Fifth Grade
Worksheets
Clarence Birdseye
Clarence Birdseye
Reading Comprehension for December 9
Has anyone in your family put a package of frozen spinach in the microwave? Did they serve it to you for dinner? If they did then you can say, "Thank you, Clarence Birdseye." He was the first person to successfully freeze food that could be packaged and eaten later. The amazing part is there was no loss of taste or quality.
Clarence Birdseye was born on December 9, 1886. He was a naturalist at heart. That means he was very interested in plants and animals. He set out to study nature at Amherst College in the early 1900's. Unfortunately, he ran out of money and had to drop out of college. It was then he turned to business. He became a fur trader in 1912. His job led him to Canada for five years.
While in Canada, Birdseye made a startling new discovery. Because the winters were extremely cold, the Eskimos could freeze meat and seafood easily. He found that food frozen in the coldest part of the winter retained more flavor. Upon further study, he learned that the food froze more quickly in the dead of winter. It froze so quickly, ice crystals didn't have time to form. The cell walls were not damaged. When the food was thawed, it had all its flavor and color intact. Birdseye called this "quick freezing."
