As technology continues to advance, young people’s written and verbal communication skills continue to lack, which are important life skills they need to acquire; therefore, the Franklin County 4-H program promotes the 4-H Country Ham Project where youth gain these life skills.  The 4-H Country Ham Project also teaches 4-H members about food preservation and the time honored tradition and history of curing country hams.

The 4-H Country Ham project began in January when each participant received two raw hams. The 4-H members choose their hams, trimmed them from the hock, weighed them, applied cure mix to them, wrapped them tightly in paper and placed them in socks to hang until spring in the ham house.  In May, the Franklin County 4-H Members scrubbed their hams clean, washed them, and placed them back in ham socks to hang a little longer.  In the meantime, the 4-H members prepared for their speech to present at the 4-H Country Ham Day at the Kentucky State Fair; each member wrote their own speech based on their appropriate age level topic.    For the final step in August, the Franklin County 4-H members cleaned their hams once more, weighed each of their hams and selected which ham they believed to be the best to send to the Kentucky State Fair to be judged and exhibited.  

During the 4-H Country Ham Day at the Kentucky State Fair, over 600 4-H Members across the state gather to present their speeches and experience the state fair for the first time.  In 2019, three Franklin County 4-H Members participated in the project, which was an increase from 2018 and they thoroughly enjoyed the program and learned a lot.  Verbal comments from the participants included, “that was not as bad as last year,” and “I think I have this ham washing thing down, now!” 

With the time spent during this project, the Franklin County 4-H members evaluated the program successful as they mentioned gaining life skills and knowledge, while also having fun!  They are looking forward to participating in the project next year.