Can-do
In a pickle? Ready for a jam session? Fear rotten tomatoes?
University of Maine Cooperative Extension can help with every food preservation need. That’s why Whole Foods Market called on Extension educators this spring for advice. The chain featured UMaine Extension’s canning and preserving Web site in This Is What Summer Tastes Like, a seasonal entertaining guide available at Whole Foods Market stores throughout the country.
“Preserving delicious summer fruits and vegetables is an amazing way to enjoy the flavors of summer’s seasonal harvest year-round,” says Barbara Gulino, marketing team leader at the Whole Foods Market store in Portland, Maine. “With UMaine Cooperative Extension’s extensive knowledge of food preservation, we hope the partnership will help educate our shoppers and other people in the community about how simple and cost-effective it can be to preserve locally grown summer favorites.”
Whole Foods Market also sponsored food preservation outreach throughout southern Maine this summer, including a series of free classes taught by Cooperative Extension at the Portland store. In addition, Whole Foods Market funded resources to support the educational efforts of an Extension food preservation program aide.
The partnership continues in November with a “5 Percent Day” fundraiser, in which 5 percent of the Portland store’s daily sales will benefit UMaine Extension’s ongoing food safety and preservation efforts in Cumberland County.
“It’s a partnership,” says Kathy Savoie, an associate Extension professor based in Cumberland County. “This reinforces that we are the go-to place for food preservation information.”
This is a banner year for canning, pickling and freezing. Savoie and her colleagues saw a sixfold increase in requests for food preservation information by May, before many Maine gardeners even had their seedlings in the ground. She attributes the spike in popularity to a number of factors: increased interest in locally grown foods; a desire to save money; concern over the safety of the nation’s food supply; and a means to extend access year-round to Maine-grown foods in our northern climate.
However, improper preserving techniques, such as using outdated recipes or the wrong method for the type of food, can be hazardous. Food poisoning is always a concern, and with so many novices joining the fray, it is a priority for UMaine Extension to spread the word about proper, safe canning methods.
Throughout the growing season, UMaine Extension leads food preservation workshops statewide and offers information online (extension.umaine.edu/food/) through a variety of publications. The Cumberland County office also offers the Master Food Preserver program, a more intensive course that gives participants the expertise to teach others. This summer, Extension educators also gave informal preservation demonstrations at Maine farmers markets.
“We want to make sure we’re reaching people at as many points along the way as possible and providing them with current information,” Savoie says. “It’s the people who don’t contact us that worry me the most.”
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