As technology continues to advance rapidly and become easily accessible, young people’s written and verbal communication skills continue to lack, which are important life skills they need to acquire; also, their knowledge about agriculture and where their food comes from has declined; therefore, the Franklin County 4-H program conducts the 4-H Country Ham Project where youth gain these life skills and knowledge.  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 chose 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 an essay instead of the traditional speech, due to the Covid-19 pandemic; the essay topics was 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 be judged by University of Kentucky’s Meat Specialist and assistants.  

During a typical 4-H Country Ham Day at the Kentucky State Fair, hundreds of 4-H Members across the state would gather to present their speeches and experience the state fair for the first time.  Due to the pandemic, 4-H members submitted their essays, and they were judged by various Extension Agents and volunteers. Their hams were taken to the Shelby County Extension Office in early August to be judged and picked up in the same day!  In 2020, the participation in the Franklin County 4-H Country Ham program quadrupled from 2019 due to purchasing a ham barn at the office!  Also, two Franklin County 4-H members placed in the top 3 of their age group with their hams!  Verbal comments about the program from the 4-H members included, “I loved learning about the process of slaughter to consumption.” “I didn’t like seeing all of the mold, but have realized it is not so bad.” “it is very nice having our very own ham barn.” 

With the unique situation in 2020, the country ham participants did a fantastic job adapting to the changes that had to be made to the program, even last minute changes and are looking forward to participating again!