Aunt Sammy faded out during the Great Depression. After 1934 the name Aunt Sammy was no longer used. The radio show became drier and more factual and was renamed “Homemaker Chats.” In 1946 it was discontinued.
Today, consumers are still looking to USDA for information on how to make the best use of the food available to them. A research program in the Consumer and Food Economics Institute of the Science and Education Administration provides the basis for numerous laboratory-tested recipes.
Current recipes emphasize time-saving techniques, moneysaving ingredients, and good nutrition. Taste panels are used to evaluate new recipes.
Ruth Van Deman, one of the authors of the original “Aunt Sammy’s Radio Recipes.” Fannie Walker Yeatman was the other author.
Research has provided a group of publications for the consumer on specific foods such as fruits, vegetables, eggs, beef, poultry, cheese, milk, and soybeans. The series is designed to give information about buying, storing, and using specific commodities. These and other publications help consumers use a wide variety of foods to obtain nutritious, appetizing, and economical meals.
Providing directions for home canning and freezing is another service of the Consumer and Food Economics Institute. Publications give safe procedures for preserving fruits, vegetables, meats, and poultry. Many thousands of these publications have been distributed to consumers, and the procedures have been widely used by others who make recommendations to the public about food preservation. Still other publications tell how to store food properly for maximum quality and safety.
This 50th anniversary recipe collection includes recipes from current publications and a selection of recipes from the first edition of “Aunt Sammy’s Radio Recipes.” All of these recipes have been retested in the laboratory and found acceptable by taste panels.