7 Women Inventors in STEM Who Changed the Way We Eat and Cook
Think about kitchens today and think about kitchens a hundred years ago. Even if we consider the last 50 years, how we cook and what we cook have changed dramatically. From advancements in appliances we use in our homes to the ingredients we can keep on hand for a meal, to the way we cook and clean at home, we have many women inventors to thank for these developments. Here are just 7 of the countless women inventors who have changed the way we eat and cook today. Maybe learning their stories will inspire you to create something new in your kitchen!
Mary Engle Pennington
Thanks to Mary Engle Pennington (1872 - 1952) we don’t all have to be farmers to eat fresh food. Her scientific work in ensuring the safe transport of perishable foods (like eggs!) focused on refrigeration and its impact on food. Pennington earned a PhD in chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 1895, after being initially denied a bachelors degree in chemistry because of her gender. In addition to having been an expert in refrigeration science, Pennington is credited with inventing the egg carton to ship eggs in a safe and sanitary way.
While you marvel at how important the egg carton has been in your own cooking, learn to make Eggs Jeannette from Jacques Pepin. It's a stuffed egg recipe he named after his mother and we think it's a good way to remind ourselves of Mary Engle Pennington's accomplishments. You can watch the video here and find the recipe on PBS Food.
Josephine Cochrane
Broken plates and seemingly endless post-meal cleaning inspired this wonder of modern kitchen technology: the dishwasher. Josephine Cochrane (1839 - 1913) was an American inventor who designed and patented a hand-powered dishwasher in December 1886. Her invention was primarily used in hotels and restaurants during her lifetime, but paved the way for a post-war world where dishwashers became popular and now-commonplace home appliances. We appreciate this alternative to hand-washing dishes more than Cochrane could ever know.
Note: We have found her name spelled as both Cochrane and Cochran in historical accounts.
Florence Parpart
Do you know the work of inventor Florence Parpart? You might not say her name often in your home, but you probably use her invention daily. In fact, it might be in use 24/7 because Parpart (1873 - 1930) patented the electrical refrigerator in 1914. That beautiful appliance that keeps our food fresh and our leftovers safe to eat the next day. Parpart, who filed patents under her married Layman, was a trained stenographer who actually filed several patents, but as a co-inventor because women commonly listed male co-inventors on paperwork to curb bias against women. She kept on inventing despite the roadblocks and we are so thankful.
While we’re thanking Florence Parpart for her ingenuity, here’s a video to help you get your refrigerator organized! (No shade, y’all.)
Rose Totino
Rose Totino (1915 - 1994) was already a successful restaurateur in Minneapolis when they started selling frozen pizzas in 1962. Then she elevated the game in 1979 when she patented a frozen pizza crust that maintained its crispness and deliciousness when baked. We recognize Totino as a titan of frozen pizza and a trailblazer in convenience food technology. We don’t know where we’d be - even who we would be, honestly - without her work because a generation or two of us were likely sustained by Totino's frozen pizzas for a while there.
Nancy Johnson
Ice cream! You scream. Let’s all scream for Nancy Johnson, the inventor of an ice cream maker that allowed for efficient and easy ice cream production! Johnson (1794 - 1890) was a housewife turned inventor, who was living in Philadelphia when she filed the 1843 patent for the “artificial freezer,” a hand-cranked ice cream churn that would set a path towards the billion dollar ice cream industry we know today.
In honor of Nancy Johnson, would you consider making ice cream at home? Here's a recipe for mint and chocolate ice cream that will make any day better.
Virginia Holsinger
Lactose-intolerant friends have Virginia Holsinger (1937 - 2009) to thank for having lactose-free dairy foods readily available in supermarkets. She was a food scientist whose research on enzymes and digestion contributed to the creation of nutritious powder milk substitutes that were used to help sustain military soldiers in the field and people in need of humanitarian assistance around the world.
Holsinger earned a chemistry degree from the College of William and Mary in 1958, worked within the U.S. Department of Agriculture for years, and later earned her PhD in food science and nutrition from The Ohio State University in 1980. Her specialized work revolutionized the ways people can eat and digest dairy products.
Lillian Gilbreth
Lillian Gilbreth (1878-1972) was an engineer whose workplace efficiency studies led to numerous inventions for the modern-day kitchen. Gilbreth invented the foot-pedal trashcan, for example. It’s something so ubiquitous now that we might not always think about how disposing of waste might have looked without it. Then there’s the electric mixer, which cut food preparation time drastically for all home cooks. And those shelves in your refrigerator door, well those were also non-existent before Lilian Gilbreth applied her industrial engineering and psychology degrees. Imagine where all our condiments would go without her invention! Seriously though, those are just a few of Gilbreth’s inventions and most of them targeted the kitchen and how we cook and feed our families because as a woman who was also a leading industrial engineer, she was expected to be a homemaker first and foremost. In other firsts: Gilbreth was the first woman elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the first female engineering professor at Purdue University.
Learn more about Lillian Gilbreth's life, including some disturbing views on race, and her accomplishments from American Masters.
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