34° IN THE CHILL ROOM 

 Where meat U cooled before cutting and steaks may be aged to get that special flavor. 



Cold Storage 



ocKers 



By R. W. BALDERSTON 



J^ T IS less than six years since the 



Ui first cold storage locker plant was 

 \^_J installed in this country. Since 

 then the idea has had a tremendous 

 growth; today there are more than 1,500 

 cold storage locker plants operating in 

 the United States, and several hundred 

 more are under construction. Plants now 

 in op>eration are serving half a million 

 families, and if the present rate of growth 

 continues, it will be only a few years 

 until locker plants will be the most im- 

 portant factor in handling meats (also 

 fruits and vegetables) in farm commu- 

 nities. 



A movement which has grown like 

 this is one worthy of study. Why do 

 locker plants fit into rural economy? 

 What basic principles of value to farm- 

 ers have they developed? Is the growth 

 sound and normal, or is it unhealthy 

 mushrooming? Are the plants of real 

 benefit to American farmers? 



Locker plants are an outgrowth of 

 the practice of bringing fresh meat in 

 quarters to a cold storage plant for freez- 

 ing until ready for use. From this point 

 it was quite logical to have cold storage 

 rooms where the patron had a locker, to 

 which no one else had access, in which he 



could store meat which was cut into 

 steaks and chops before freezing. 



The locker plant of today's design 

 differs as much from the first installa- 

 tions as a modern automobile from the 

 primitive one-lungers that are on exhibi- 

 tion in museums. It has a locker room 

 where the temperature is held exactly at 

 ten degrees above zero — the fluctuation 

 is never more than three degrees. It has 

 a sharp freeze room where a sub-zero 

 temperature freezes products so rapidly 

 that there is no deterioration in navor 

 or texture. It has a chill room held 

 steadily at thirty-four degrees where meat 

 is cooled before cutting and where some 

 patrons age beef until it has the special 

 flavor characteristic of the steaks served 

 in high priced hotels and restaurants. 

 It is, in short, a plant designed and built 

 by expert engineers who have digested 

 and put into practice the theoretical ma- 

 terial on frozen foods that has been 

 developed by dozens of scientific re- 

 searchers in the past few years. 



Locker plants have been successful 

 primarily because of their dol'ar and cent 

 value to farmers. Until they came into 

 use most farmers had only from one to 

 three months a year in which they could 



butcher; during the rest of the year they 

 ate canned or cured meat or bought fresh 

 meat at retail. Canned meat, nine months 

 of the year, is a tiresome diet for anyone, 

 and the farmer who has to buy his fresh 

 meat is put in the position of buying at 

 retail but selling at wholesale. Figures 

 collected by the Bureau of Agricultural 

 Economics in the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture show just how unfortunate 

 this position is for the farmer. 



In the summer of 1936 beef prices on 

 the farm ranged from 4i/2C to 7I/2C per 

 pound, live weight. Using the highest 

 figure, this works out at about 121/2^ per 

 pound, dressed weight. At the same 

 time the general average retail price for 

 beef was 26I/2C per pound. Now, a 

 farmer patronizing a locker plant will 

 pay an average of about 2c per pound, 

 dressed weight, for processing, freezing 

 and storage, raising the cost of his fresh 

 meat to 141/2C per pound. The average 

 farm family uses about 1 ,000 pounds of 

 meat a year — his saving by a locker 

 plant is approximately $120 each year, 

 and he has the advantage of having the 

 finest of tenderized meat all the year 

 around. 



He makes other savings, too. Feed, 

 especially in years like this, is expensive; 

 and a pen of steers may be ready in July. 

 To feed one head until winter butchering 

 season will cost far more than locker 

 rental. Thus the farmer who kills in 

 mid-summer for winter use is saving his 

 locker rent in feed bills alone. Then, 

 there is always the question of spoilage. 

 A day or two of warm weather may ruin 

 500 pounds of meat during farm butcher- 

 ing. With a locker plant this risk is 



HOW ABOUT A NICE RIB ROAST . 

 and a can of peas for supper tonight. 



S^ 



L A. A. RECORD 



