna 243 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,920 Speaker 1: throw a wrench in some kind of situation. But I 244 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 1: hope not. I all the best for you, right, I mean, 245 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:42,360 Speaker 1: what are his initials? Now? Am I ls B? Or 246 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 1: is it am I b oh man in black? Okay? 247 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 1: I need to focus, I need to refocus. Okay. Yes. 248 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: A nineteen forty five New Yorker piece on Jay Hormel 249 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:56,400 Speaker 1: came with this quote from the author. I got the 250 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: distinct impression that being responsible for spam might be too 251 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: great a burden on any one man. Yeah, Hormel allegedly 252 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: went back and forth between distancing himself and the company 253 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: from spam and then rushing to its defense. He couldn't 254 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: decide what his thoughts were, his product, where his heart 255 00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 1: lay or lied. Oh I'm doing great today. Yeah, and okay, 256 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: this is clearly a very nostalgic food for a lot 257 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,640 Speaker 1: of people. Well, we'll get into that in a minute. 258 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,000 Speaker 1: We're also going to get into some really upsetting stuff. 259 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: So that's all great. Yeah, yeah, But in the meantime, yeah, 260 00:16:33,280 --> 00:16:35,240 Speaker 1: let's pause for a quick break for a word from 261 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:48,160 Speaker 1: our sponsor. Yay, and we're back. Thank you sponsor. Yes, 262 00:16:48,240 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: thank you. So I wanted to start out it's not 263 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: related directly to spam. But in eighteen thirteen new technology 264 00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: for preserving food by canning was commercialized in England and 265 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: one of the first products can and was meat to 266 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: be sent to the British Navy. Makes sense if we 267 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: look at spam's history in particular. In eighteen ninety one, 268 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: a fellow named George A. Hormel that Hormel laid the 269 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:20,120 Speaker 1: foundation for his first combination meat packing facility and slaughterhouse 270 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: in a small town under twelve square miles called Austin, Minnesota. 271 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 1: He got his start working in a Chicago slaughterhouse, but 272 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,440 Speaker 1: he wanted to set out and to his own thing. 273 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:36,160 Speaker 1: A decade later, in nineteen oh one, George A. Hormel 274 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,119 Speaker 1: and Co. Was officially incorporated, making beef, sausage, casings and 275 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:44,600 Speaker 1: whole hogs, and Hormel continued working the butchery line himself, 276 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: splitting the first one hundred thousand pig carcasses, which is 277 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,399 Speaker 1: apparently one of the more difficult parts of the process. 278 00:17:50,480 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: I couldn't believe that. And back to you awesome Minnesota 279 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,400 Speaker 1: for a minute. It would go on to be known 280 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: as Spamtown, USA, complete with Spam Boulevard, the Spam Museum, 281 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: as we've mentioned in a restaurant called Johnny's Spam Arema. 282 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: And yes, please, we can't reiterate enough. We need to 283 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,440 Speaker 1: see evidence of this. Listeners, you've got to send us pictures. Anyway. 284 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:20,160 Speaker 1: Back to Hormel. After fighting in World War One, Jay 285 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: Hormel took over as president of the company, and his 286 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: father said in nineteen twenty nine, Jay Hormel wanted to 287 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,400 Speaker 1: come up with a product that was essentially the home 288 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: version of canned lunch meats. You'd order from Delhi Counters. 289 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,880 Speaker 1: There is no one person we can point to from 290 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,560 Speaker 1: Hormel as the inventor of spam, but we can't point 291 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,880 Speaker 1: to an employee by the name of Julius Ziljit and 292 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,600 Speaker 1: he did the first test with the twelve ounce can. 293 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,639 Speaker 1: Along with his team. He figured out that canning the 294 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: meat in a vacuum keep the product from getting all sweaty, 295 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,720 Speaker 1: which is not a thing you want. Nope, not at all. No. 296 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:58,040 Speaker 1: At the time, it was the height of the Great Depression, 297 00:18:58,040 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: and the idea was to find a way to use 298 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: are wise unsellable cut of meat, the pork shoulder the 299 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 1: pork in the first iterations of spam, where this cut 300 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 1: generally still are today. Over the next few years, there 301 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: was this rising discontent in the Hormel factory, which came 302 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: to a head when Jay tried to enforce a twenty 303 00:19:17,119 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: cent per week employee contribution to this company wide insurance fund, 304 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 1: which the company would also pay into like at five 305 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: times that amount, which sounds great until you get to 306 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:31,320 Speaker 1: the enforce part. The already frustrated and underpaid employees organized 307 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: a union and then a strike. In nineteen thirty three, 308 00:19:34,119 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: they shut down plant operations and even the refrigeration system. 309 00:19:36,880 --> 00:19:38,880 Speaker 1: Like millions of dollars worth of mute were on the line. 310 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: The situation was resolved without even having to call in 311 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,640 Speaker 1: state hired militia, which was on the table, and over 312 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: the next couple of years, Jay Hormel got back in 313 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: good with his employees by offering all these really progressive 314 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 1: salary wage systems and profit sharing and merit pay, all 315 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 1: leading to pretty good financial success for the company and 316 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:01,920 Speaker 1: also him being called a red capitalist by Fortune magazine. 317 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: My brain is like compliment, insult, insult communism. Oh okay, 318 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: I see yeah, because of the red Yeah, all right. 319 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: On July fifth, nineteen thirty seven, Spam hit the grocery 320 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: store shelves. The name was trademarked earlier that same year, 321 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 1: and one of their first slogans was cold a Hut. 322 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: Spam hits the spot. I love it, very crisp. Yes. 323 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: By the nineteen thirties, people were familiar with canned meats 324 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: that didn't need refrigeration, But it was World War Two 325 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: that really catapult to spam to the public eye so 326 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:40,000 Speaker 1: necessarily in a good way. When it was one of 327 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: the brands of canned meats. The US military purchased and 328 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: shipped to the soldiers overseas, both American and Allied forces, 329 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,920 Speaker 1: to the tune of one hundred million pounds or maybe 330 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:52,359 Speaker 1: a hundred million cans. Yeah, history history. According to our 331 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: very own website How Stuff Works, not too many soldiers 332 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,120 Speaker 1: actually were eating the real thing, really spam. More likely 333 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: they were eating meat the government provide to Hermel and 334 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:05,160 Speaker 1: other companies for canning, which just seems unfair to spam 335 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: in a weird way. But you know, in nineteen forty 336 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:12,199 Speaker 1: one of the first singing ads was for spam, and 337 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,240 Speaker 1: then keep up with the singing is a marketing tactic. 338 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:16,400 Speaker 1: After the war, there was a whole radio show called 339 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: Music with the Hormel Girls. Oh I'm sure it was 340 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:23,880 Speaker 1: a little light, But the soldiers weren't exactly thrilled with spam, 341 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,000 Speaker 1: to be fair, they were sometimes eating it three meals 342 00:21:27,040 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 1: a day, and that's a lot of any kind of 343 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: food to not get a bit tired of it, I 344 00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:34,679 Speaker 1: would agree. Yes, Hormel kept this girl as file of 345 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:38,919 Speaker 1: hate mail the company received from American soldiers. Some of 346 00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: their opinions meet loaf without basic training, ham that didn't 347 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:50,479 Speaker 1: pass its physical and the real reason war was hell yeah, strong, 348 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: strong words. This is one of the reasons you said. 349 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 1: It was a lot of responsibility for one man. Ah, 350 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: this is hate mail he was receiving. Margaret Thatcher, though 351 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: apparently called it a wartime delicacy. I don't know that, 352 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:08,040 Speaker 1: Oh Thatcher. Since spam had a long shelf life and 353 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: could survive pretty much anything though weather throughout it, it 354 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: made its way to islands that might have trouble otherwise 355 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:17,920 Speaker 1: importing food during the war, like England or the Asian 356 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: Pacific in Hawaii. As the war ended and soldiers returned, 357 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: they were not about eating any more spam. Starting with 358 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:30,439 Speaker 1: the sixties, spam transitioned from the main source of protein 359 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: to kind of a supporting act, like a sandwich component 360 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,280 Speaker 1: or with eggs. A recipe from the sixties included it 361 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:41,159 Speaker 1: spam upside down pie. Oh my brain was trying to 362 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,520 Speaker 1: imagine that as I was saying, and it was not good. 363 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 1: Not good. But this wasn't the case everywhere. No, the 364 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: Asian Pacific and Hawaii experienced the opposite, as spam rose 365 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,359 Speaker 1: and popularity after the war. This was in part because 366 00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: of sanctions the US government put on fishing industries that 367 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: were largely owned by Japanese Americans. Ah With fish off 368 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:06,560 Speaker 1: the menu, Hawaiian's turned spam for starving Japanese and Koreans. 369 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:10,320 Speaker 1: Spam included in aid packages could very well have been 370 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 1: a lifesaver. During the Korean War, soldiers likely consumed something 371 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,439 Speaker 1: called army stew, which was a simmered broth of canned 372 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:22,520 Speaker 1: meats like spam and spices. To this day, Korea is 373 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: spam's second largest market. It's even given as a gift 374 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:29,760 Speaker 1: during Lunar New Year. We didn't read across that in 375 00:23:29,800 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: our Lunar New Year research, but that's very very interesting. Yes, 376 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:37,679 Speaker 1: spam got a culinary boost as Koreans and Japanese immigrated 377 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: to why after World War Two and the fusion of 378 00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:45,959 Speaker 1: cuisine's birth dishes like Lokomoco. The billionth can of spam 379 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: was sold in nineteen fifty nine, and that brings us 380 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:54,680 Speaker 1: to a pop culture phenomenon, a what's a good word 381 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:59,880 Speaker 1: for it, Lauren paradigm shift? It's okay. So in nineteen seven, 382 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:05,080 Speaker 1: Monty Python's Flying Circus debuted. They're spam sketched with vikings 383 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 1: in a cafe because Monty Python drowning out the customers 384 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:12,120 Speaker 1: and owners voices with their song about spam, Lovely Spam, 385 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: Lovely Spam, and the end credits for the episode include 386 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,560 Speaker 1: Spam with every company member including Spam Terry Jones and 387 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:23,600 Speaker 1: Terry Spam, sausage, Spam, egg spam, Gilliam. Oh that's excellent. Yeah, 388 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,720 Speaker 1: and this skit is pretty much where the term spam 389 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,720 Speaker 1: in context to email comes from. Oh really, yeah, because 390 00:24:31,080 --> 00:24:34,239 Speaker 1: you know it's the spam email. It's omnipresent, it has 391 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: no appreciable content. Yeah, it drowns out other voices. Okay, yeah, 392 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,400 Speaker 1: makes sense. Yeah. Um. Horbell is not really excited about 393 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: this association. No. I think they tried to find a 394 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,280 Speaker 1: way to legally do something about it. I don't know. 395 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:58,280 Speaker 1: I remember reading an article where they were pursuing solutions 396 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:01,320 Speaker 1: sort but sorry about it. Yeah, I mean, if it's 397 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: any constellation, which I'm sure it's not, I don't think of, 398 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: Like I don't associate the two. Yeah, like they mean 399 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: such different things. Yeah, Brian, that yeah, that's just me maybe. Yeah. 400 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:14,520 Speaker 1: And that brings us to nineteen eighty five and another 401 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: strike at the Hormel plant in Austin, Minnesota. Over the 402 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,120 Speaker 1: sixties and seventies, employee satisfaction had been on the rise, 403 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,480 Speaker 1: but this article that I read about the nineteen thirty 404 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,160 Speaker 1: three strike ended this way. Most workers in the prospering 405 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,120 Speaker 1: Hormel company in the nineteen sixties and seventies who remembered 406 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: or read about the history of their union concluded that 407 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,160 Speaker 1: the hard times were behind them. They should be forgiven 408 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:42,080 Speaker 1: for entertaining that illusion. That does not sound good. Nope. 409 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,439 Speaker 1: By nineteen seventy five, the company had fallen out of 410 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: the Hormel family's hands and the new leadership was not 411 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,600 Speaker 1: as great. They were using the promise of building this 412 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:57,080 Speaker 1: new state of the art labor conditions improving plant to 413 00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:02,320 Speaker 1: kind of let the union in, let them destroy worker benefits, 414 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:06,400 Speaker 1: especially for the butchery end of the business, and Hormel 415 00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: enacted a twenty three percent wage drop on top of that. 416 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: Starting in August of nineteen eighty five, the union workers 417 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:17,760 Speaker 1: walked out and stayed out for thirteen months. National Guard 418 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: had to be called in to protect workers who crossed 419 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: the picket lines and to break up roadblocks. Wow. Eventually, 420 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,840 Speaker 1: the national union that had been supporting this local branch 421 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: dropped them, thus effectively ending the strike. The company was 422 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:34,160 Speaker 1: able to hire people back at just a penny per hour, 423 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 1: more than that twenty three percent wage drop rate, and 424 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:40,120 Speaker 1: would begin hiring a lot of immigrants with perhaps less 425 00:26:40,119 --> 00:26:43,399 Speaker 1: than scrupulously checked documentation who are willing to work for 426 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:47,680 Speaker 1: those lower wages. In nineteen eighty seven, Hormel leased off 427 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,080 Speaker 1: the butchery side of its Austin plant to a third 428 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: party company, or a third party on paper anyway. The 429 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:59,400 Speaker 1: new company was Quality Pork Processors Incorporated, which exclusively purchased 430 00:26:59,400 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: Hormel owned hugs and exclusively sold the processed meat back 431 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,320 Speaker 1: to Hormel, all using the space and the machines that 432 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 1: currently belonged to Hormel and were housed in the same 433 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 1: plant right. This led to another year long strike, but 434 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: the union eventually settled, and as subcontractors, QPP could hire 435 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: a workforce at lower wages than those that Hormel had 436 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: furnished to their unionized workers. In nineteen ninety one, the 437 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:32,960 Speaker 1: first Spam museum opened in Austin. It would be revamped 438 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,400 Speaker 1: in two thousand and one and twenty sixteen. Oh yeah, 439 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: and in nineteen ninety five. Spam has sponsored a car 440 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. A couple of years later, 441 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,600 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety eight, the Smithsonian received a spam tin donation. 442 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 1: During the recession in the two thousand oats, spam sales 443 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: and production increased, with employees being offered as much overtime 444 00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:58,399 Speaker 1: as they could handle. Spam spam has been called an 445 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: economic indicator as we meant and earlier for its predictable 446 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,400 Speaker 1: increase in sales during rough financial times, and this production 447 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: increase led to a really tragic series of nerve damage 448 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,840 Speaker 1: related disabilities in QPP butcher workers. This was actually sort 449 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: of a landmark medical discovery. I remember reading about it 450 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:20,360 Speaker 1: during a previous gig copy editing medical journal articles. But yes, 451 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:27,919 Speaker 1: we welcome again to Lauren's Kiljoy corner. Okay. So, the 452 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: way that large scale pig butchering works is that different 453 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: parts of the animal would be dealt with by skilled 454 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,359 Speaker 1: workers and or particular machinery in different rooms. All parts 455 00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: of the meat are separated from the bones for use. 456 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: Everything on the pig is edible. The brain, which is 457 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: shipped to Asia for use as a thickening agent, used 458 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: to be removed from the skull cavity with this high 459 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: pressure jet of water which sort of liquefies the tissues 460 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: that it can be collected. Part of that liquid sort 461 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,080 Speaker 1: of air solises due to the high pressure used in 462 00:28:57,120 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: getting it out, and the workers in that part of 463 00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:02,560 Speaker 1: the factory, that the head part would breathe in a 464 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: whole bunch of it and more of it, more and 465 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: more of it as the line speed increased from handling 466 00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 1: nine hundred heads per hour in nineteen ninety six to 467 00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:14,120 Speaker 1: one thousand, three hundred and fifty per hour in two 468 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: thousand and six. And okay, when when you breathe in 469 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: foreign particles that your body's like, this doesn't belong here, 470 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: your your immune system. The workers immune systems were doing 471 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 1: what they were supposed to do. They were attacking the 472 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: particles and remembering to attack similar particles later. Unfortunately, human 473 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: nerve cells and pig nerve cells are similar enough that 474 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: these workers started developing an autoimmune condition where their immune 475 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,000 Speaker 1: system was attacking their own nerves, causing eventual loss of 476 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,080 Speaker 1: fine motor skills and fatigue and other sometimes permanent symptoms. 477 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: That's awful, Yeah, yeah, yeah, it sucks. And QPP working 478 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: again inside the Hormail facility, but without Hormail's better worker 479 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:01,960 Speaker 1: compensation and protection packages, did not really handle it well. 480 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 1: They did stop harvesting brains, but evidence collected for an 481 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: expose in Mother Jones suggests that they silenced the injured 482 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:16,160 Speaker 1: workers by threatening their jobs or their integration status. And then, 483 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: oh boy, keeps going high. It does. In twenty fifteen, 484 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 1: QPP was embroiled in an animal cruelty scandal when a 485 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: video of poor conditions on the killing floor was leaked, 486 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:30,600 Speaker 1: apparently by employees. The Food Safety and Inspection Services Administration 487 00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,480 Speaker 1: also collected evidence that the space was not in compliance 488 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: with federal regulations. However, neither the county nor the USDA 489 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,360 Speaker 1: took further action, and in twenty seventeen, a state court 490 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,880 Speaker 1: denied an advocacy group a search warrant of the QPP 491 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 1: facilities on the grounds that their leads were too old. 492 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:53,959 Speaker 1: Leads were too old. Yeah, this is ongoing, but as 493 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: of twenty seventeen, there are a bunch of headlines about 494 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,560 Speaker 1: spam making like a trendy comeback with poshs that are 495 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: tapping into that fun feeling of nostalgia. Isn't nostalgia great? 496 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:11,479 Speaker 1: I love I love nostalgia. That's my favorite. Well that's uh, 497 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,960 Speaker 1: the end of Laurens killjoy Corner for now. Yes, so 498 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,200 Speaker 1: we were. We still have some more science to talk about. 499 00:31:20,360 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: We do, and that part's kind of great. Yes, first, 500 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 1: one last quick break for a word from our sponsor, 501 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 1: and we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes, thank you. Um So, 502 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,160 Speaker 1: Spam for all of those other things that I just said, 503 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 1: is an amazing edible science experiment. In order to create 504 00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: a stable loaf cheaply and consistently, you, as Annie said earlier, 505 00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: mix the meat in a vacuum. Vacuum, seal it into cans, 506 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:58,760 Speaker 1: and then you cook the whole cans. You cook it 507 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: in the you cook it in the cans. Oh wow 508 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: really yeah? Yeah, Otherwise the meat, if you don't do 509 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: it in that way, the meat will break down during 510 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: cooking and you're left with just this small loaf and 511 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 1: a lot of like juice and or gelatin. Yeah. But 512 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: before you even get there, you've got to find a 513 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:18,080 Speaker 1: way to prepare the meat. Spam uses shoulder meat mixed 514 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: with a little buck slash thigh meat that might be 515 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: cured and flavored, otherwise known as ham. Theat shoulder meat 516 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: is inexpensive because it's such a pain in the ham 517 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: to debone. Hormel does it by putting the shoulders through 518 00:32:30,080 --> 00:32:33,480 Speaker 1: a hydraulic press that squeezes the meat off the bone. 519 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:37,640 Speaker 1: The meat is ground and measured for fat consistency, then 520 00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:43,560 Speaker 1: mixed with the other ingredients and thousand pound batches cannot comprehend, Nope. 521 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: The cans are then cooked in a hydrostatic cooker, which 522 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: is it's so cool or it's hot first but then cool. 523 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: It consists of at least four towers that are stacked 524 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: vertically and kind of bring cans up and then down 525 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 1: in this sort of like like half loop. Okay, so 526 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:06,960 Speaker 1: you've got four towers. At least, you've got a steam 527 00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: tower that holds pressurized saturated steam at the temperature that 528 00:33:11,480 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 1: you want to cook the cans at. Then you've got 529 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:17,400 Speaker 1: two warm water filled towers on either end of the 530 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,560 Speaker 1: steam tower, which brings your cans up near to cooking 531 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: temperature and then back down out of it. And also 532 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 1: this is the cool part keeps the steam tower pressurized 533 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 1: at the same time physics. Then you've got a cooling 534 00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:34,440 Speaker 1: tower that uses a cool water sprays to bring the 535 00:33:34,480 --> 00:33:38,280 Speaker 1: cans safely back to like processing temperature. Setups can also 536 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:41,960 Speaker 1: have a preheating and multiple cooking and cooling towers or 537 00:33:41,960 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: sections and I'm not totally positive what Hormel uses. It 538 00:33:44,800 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: says They're setup has eleven chambers that the cans move 539 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 1: vertically through, with the whole thing being six stories tall 540 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 1: and capable of processing sixty six thousand cans over the 541 00:33:54,680 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: span of two hours. My brain, I don't know how 542 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 1: much more it can take. Laurence. After it comes out 543 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,840 Speaker 1: of that process, the cans are labeled, packed, and eventually 544 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,640 Speaker 1: shipped out. That is pretty cool. Yeah, this is another 545 00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:12,800 Speaker 1: This is another episode that I was like, oh, oh, 546 00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: this is Oh, I don't know, I don't know if 547 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:19,640 Speaker 1: I can buy that product anymore. Yeah, I really want 548 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,799 Speaker 1: to try lokomoko. This is the challenge. Just yeah, I 549 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,600 Speaker 1: wonder if there's a different I mean, there are plenty 550 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: of There are definitely plenty of like canned meat products 551 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 1: out there. It's it's all about, I mean, you know, 552 00:34:32,160 --> 00:34:36,200 Speaker 1: find finding someone that does something more more ethically hopefully. 553 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:40,080 Speaker 1: And I guess that's kind of like the like slightly 554 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,200 Speaker 1: feel good takeaway lesson of this, Like when something is 555 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 1: that cheap, there is a cost somewhere, yes to someone. Yeah, 556 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:52,600 Speaker 1: And so our co worker Bimbolon wrote an excellent short story. 557 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:55,600 Speaker 1: It's published somewhere. I can't recall where, but I think 558 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,000 Speaker 1: it's some Southern writing magazine. Oh cool. And I just 559 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:02,239 Speaker 1: remember it so well because it was all about a 560 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:06,080 Speaker 1: consumer just reaching foreign orange. But he was telling it 561 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:08,400 Speaker 1: based on like the consumers reaching for the orange, and 562 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:11,600 Speaker 1: then it was sort of what went into getting that 563 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:14,840 Speaker 1: orange to you, and he was describing just like the 564 00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,200 Speaker 1: working conditions and the death so that it took to 565 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:19,640 Speaker 1: and you were making a choice based on price. But 566 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: on the other side of it, there's all there's all 567 00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:23,960 Speaker 1: of stuff, and it's stuck with me. I read it 568 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,440 Speaker 1: years ago and I still think about, Wow, it's very good. Um, 569 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,240 Speaker 1: maybe maybe we can ask him and we can post 570 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,440 Speaker 1: it somewhere. Yeah, we'll see about that. And before we 571 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: closed out this episode, I have two notes Lauren, okay, okay. 572 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:37,800 Speaker 1: The first is mid episode, we had kind of a 573 00:35:38,280 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: crisis of foodstuff crisis where we realized we're not entirely 574 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: sure how to pronounced from Hormel. Yeah. I thought that 575 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: I read somewhere during our research that it's Hormel and wait, 576 00:35:47,800 --> 00:35:49,319 Speaker 1: and I still saying that's the same way I think 577 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:54,480 Speaker 1: you said Hormle. Yeah. Yeah, but we've been saying Hormel. Anyway, 578 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: we were covered and soldiered on because we found no 579 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:01,280 Speaker 1: evidence to suggest otherwise. But we did have him Many crisis. Yeah. 580 00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: And the other thing is I another many crisis I've 581 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: realized is we should have introduced ourselves with spam names. 582 00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: And I'm not willing to go back and rerecord the 583 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:14,680 Speaker 1: end show, but I should have said, Lauren Vogel spam 584 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:22,840 Speaker 1: my name doesn't really lend itself as well. But Bammy rees, yes, okay, 585 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:29,680 Speaker 1: I can dig it. Okay, I can dig it, And 586 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,680 Speaker 1: that brings us to the end of this classic episode. 587 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:34,680 Speaker 1: We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we 588 00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:38,440 Speaker 1: enjoyed doing it. And yes, if you have any I 589 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,600 Speaker 1: mean we both have some spam. So oh yeah, if 590 00:36:41,600 --> 00:36:44,759 Speaker 1: you have a recipe that absolutely needs our attention, yeah, 591 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:51,279 Speaker 1: you send it in, yes please. You can do that 592 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,800 Speaker 1: at hello at saborpod dot com, which is our email. 593 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:57,440 Speaker 1: Uh huh. We are also on social media. You can 594 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,839 Speaker 1: find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at savor pod, 595 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:02,920 Speaker 1: and we do hope to hear from you. Savor is 596 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,040 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts my heart Radio, you 597 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,360 Speaker 1: can visit the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you 598 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,160 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows. Thanks us always to our 599 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:16,200 Speaker 1: superproducers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, 600 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:17,919 Speaker 1: and we hope that lots more good things are coming 601 00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:18,319 Speaker 1: your way.