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Impact Report
| For plan | Nutrition Education and Behavior (Colfax County) |
| Date | November 3, 2011, 11:06 pm |
| For Objective | Short-term Show short-term objectives |
| Impact Report | “Canning Basics” In September of 2011, the home economist conducted two food preservation workshops to meet individual’s increased interest in home canning. While the first class was initially limited to 15 students, a total of 19 participated in the class held at the Raton High School Culinary Arts classroom on a Saturday morning. Seven (7) additional individuals participated in the second class offered during a weekday evening the following week. Skill levels ranged from those that had never canned to those that had only made freezer jams to a few that had previously canned years ago, but needed a refresher course. Participants included a 14 year old 4-H member and her mother, a grandmother canning with her granddaughter, as well as friends, co-workers and three men who were interested in canning at home. While the majority of the participants were from Raton, others traveled from Maxwell, Springer and Las Vegas to attend. The first class worked together in small groups to make peach jam and zucchini relish using the hot water bath method and stewed tomatoes using the often feared pressure canner, which proved to be a simple process. The second class gained hands-on experience in using the high acid preservation method for apples and low acid, pressure canning for carrots, with some participant’s even venturing to “fancy pack” the carrots as a future county fair exhibit. Educational materials included Jarden Home Foods canning guides, the Ball Canning Book, NMSU – CES canning guides and food safety / preservation from the Southwest Border Food Safety and Defense Center in Las Cruces. Previously secured bio-security funds from the Defense Center allowed the home economist to purchase newly developed canning products, supplies and equipment from Jarden Home Foods to be shared with participants as class incentives. The funds were also used to purchase quantities of the most recent Ball Canning Book to have on hand for participants and others contacting the Extension Office with canning questions. Participants also sampled a variety of canned relishes, salas, and jams along with a berry freezer jam as part of the refreshments offered. Overall, class evaluations showed that 90% of participants rated the “usefulness of information” to be very useful, with 95% of participants gaining a high amount of knowledge, and 95% ranking the quality of the presentation as being excellent. Evaluation comments included, “Wonderful! and well organized class that allowed me to become more knowledgeable and confident”, “Great class on canning – Thanks a lot!! – Please have more”, and “Wish we had more time – had very much fun – enjoyed the class very much”. |