The problem- Grow Appalachia group of farmers are required to attend a Food Preservation class as a part of their educational experience with the program.  The ANR Agent asked that I teach the class to demonstrate how to water bath can and pressure can. 

The educational program response-As a result, I prepared a class where I would demonstrate these food preservation techniques, pressure canning green beans and water bath canning grape jelly.  With the help of our administrative assistant, I prepared bound booklets with all of the latest University of Kentucky publications about canning fresh fruits and vegetables. 

The participants/target audience- We hosted two classes for the clients, one at 10:00 AM, which had 15 participants, and one at 5:30 PM, with 45 participants.  The audience was a mixture of young and old, male and female, and were of different stages of knowledge.  Some of the participants had preserved food for many years, and many had never preserved food or raised a garden.  

Other partners (if applicable)- Our Senior SNAP Assistant helped with the class, providing an extra set of hands in the canning process.  She also provide SNAP incentives to those who participated

Program impact or participant response- Because of the funding of the Grow Appalachia grant, we were able to provide each Grow Appalachia participant with a case of canning jars, a canning tool kit, and the SNAP incentives, in addition to the book of UK Food Preservation booklets.  Many questions were asked and much praise offered for the offering of the class.  In addition, clients had continued to seek information through telephone calls and office visits, now that they realize that the information is available to them for free.  Several of the clients have also learned about that availability of fresh produce through our Farmers' Market and have made frequent visits there to purchase additional fruits and vegetables, which they many not have grown to add to their bounty.