Success StoryFood Preservation



Food Preservation

Author: Brooke Hogancamp

Planning Unit: Carlisle County CES

Major Program: Food Preservation

Plan of Work: Nutrition and Food Access, Physical Activity, Health and Wellness, and Personal Safety

Outcome: Long-Term Outcome

The residents of Carlisle County live in a food desert.  Having only 2 supermarket locations available for the entire county, access to fresh produce is limited.  Many residents resort to home gardening to fill this need.  In an effort to provide residents with a way to make their freshly grown produce last beyond harvest and stretch their food dollars, a 3 day food preservation workshop was offered.

Six participants completed the 2019 Carlisle County Food Preservation Program where they were taught the pressure canning, water bath canning, freezing and drying methods of food preservation.  Half (50%) of the participants reported never, rarely or sometimes using food preservation methods prior to the program.  Participants said that they learned about the program through the Homemaker Newsletter, Facebook, friends, and the Extension website.  The reasons given by most participants for choosing to attend the program were because of a desire to learn (100%), to improve their skills (80%), for personal accomplishment (80%), and to interact with others (60%)*.  One participant wrote that she attended the program because she wanted to make sure that she was “doing it right”.

End of program evaluation results indicate an increase in food preservation skills.  All participants (100%) agreed or strongly agreed they had better skills in home food preservation methods, could identify the necessary equipment for home food preservation methods, could accurately prepare foods and containers for home food preservation, could identify the correct method for canning low acid and high acid foods and could identify spoilage in home preserved products after the program.

Over half of the participants (67%) reported growing a garden this year, and are planting in a total of over 5,000 square feet of garden area.  One participant commented that the class “was fantastic!”  There were no suggestions for improvement.






Stories by Brooke Hogancamp


Best Start Family Event

Best Start Family Event

about 4 months ago by Brooke Hogancamp

The mission of the Governors Office of Early Childhood is to provide leadership and direction for th... Read More


Carlisle County Senior Citizens Cook Through the Calendar

Carlisle County Senior Citizens Cook Through the Calendar

about 6 months ago by Brooke Hogancamp

In the 2019 Carlisle County Community Needs Assessment report, community members recognized more sen... Read More


Stories by Carlisle County CES


Drones -Winter Ag Conference 2024

Drones -Winter Ag Conference 2024

about 3 months ago by Chuck Flowers

.Carlisle County has over 36,000 acres of soybeans and 28,000 acres of corn producing over 74 millio... Read More


Best Start Family Event

Best Start Family Event

about 4 months ago by Brooke Hogancamp

The mission of the Governors Office of Early Childhood is to provide leadership and direction for th... Read More