Lawrence County Food Preservation Workshop 2018

According to the data collected by Kentucky HealthFacts.org, over 1/3 of Lawrence County’s Population is in less than good health. This is an 11% higher rate than Kentucky’s population of adults in less than good health. With this knowledge in mind, the Lawrence County FCS Agent worked in collaboration with the Nutrition Education Program (NEP) to present a 3 day Food Preservation Workshop. The workshops included educational information on: saving money, reducing food waste, limiting sugar and salt, following family traditions but using safe researched methods, and making a better tasting product.

The Lawrence County Food Preservation Program was held at the Lawrence county Extension Office. Participants learned the pressure canning, water bath canning, freezing and drying methods of food preservation. Prior to this class, half (50%) of the participants reported using food preservation methods never or rarely. Most (75%) of the participants said that they learned about the program via the Homemaker newsletter and a few also heard about it via email or from a friend. All (100%) of the participants chose to attend the program because of a desire to learn and most (75%) also participated because of interests in heritage skills and to save money.

There was some increase in self-reported skill levels from pre-test to posttest. The greatest gains were for the water bath canning and drying method, with 50% reporting an increased skill level from beginner to intermediate by the end of the class. All participants (100%) agreed that they can identify the necessary equipment for home food preservation methods, can understand the differences between and identify the correct method for canning low acid and high acid foods, can identify research-based methods of home food preservation, can identify spoilage in home preserved products and have better skills in home food preservation methods following the program. All four of the participants reported growing gardens this year.

Suggestions for program improvement included one participant wanting to use different and new recipes in the future and another suggested that advertising for the class should include the different types of methods taught and not the foods preserved.