The “Minute Meals with Swift’s Premium Canned Meats” was produced by Swift Canadian, involving the meat packing industry and the production of canned foods. The history of the meat packing industry and the production of canned goods arose after a need for innovation during war periods and significantly impacted the culinary world as we know it.

Founded in 1908, Swift Canadian Corporation, Limited became one of the three most popular meat packing companies across Canada. During World War I, meat packing took off in response to the significance of prem in the home-front war effort. As a trademark product of Swift Canadian, prem, similar to spam, is easy to distribute to large groups for cheap.

As one of the largest meat packaging companies, Swift was known for slaughtering all species of animals, such as hogs, cattle, calves, and lambs. Since its creation, Swift, although starting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, expanded its plants across Canada, including plants in Edmonton, and Lethbridge, Alberta. In the 1980’s Swift merged and became a part of Maple Leaf Foods, which leads in producing hog meat and is the parent company to 19 different brands.

They were also known for their fictitious spokeswomen on the cover of the cookbooklet, Martha Logan, who provided housewives with information on cooking meat, as well as general advice for the kitchen. Martha Logan was also heard on the radio and seen on TV, much like Betty Crocker. Until 1945, when Swift Canadian hired their own home-economists to act as Martha Logan, Marth Logan represented purely American home-economists. These new employees were in charge of adapting materials from the Chicago Kitchen, to fit Canadian standards. Meanwhile, the first face of the Canadian Martha Logan was Marjorie Josephine Ellis, who had graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics and was the president of the Toronto Home Economics Association. By using a fictitious character, Swift Canadian was able to engage their audience, creating a sense of community and put her on the covers of cookbooklets like “Swift’s Premium Canned Meats” to draw in the audience that adored her.  

Canned meat was a necessary development in cookery. Since the Civil War era, Americans have canned foods in order to bring large quantities of food to soldiers, especially pork and beans, and sweetened condensed milk. Over time, the usage of canned foods increased, reaching thirty million canned products produced yearly by 1870’s – a decade before Swift’s Premium Canned Meat was even advertised. The usage of canned foods for soldiers on the war front coincides with Martha Logan’s promise that Swift’s Premium Canned Meats are great for outdoor adventures, as they are easy to store, and make, and as stated by Ralph Borsodi, an agrarian theorist, “the elevator made the skyscraper possible; the package has made the kitchenette home possible.” (Otter & Helstocky 223).