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Before refrigeration became widespread, communities relied on salting, drying, smoking, and fermenting to keep food edible through winter months. Salt draws water out of tissue, starving the bacteria that cause spoilage, while smoke deposits compounds that resist microbial growth. Fermentation instead encourages helpful bacteria to outcompete harmful ones, producing acids that lower pH and preserve vegetables like cabbage for months. These methods were rarely used in isolation; fish might be both salted and smoked, and dairy was frequently fermented into cheese to extend its usable life far beyond that of fresh milk. Modern food scientists have revisited these traditional techniques, finding that many preserved foods also gain nutritional benefits, such as increased vitamin availability, that fresh versions lack.