Many individuals and families have taken an interest in Food Preservation in the last year. There is a lot of misinformation online about best practices for food preservation; safety when preserving food should be a priority and research based methods should always be used. With this information in mind The Lawrence County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Agent (Alivia Faris) conducted a Virtual Food Preservation Workshop. This workshop was conducted in collaboration with the Lawrence county Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources (Laura Maggard), who provided insight as a subject matter expert in selecting the proper produce for Food Preservation. 

Topics discussed throughout this program included, “The Basics” of Food Preservation, Pressure Canning Safety, Water Bath Canning Safety, Best Practices for Freezing, and Best Practices for Dehydrating. The class met weekly throughout the month of September online. The program had a wide reach both directly and indirectly. 20 individuals were reached directly through “Programs on the Go” Food Preservation Toolkit bags. These “Programs on the Go” contained information on safe food preservation practices, selecting produce, and contained tools to preserve food safely. These kits were available for pick up at the Lawrence county extension office to provide resources for individuals and families to preserve food safely.

Through the online meeting space the Lawrence County Extensions Service was able to indirectly reach 3,154 individuals, with a direct reach of 89 individuals. These individuals liked, commented, and shared the Workshop Videos and addition to messaging the FCS agent questions. 

Furthermore, participants in the Virtual Food Preservation Workshop were asked to complete a survey to collect data on their experience and what they had learned. The data collected from the survey indicated that 61% of the participants classified themselves as beginners in pressure canning and dehydrating foods for preservation. 40% indicated that they were beginners in Water Bath canning and 17% noted that they were beginners in freezing. 

After the Virtual Food Preservation Workshop concluded data collected from the survey showed that 100% of the participants felt that they could:

• Identify safe, research-based methods of home food preservation.
• Understood the difference between low acid and high acid foods.
• Identify the correct method of canning for low acid and high acid foods.
• Identify necessary equipment for home food preservation methods.

Additionally, 94% of those that completed the survey indicated that they:

• Learned better skills in home food preservation methods.
• Could accurately prepare foods and containers for home food preservation.
• Identify spoilage in home preserved products.

The participants who completed the survey were also asked if they had grown a garden this past year. 89% indicated that they had grown a garden that they planned to harvest from for preserving food at home. The sizes of the gardens had a wide range of 2 acres to a few small flowerpots and containers used for gardening. 

The workshop concluded after 4 weeks with participants indicating that not only had they learned something new but, they had also really enjoyed the online workshop. One participant said, “Thank you for the videos and the information. I learned something new each time.” Another stated, “Thanks for sharing these informational videos. They are good refreshers.”

In the future the FCS will continue to host food preservation workshops for the Lawrence county community, these workshop are important for the health and safety of individuals and families. In the future workshop will be held in person but could potentially have online components in order to reach as wider audience.