Diabetes prompts Marble Falls doctor to start canning; workshop is May 10

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

MARBLE FALLS — Whenever Dr. Ray Spaw checked out the ingredients of soups and canned goods he pulled off grocery shelves, he didn’t exactly like what he found.

So Spaw took matters into his own hands. He started canning.

Canning isn’t exactly something people envision a physician doing, but, after dabbling in it a bit, Spaw quickly found he enjoyed it. And now he wants to share the benefits of canning with others during his program, “Canning For Your Health,” on May 10 at Backbone Valley Nursery in Tobeyville at 10:30 a.m.

“I just kind of got into it because I have diabetes,” Spaw said. “I started reading the cans and saw all the additives like high-fructose corn syrup and salt, and they weren’t really good for my health.”

But Spaw enjoyed many foods found in cans.

“I just started canning stuff,” he said.

Canning, a way of preserving food in airtight containers, dates to the 18th century when Napoleon Bonaparte, the emperor of France, needed ways to keep his armies fed. A man named Nicholas Appert came up with the idea of preserving foods in bottles similar to how wine was preserved. It took him about 15 years to nail down the process, but he did.

An Englishman named Peter Durand tweaked the process before fellow countrymen Bryan Dorkin and John Hall set up the first commercial canning operation. Today, canned foods make up a significant part of many Americans’ diets.

Spaw, however, discovered he didn’t have to put the additives found in commercial products into his home-canned foods.

“You put in what you want,” he said. “When you can stuff, you know exactly what went into it.”

This means you control your health by controlling what you eat — even with preserved foods.

As Spaw’s enjoyment of canning grew, he began experimenting with foods he used. That alone fueled his interests in the process.

“I discovered I could make things you can’t find anywhere else,” Spaw said. “Since I started canning, I’ve become more interested in cooking as well.”

Spaw can cook up a batch of chili and then can it. So he can pull some out after a day at work, heat it up and it’s ready to go.

One of the things Spaw missed dearly was pickles. The additives in most commercial pickles made them unhealthy for Spaw because of his diabetes. Now, he cans his own pickles without the extra salt (the key is the vinegar).

During the program at Backbone Valley Nursery, Spaw will go over the basics of canning.

“I’ll hit all the big things,” he said. “Honestly, it’s a lot simpler than people think. There’s just a few things you have to watch out for.”

But a little extra time preparing foods could open up a world of flavors and health.

Call Backbone Valley Nursery at (830) 693-9348. The nursery is located at 4201 FM 1980, north of RR 1431 between Marble Falls and Granite Shoals.

daniel@thepicayune.com