Heritage skills and an interest in how food is created has become very popular over the last decade.  Cooking and preservation skills not only allow individuals to stretch their food dollars, but also allows them to select what ingredients are used in their foods, and ultimately what foods are consumed by their family and friends. 

In keeping with the health benefits and economic benefits of cooking and preserving one’s own food, the Breathitt County Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Agent, Kayla Watts, along with the Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Agent, Reed Graham, partnered to educate clientele in the skill of making summer sausage.  Recipes for the summer sausage workshops were in keeping with proper food preservation practices and were provided by Dr. Gregg Rentfrow, University of Kentucky Animal Science /Meat Specialist.

5, 2-hour workshops were conducted where participants learned about food safety, food preparation, and food preservation.  Once the lecture and demonstration were completed by the Extension Agents, clients were given the opportunity to create their own roll of summer sausage which would be smoked by the ANR Agent and picked up at a later date.

Over 50 people participated in the workshops including adults and youth. Most participants indicated that they had never processed meat prior to the workshop.  During the creation of their summer sausage, participants demonstrated food handling/safety skills, as well as, indicated that they understood food safety practices for sausage once taking it home to consume.  One participant stated, “I had no idea the process was this easy,” and “I plan to do this with my family as an educational activity over the holidays.”  

Heritage skills, specifically preparing and preserving food, are interesting and applicable to clientele because they allow people to choose a safe way to consume foods and allow clients to save money on their food dollars.  The summer sausage workshops provided by the Breathitt County Extension Agents allowed participants to save money and safely control the types of foods consumed by families all throughout the county.