A Bygone Era?
The old Smithfield cannery is a perfect microcosm of the overall trend of Utah's produce agriculture over the decades. At the very beginning, all farming was by nature sustenance farming. If early settlers wanted apples, they would need to be grown and preserved locally. This led a wide array of independent companies that specialized in canning a handful of products, just as the Morgan Canning Co. based in Morgan, and the Varney Canning Co. based in Roy. Cultivating a large variety of crops was simply the culture in the relatively young state of Utah; it was a way of life.
Growing produce in an unfriendly, semi-desert Utah climate was constantly fraught with hardship. We've explored the effects of the Great Depression on Utah, and saw that even before the Dust Bowl, Utah had saw several devastating cold snaps. These factors resulted in many farmers simply shutting down shop. Small, independent canneries closed down in the wake of supermarkets, larger companies, and faster transportation. Less individual companies ushered in heavier federal oversight of the industry, which regulated the rest of the local canneries out of existence. Farming and canning locally was simply no longer a requirement. Why can your own blackberries when you can get fresh batches shipped from California at your local supermarket? On this blog, we've seen produce agriculture in Utah take quite the journey from cultural staple to practically nonexistent. Today, Utah only grows 3% of its produce.
The End Is Never The End
All right, you may ask. If it's all gone, then what's the point? The answer is simple - Utah's agricultural heyday for fruits and vegetables may have passed, but there is still a lot of value in those who remain. To understand this, we have to look to farther than in Cache Valley. The Zollinger Fruit and Tree Farm has operated for over a century. It's located just a few miles directly south of Utah State University, and was founded in 1904, years before the Morgan Canning Co. formed. Today, you can still find their apple cider in stores as a reminder that locally-grown produce can be a source of cultural pride.
And even if certain crops may not be grown in Utah, the art of canning isn't quite dead. I myself volunteered twice a week at an Ogden-based charity cannery which processed truckloads of Idaho-sourced green beans and corn. The future is uncertain enough that we may need to farm for sustenance once again. That is why keeping the tradition alive here in Utah is important, and why land grant institutions like Utah State University preserve important knowledge. Urban sprawl and the march of progress may have put certain practices on the back burner for now, but everyone needs to eat, and I believe the traditions should be carried on to benefit future generations.
Sources
Gregory, Ruth West. "Those Good Peas: The Morgan Canning Company in Smithfield, UT." Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 36, no. 2, 1968, pp. 169-77.
Strack, Don. "Utah's Canning Industry." Utah History Encyclopedia. https://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/c/CANNING.shtml. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.
Iber, Jorge. "'El diablo nos esta llevando': Utah Hispanics and the Great Depression." Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 66, no. 2, Spring 1998, pp. 159-77.
“Poll: Utahns Hungry for More Locally Produced Foods.” The Salt Lake Tribune, https://www.sltrib.com/news/2015/08/17/poll-utahns-hungry-for-more-locally-produced-foods/. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
“ABOUT.” ZOLLINGER FRUIT & TREE FARM, https://www.zollingerfarm.com/about. Accessed 8 Aug. 2025.