With the spread of COVID 19 in spring and summer of 2020, many more citizens grew home gardens. Information on safe and effective ways to preserve food preservation was needed as much as ever. Traditional in person and hands on classes, however, were out of the question. In addition, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), many cases of foodborne botulism have happened after people ate home-canned, preserved, or fermented foods that were contaminated with toxin. The foods became contaminated because they were not canned (processed) correctly. They continue, “The best way to prevent foodborne botulism is by carefully following instructions for safe home canning as directed by the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning and your local county extension office." 

Noting these two important facts, the Boone and Kenton County Family and Consumer Sciences Agents (FCS) developed a 4 part virtual series on food preservation basics.  Extension FCS agents made videos of themselves demonstrating how to safely freeze, dry, boiling water bath and pressure can produce. These videos were shown during each of four live zoom sessions (one per topic) featuring question and answer sessions and links to the videos on the Kenton County youtube channel. These programs were promoted through local newspaper, extension website, social media, and emails to former class participants.  Over 100 men and women attended one or more of the live sessions, with 42 unique participants. 

The Kenton County FCS agent led the presentations on boiling water bath canning, and food dehydrating. Immediate post session evaluations sent to participants from the “live” virtual sessions revealed the following:

           94% had a better understanding of safe food handling and storage.
            71% learned the correct length of time home preserved foods should be stored to maintain quality
            66 % learned the correct way to prepare foods before and after dehydrating
            66% learned all the steps that must be included when canning any food
            43% discovered why some items need to be canned in water bath while others require pressure canning

A follow-up survey was sent to program participants four months after the series. Results included:
           77% reported learning and now practicing safe food handling and storage methods when preparing foods
           72%reported now cooking more foods and healthier meals at home
           61% now blanch foods for the proper amount of time prior to preserving
           33% now use only approved canning jars and lids, along with recommended time and treatment methods when drying foods

Closing comments included the following: “The classes were very informative. Several past practices are now going to be replaced with safe choices, i.e. green beans in pressure canner not water bath, inconsistent head space carefully measured.”, and “The food preservation classes were appreciated and in addition to learning and updating my knowledge base, they added a level of normalcy to life during the pandemic.”

 Participants were appreciative of both the “live” lesson format, as well as the ability to review the videos when needed from the Extension office youtube channel. 

As of July 2021, there have been over 1700 views of these youtube videos!  Youtube is currently the world's 2nd largest search engine in the world. According to Cisco's Virtual Networking Index, by 2022, video will make up 82% of internet traffic.  The videos will be left on the website until research based changes are made, allowing on line learning to be ongoing. These reputable videos will continue to be of great benefit to our citizens.