The Warren County Family & Consumer Science Agent, 4-H Youth Development Agent, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Educator partnered together to provide a Food Preservation Workshop.  Six participants completed the 2019 Warren County Food Preservation Program where they were taught the pressure canning, water bath canning, freezing and drying methods of food preservation.  Over half (57%) of the participants were new to Cooperative Extension programming.  Over half (57%) of the participants reported using food preservation methods sometimes prior to the program, and 43% reported using food preservation methods quite often.  Participants said that they learned about the program through Facebook, email, friends, family and the Extension website.  The reasons given by most participants for choosing to attend the program were because of a desire to learn (63%), to use the skills to save money (63%) and to improve their skills (63%)*.

End of program evaluation results indicate some increase in food preservation skills even with the previous experience reported by participants.  Before and after the program, participants self-report their skill level for each method as either ‘beginner’, ‘intermediate’ or ‘experienced’.  Approximately half of the participants reported an increase in skill levels following the class.  All participants (100%) agreed or strongly agreed they had better skills in home food preservation methods, could identify research-based methods of home food preservation, could identify the necessary equipment for home food preservation methods, could accurately prepare foods and containers for home food preservation, understood the difference in and 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 10,899 square feet of garden area.  Participants commented that they loved the classes and found them very informative.  Suggestions for improvement included teaching longer classes.

Approximately one month following the 2019 Warren County Food Preservation Program, five participants completed a Food Preservation Follow-Up Survey to determine if and how they had used the skills they acquired in the class.  All (100%) reported using the foods they had prepared during the program and also reported that they had used their food preservation skills to preserve food at home from their own and others’ gardens, farmer’s markets and grocery stores.  Using their food preservation skills, participants reported drying 8 gallons and freezing 15 pints of fruit and freezing 6 quarts of vegetables this year. All participants reported sharing what they had learned with others. 

A month following the end of the program, all participants (100%) still strongly agreed or agreed that they have better skills in home preservation methods, could identify research-based methods of home food preservation, understand the difference in and can identify the correct method for canning low and high acid foods, can identify the necessary equipment for home food preservation methods, can accurately prepare foods and containers for home food preservation, and can identify spoilage in home preserved products.   Suggestions for program improvement included conducting the class over a longer period of time and keeping the class small.  Suggestions for future programs included plant-based cooking and canning, dehydrating for small families and using vegetables and fruits for health.  Other comments included appreciation for the instructors and the classes.

*These items accepted multiple responses, so total percent may exceed 100%.