32 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●APRIL 2020
Why does
soda come
in liters?
A rivalry between
Coke and Pepsi
led to all thoseIn the 1970s, Pepsi tried
to develop a bottle that
looked different from Coke’s
iconic glass one. Pepsi used
plastic to create a new,
larger bottle and measured
it in liters at a time when
the US was flirting with
going metric. Consumers
loved it, and other soda
brands, Coke included, soon
followed.3 Reasons
We Missed
the Metric
Boat
1 Other countries were
adopting metric in the late
1700s, but the US couldn′t
decide and ended up without
standard measurements until
the 1800s. As a result, each
colony had its own system of
weights and measurements—
a bushel of oats weighed
32 pounds in New Jersey
but only 28 pounds in
Connecticut.2 Pirates may be to blame for
the US not adopting the metric
system. They stole measuring
tools from a French aristocrat
en route to help Secretary
of State Thomas Jefferson
persuade Congress to
implement the metric system in
1794, so the Frenchman never
got to make his presentation.3 George Washington was
an early advocate for the
system. But Congress didn’t
pursue it, partly because
England, one of our top
trading nations, didn’t use
the metric system at the time.who’s with us?
Only five other countries
have shied away from the
metric system.LIBERIA*
MARSHALL ISLANDS
MICRONESIA
MYANMAR*
PALAU
*THE GOVERNMENTS OF LIBERIA AND MYANMAR
ARE REPORTEDLY PREPARING TO GO METRIC.Mission: Metric!
Elizabeth Benham is
the metric coordinator
at the National
Institute of Standards
and Technology.
Q: You’ve spent the past 14 years
encouraging people to use the
metric system. How’s that going?
A: Better than you might think—
we use the metric system more
than you realize. I’ve noticed more
cookbooks coming out with metric
recipes, too.
Q: Be honest: Do you use
the metric system in your
everyday life?
A: I set my car’s GPS to kilometers
and sometimes I cook with metric
units at home—I use a kitchen scale.he United States is the only developed country that doesn’t
predominantly use the metric system for measurement. Much
of the world got on board in the 1700s and 1800s, but we stuck
with our own system, measuring in tablespoons and cups, pints and
pounds for centuries. At this point we might never get around to
adopting the metric system, but it has migrated into our collective
consciousness more than you might realize: Nutritional labels are
listed in grams, wine comes in 750-ml bottles and runners are plenty
familiar with 5K and 10K races. Why haven’t we gone further?in the know
Alex Guarnaschelli
SOMETIMES
“I am a believer in the
metric system and
cooking by weight
in general. At my
restaurant, Butter, where the scale
of the recipes is much larger, we
use the metric system. For home
cooking and baking, I don’t.”Alton Brown
YES
“I combine
weights (metric
no less) with
standard
volumetric measurements—
that is, tablespoons—in the
same recipe.” (From his book
EveryDayCook)Bobby Flay
NO
“I admit
the metric
system
makes way
more sense, but I just never
got around to using it.
It’s too late for me now!”Do you use the metric system in your kitchen?The Stars Weigh In
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