Hmm.... not sure I totally buy this. Insulated, iced, box cars were being used to ship meat and fruit in the USA before 1900. My recollection is that pretty early on, the various express companies were operating ice manufacturing plants where it was impractical to harvest natural ice. Southern California, for instance -- places that grow oranges well, and are naturally semi-arid, don't have many opportunities for harvesting natural ice.
Toitally agree, though, that it is an economic decision. It's a classic case of shipping costs dominating the cost of the product. I remember an Econ 101 lecture where the example was ready-mix concrete plants. Wet concrete can not be shipped far because it is outrageously heavy, and therefore costly to ship, and secondly it is highly perishable -- if it sets up in the truck you have neither a product nor a truck :/ (And you *especially* don't have a truck if you let the Myth Busters clean it for you....)