"Look no further than frozen vegetables for a reliable answer to a quick and tasty meal - especially the Normandy blend. This familiar crowd-pleaser usually mixes broccoli florets with carrots, cauliflower florets, yellow squash, and zucchini, and has absolutely nothing to do with Normandy, France. This flash-frozen shortcut just has a fancy name - one that has more to do with marketing than a specific region. The name emerged around the mid-1990s and got picked up by Birds Eye in the early 2000s,"
"For the first time, customers could see bags of frozen vegetables stacked neatly in a cold display case. But it took time for them to come around, partly because many families grew vegetables in the 1940s. Also, only about half of Americans could afford a luxury like a freezer during World War II. Once the '50s hit and home gadgets like refrigerators with freezer compartments were sold more frequently, supermarkets started introducing their own products, and in-house frozen vegetable brands were in high demand."
Normandy blend combines broccoli florets, carrots, cauliflower florets, yellow squash, and zucchini. The Normandy name functions as a marketing label rather than a geographic origin. The name appeared in the mid-1990s and was adopted by Birds Eye in the early 2000s. Clarence Birdseye developed quick-freezing technology and patented the Quick Freeze Machine, enabling a range of frozen foods. Early frozen vegetables faced slow consumer adoption because many families grew produce and fewer households owned freezers during World War II. The 1950s rise of refrigerators with freezer compartments and supermarket brands popularized mixed frozen vegetables as TV-dinner sides and casserole ingredients.
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