Food preserving classes and certification

14 years ago

Well... I've done it now. I am on the newly formed board that is setting up a Community Garden in my home town and in discussing all the wonderful stuff we all anticipate growing this summer, I mentioned to one of the other board members that I will be pickling and canning some of the produce. He thought it was a fantastic idea and asked if I would be willing to teach a beginner class in Food Preservation next September. I think it would be a great addition to our new program and I am interested in how one becomes a Certified Master Food Preserver. I am in PA and looked a the Extension web site, but I only saw the course for Safe-Serv which is for restaurant employees and I dont think that will fit my needs.

Can anyone steer me in the right direction on how one becomes certified in Food Preservation?

Thanks so much!

Alexa

(Cross posted on the Harvest Forum)

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Comments (10)

annie1992
14 years ago
Alexa, classes were offered on-line at the University of Georgia at the National Center for Home Food Preservation, that's the official site. The clases were free, they were temporarily suspended, and the site says information will be available in January 2010. Of course now it's February and no information, but probably soon.

Your extension service should also be able to point you in the right direction, they are usually affiliated with a University. And, to become certified, you'll have do so some hours at the extension service, at least here you do.

Annie
readinglady
14 years ago
As Annie mentioned, once certified as a Master Preserver, you will have an obligation to contribute and instruct others (which probably fits right in with your plans anyway).

I posted a lengthier answer at Harvest but it's along the same lines as Annie's.

Carol
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Agree - PA has a great extension service and they will be able to direct you to the nearest certification class. Some travel may be required as Master Certification classes are usually offered only by the state university although that varies from state to state - just as the requirements for certification do. EX: Our state requires entry level classes be successfully completed prior to applying for the Master cert program and re-cert classes are required each 3 years to keep the certification. would be willing to teach a beginner class in Food Preservation Good luck but since I don't know anything about your canning background or experience, please keep in mind that it is a big responsibility and not one to be undertaken casually. I only say this because there are already far too many sources of inaccurate and even unsafe information out there on canning so you will need to be prepared to deal with more than just the basics. A review of some of the questions we get here is a good example of what I mean. ;) Dave
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but I was sure 1 quart of vinegar plus the juice and fruit of 1 lemon would makes it acidic enough. It may be. The point is there is no way to know for sure without testing and since acidity doesn't remain stable on the shelf but fades over time, even if it tested safe now there is no way to know if it would still be safe when opened. And it isn't something you would cook before consuming so you lose that edge of protection too. So it is a do-at-your-own-risk recipe and only you can decide if the risk is worth it to you. I'm willing to take some risks but for me there is no way canned Worcestershire Sauce would be worth any risk even though we use a fair amount of it in our house too. Dave
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beanthere_dunthat
14 years ago
Ah, good ol' Safe-Serv. That reminds me that my certification to teach that runs out this year. eh.

Anyway, what I wanted to say was congrats on getting the Community Garden thing set up and best of luck on it!
KatieC
14 years ago
The U of Colorado also has a correspondence course (at least I believe they still do). Our Extension Educator gave me a copy a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure there's a certification, though.

The county to the north of me offers an online class. The next one is about ready to start, if it hasn't already. Again, I'm not sure if they offer certification with it, but I'll post the link. Our county stopped doing classes because we had such a hard time getting that volunteer commitment and our new Ext. Educator is into community development, not food safety, so the focus changed.We are starting to get more requests, though, and the Master Gardener class is turning people away.

Congrats on your community garden. Our town is involved in a three year project with the U of Idaho to try and reshape our community because the main source of income (lumber mills) is gone. I was asked to teach food preservation in conjunction with our brand new community garden, and I just found out we got the grant to put it all together....yay!

Here is a link that might be useful: online MFP
mustangs81
14 years ago
Good for you Katie! You are an excellent choice.

I mentioned before that I bugged our county extension office to offer classes. They notified me 6 months later that there was interest so the scheduled some and they all filled quickly.
nosnowtn
14 years ago
Alexa,
Congrats on the community garden! You'll have more of a problem getting people to weed than can, I think.

I believe you are in PA in the Philly area. I would definitely contact Penn State University, Dept. of agriculture and food sciences.I was born, raised, and spent my first 35 years there. They were always helpful to me (still are, they have great resources for beekeepers).

And if an old 50 year old woman that learned to open kettle can, or (GASP) oven can our produce, you can learn very easily, you have no bad habits to break!

I am in awe of the fact that some people have no local source for jars, lids, pickling salt or pectin. Even my little local groceries way overstock, and it's available year round.

I can drive 10 miles into Cleveland, TN, the extension office has a COMMERCIAL cannery. You make an appointment, she books you by how soon the produce you have will last, and they have 4 big pressure canners that hold about 30-50 jars. I have only been there a few times, she tests my canner gauge for free, I prefer to do my stuff at home. But anyway I have been there long enough to lust after the motorized tomato juicers, all the commercial food processors,etc. AHHH, I lust after such things, but since I can't have them I'll stick with my own kitchen.

Good Luck!!

Joan
dirtgirl07
14 years ago
Congratulations on the good news. This is definitely something that's growing. I just received an email today from the manager of our community garden, just opened last year, that there are no available spaces left for this spring. boohoo! But they are looking for future properties - a sure sign of big interest.
readinglady
14 years ago
Extension services, like many others, have experienced funding struggles. Some no longer offer the services they used to. And, of course, for a long time home food preservation was "the orphan child", interesting only to a very limited subset of residents.

It's ironic that while many Extension agencies have shifted in other directions, the interest in canning has exploded. Thanks to the recession, Jarden reported a 30% increase in sales of canning products (jars, lids, bands, canning kettles, Ball Blue Book, etc.) in 2008, but at the same time it's more challenging to locate hands-on opportunities to learn.

(I should have said reliable hands-on opportunities.) Here in Portland, where slow food is king, there are all kinds of chi-chi canning classes.

Carol
arabellamiller
14 years ago
Good for you Alexa!! (I have no additional useful info to offer, just impressed with you!)

AM
caliloo
Original Author
14 years ago
Thansk everyone!

Katie - congrats and good luck. I would love to be able to learn more about how you are setting up your course. It sounds like it will be a lot more involved than what I would be doing. Mine would be a 1 day intro, just to give people the idea of what is possible.

Also, I finally heard back from the person at the extension service and she recommended the U of GA online course also, but could not suggest and certification programs. I responded in another email asking how she had gotten certified and have not yet heard back.

Thank you everyone for the information and words of encouragement, I am moving forward with this, albeit slowly....

Alexa

Food preserving classes and certification

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Food preserving classes and certification

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