Canning Factories

My local factory was the Del Monte canning plant (peas and corn) in Sleepy Eye, MN, but there are others as well - Green Giant in Le Seuer, for example. Their impact on Minnesota - as purchasers of farm products, as employment sites in small towns, and as producers of food for the world - is of ongoing importance, and has been for at least half of the state's existence. I believe many started in the 1930s. Also significantly, they have long provided seasonal employment for many otherwise stay-at-home women, have motivated teenagers to go to college (the work being often hot and messy), and have provided a social milieu which resulted in more than one marriage!
~Janet Keysser, Golden Valley, MN