Orleans County Cornell Cooperative Extension will host an in-depth training on home food preservation April 30 through May 2. The training is offered by CCE Master Food Preserver experts Diane Whitten and Judy Price, with help from local Master Food Preserver volunteers. These two instructors serve the entire state for this high-demand training. The training has not been offered in Orleans County since 2015. The three-day course covers detailed tutorials on multiple methods of home food preservation including boiling water bath, pressure canning, dehydrating and freezing.
The local Master Food Preserver program in Orleans County has been increasingly popular, offering several workshops available to the public each growing season. The current instructors of the local MFP program are all volunteers who have completed the three-day training at some point in the past. Upon completion of the training program, the participants practice various methods of food preservation on their own before being awarded certification as official Master Food Preservers of Cornell Cooperative Extension. The goal of the program is to then take the experiences and knowledge of the Master Food Preserver volunteers and extend it to the public via demonstration and hands-on classes. The Orleans County MFP workshop series will be later in the season to allow any participants in the MFP Training to join in leading the courses for the public. The workshops offered through the Master Food Preserver program not only teach valuable skills to the public, they are a way for the MFP volunteers to serve their community in a fun and rewarding way.
“The[se] workshops are so much more than just food preserving… They are a way of connecting us all, a way to teach good hygiene in the kitchen and the importance of safe food handling,” Eileen Sorochty, an Orleans County Master Food Preserver volunteer said. “So much of these techniques and ideas were shared in our community through programs which aren’t in existence anymore.”
Many Orleans County residents remember their mothers or grandmothers canning the garden harvest for the winter. What used to be common practice to ensure enough food to last the whole year has fallen by the wayside as people’s lives become busier and food is more readily available in grocery stores. There has been a resurgence in food preserving lately as people are more and more interested in learning where their food comes from. The Master Food Program from Cornell Cooperative Extension puts an emphasis on learning safe food handling, tested canning recipes, and proper storage.
“In our classes, we often say ‘these aren’t your grandma’s tomatoes’! Produce has evolved over the years to be sweeter, or milder, or less acidic – and all of those things can have an effect on acidity levels and processing times,” explained Katie Oakes, coordinator of the Master Food Preserver program in Orleans County. “The recipes we offer through our workshops and in the three-day training are all research-based and tested multiple times to ensure a safe and high-quality finished product”
The training will be held in the Trolley Kitchen located on the Orleans County 4-H Fairgrounds, 12690 State Route 31, Albion. Classes are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. Class size is limited. Call 585-798-4265 for details.
Provided information and photos
