Over half of all respondents did not claim a season 

 during which they served canned fish and shellfish most often* 

 This emphasizes the "year around" part canned fishery products 

 play in the American menu. 



The households claiming specific seasons during which 

 they served canned fishery products most often, are almost even- 

 ly divided between spring, summer and winter with very few men- 

 tioning fall as the major season. This fact could be interpreted 

 as defining three uses of canned fisher;/ products which have 

 seasonal implication, i.e., 



a. As a menu supplement during meatless periods 

 such as Lent (SPRING) 



b. Hot weather salad dishes (SUMMER) 



c. Substitute for other less available food (WINTER) 



The characteristics of households claiming a season 

 during which they served canned fishery products more often il- 

 lustrate these influences. ?or instance: 



SPRING: More households in Northeast and North 

 Central - more households in the metropolitan 

 areas claim this season. 



SUMMER: More households in the metropolitan 

 areas with less availability of fresh vegetables, 

 etc., for all- salad purposes claim this season. 

 More households in the higher income groups with 

 their higher use of shrimp and crab meat largely 

 used for salads are in this group. 



VJINTER: A far higher proportion of non-metropolitan 

 and rural households claim winter as the season 

 when they served canned fishery products more often. 

 This reflects their lesser use of canned fish as a 

 Lenten or summar salad dish, and their greater de- 

 pendence on fresh foods during the other months 

 of the year. 



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