Food Preservation is one of Warren County’s most requested program topics. It is also the subject matter that Kristi Shive, Warren County Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences, receives the most calls and questions about. Many people in the community have a garden, but do not know how to safely preserve their produce.

 In response to this community need, Kristi offered a Food Preservation Workshop for beginners. Kristi partnered with Community Education to advertise the program in their seasonal community catalog. The workshop was a two-day program that consisted of hands-on learning. Day one focused on the introduction to canning. The information covered included: Benefits of canning, equipment needed for pressure canning, principles/science, testing/examining equipment, and food safety/food storage. Kristi led participants through the process of canning green beans. Kristi and participants followed the recipes on page 111 from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving. Day two focused on the water bath process. Kristi led participants in canning bread and butter pickles, berry jelly, and freezer jam. All recipes were found in the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.

Preprogram and End of Program Evaluations were conducted. Before the program, 70% of participants reported having “Never or rarely” used the food preservation method. 90% of participants rated their skill level as “beginner”. After the program, 90% of participants reported an increase in their skill level in pressure canning, water bath canning, freezing, and drying. A quote from a participant, “This workshop has been wonderful. I have learned so much!”