Each year during the gardening season, Edmonson County residents reach out to the Edmonson County Cooperative Extension Service with questions about food preservation. Families often wish to save money by preserving fresh produce. According to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services Data Book(2015) 21.2% of Edmonson County families live below poverty and there were 2,191 SNAP recipients whose average benefits were $240.95 per month.

Since 2015 the FCS Agent has scheduled multiple food preservation classes for adults and youth. In addition, the FCS agent has distributed handouts at local events, used social media to share food preservation information, and advertised pressure canner testing in the local newspaper and social media.

In December of 2017 the FCS Agent reached out to former food preservation class participants and asked them to take part in the survey via mail or phone interview. Questions related to their food preservation in the past year and were taken from the SNAP Garden survey.

According to the data collected from 15 families:

• Seven families/caregivers reporting supplementing their diets with healthy foods that they preserved
• 137 pints of fruits, vegetables or fruit/vegetable products (pickles, jams, jellies, sauces) were canned through water bath canning
• 582 pints of vegetables, soups, meats, or other value-added products were canned through pressure canning
• 670 pints of fruits or vegetables were frozen
• 62 pints of fruits or vegetables were dried.

In addition, three families completed homebased processor applications. One family reported an additional income of $300 thru the sale of homebased processor products.