Participants of the 2018 Bracken County Food Preservation Program learned the pressure canning, water bath canning, freezing and drying methods of food preservation.  Participants said that they learned about the program via the Homemaker Newsletter, on Facebook, on the Extension website, and through a friend.  Participants chose to attend the program because of a desire to learn, in order to improve skills, to use the skills to earn and save money, to interact with others and for personal accomplishment.  

            End of program evaluation results indicate an increase in food preservation skills.  Two participants reported that their skill levels in freezing and drying had increased from ‘beginner’ to ‘intermediate’ after the program.  All participants (100%) agreed they had better skills in home preservation methods and could identify spoilage in home preserved products.  All participants strongly agreed that they could identify research-based methods of home food preservation, understood the difference between low acid and high acid foods, could identify the necessary equipment for home food preservation methods, and could accurately prepare foods and containers for home food preservation following the program.  One participant reported growing a garden this year, planting a quarter of an acre (10,890 square feet).  

            Comments from participants indicated that they thought the program was great and that the instructors were very knowledgeable.There were no suggestions for improvements.