According to USDA: Food Atlas, Cumberland County has 2 grocery stores, 8  convenience stores, 3 fast food restaurants and 6 full service  restaurants. There are also 2 Farmer's Markets. Furthermore, according to the 2013 County Health  Rankings, 13.2% of adults have Diabetes and 33.4% of adults are obese in  the county. Both of these rates are higher than the average for  Kentucky. Fresh food is vital to combating these high numbers. However, there is limited access to fresh foods in Cumberland County. This decreases even more in the winter months.

Therefore, the Family and Consumer Sciences agent conducted a series on food preservation. The purpose of the series was to teach research based methods for preserving harvest from personal gardens or farmer's markets so that safe food can be enjoyed year round; to demonstrate ways to gain more control about what is put into food by limiting salt, sugar and preservatives; to help save money; to teach families how to continue family traditions of canning in a safe way; and to help individuals gain a sense of personal satisfaction from home canning.

The series focused on freezing fruits, water bath basics and preserving tomatoes. Eighteen individuals participated in the series. Three of the eighteen had never been to an Extension program before. Evaluations showed that 64% planned to use the skills learned to save money; 78% had a desire to preserve their own foods at home ; and 64% wanted to improve current skills. After the Food Preservation series, evaluations showed that 70% could identify foods that do/do not freeze well; 80% could identify proper packing methods; 90% could correctly identify proper equipment and tools for food preservation; 77% could identify research based methods for food preservation; 77% could correctly differentiate between high and low acid foods; 89% could identify correct methods for canning high and low acid foods and 88% could identify signs of spoilage in home canned foods.

Three month follow-up evaluations were mailed to participants with 50% completing and returning. Of the nine participants who returned the evaluation, 8 had grown a garden. From gardens grown, 160 quarts and 163 pints were preserved and participants estimated saving approximately $820.