Slate takes a look at the recent upswing in food-canning but does so from a decidedly urban angle. Writer Sara Dickerman wonders whether DIY preservation actually saves money or if it's just a way for food bloggers to pat themselves on the back, get some bloggable material out of the activity, and showboat online. Nowhere in the article, though, does it address the fact that many people do indeed have access to homegrown produce and that even in this day and age of commercially canned foods, many folks still do it themselves out of necessity. More

Though pickling, freeze-drying, smoking, and other forms of food preservation were a way of survival before, now they've become more of fun, crafty projects. The kitchen has become a workshop space for food lovers to produce artisanal, hand-labeled creations. But how much do you really know about the work that goes into it? More