A Brief History: Established in the early 1980s, the UCCE Master Food Preserver Program has been a part of the community fabric for decades. It was born out of a need to provide accurate, research-based information on food safety and home food preservation—a critical skill that not only promotes healthier eating but also reduces food waste.
Local Roots: San Joaquin County's Journey: The San Joaquin County branch of the program was established in 2013, adding to the rich tapestry of the statewide initiative. Linda Driver, a founding member, led the program as the volunteer coordinator for three years, setting a strong foundation for its future. Bill Loyko succeeded her, dedicating his time and expertise until his retirement at the end of June 2024. As we step into July 2024, the baton has been passed to new volunteer co-coordinators, Kathy Anderson and Colleen Young. Both Kathy and Colleen have been with the program since 2018, and their passion for sharing food safety and preservation knowledge is unmatched. They are committed to continuing the legacy of educational outreach within our community.
Mission and Education: The program's mission is clear: to educate the public on safe home food preservation methods. This is achieved through a network of trained volunteers who share their expertise on everything from canning and pickling to drying and fermenting. These Master Food Preservers serve as a bridge between the university's research and the community's needs, ensuring that the information disseminated is both current and scientifically sound.
Community Engagement: Volunteers are the heart of the program, engaging with the community in various ways:
- Answering Queries: They provide answers to pressing questions about food safety and preservation, ensuring that the community's food preservation efforts are successful and safe.
- Educational Outreach: By staffing booths at local events, such as county fairs and farmers markets, they bring the knowledge directly to the people.
- Workshops and Classes: Hands-on classes and workshops as well as virtual presentations are a staple of the program, offering practical experience in food preservation techniques and food safety.
- Social Media Presence: Find us on various social media platforms, sharing tips and announcing workshops.
- Blogs and Newsletters: Many programs maintain blogs and send out seasonal newsletters.
Looking Ahead: The San Joaquin County program eagerly anticipates a new year filled with opportunities to serve the community. Plans include in-person workshops, virtual presentations, a help desk service, and the quarterly Preservation Notes Blog/Newsletter. For those inspired to become a Master Food Preserver, the program offers an annual training session.
Impact and Goals: The impact of the UCCE Master Food Preserver Program is multifaceted:
- It fosters a Healthy Environment by teaching skills that reduce food waste.
- It aims to Decrease Healthcare Costs by minimizing foodborne illnesses through proper preservation techniques.
- The program Engages Cultural Communities, respecting and incorporating diverse food traditions.
- It forms Strong Community Partnerships, working alongside other organizations to enhance its reach.
- By increasing Food Security and enhancing Food Resource Management Skills, the program contributes to the well-being of Californians.
As we look to the future, the UCCE Master Food Preserver Program stands as a testament to the power of knowledge and community in helping to create a sustainable, health-conscious California.
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Community is Our Jam describes a food preservation project led by Amira Resnick, statewide director of community nutrition and health, that addresses the connection between food safety, food insecurity, food waste and health equity. This publication offers an in-depth look into the UC Master Food Preserver program, which aims to curb food waste and promote safe food storage, preparation and preservation methods to enhance food security in our communities.
In the past year, the UC Master Food Preservers made it a priority to reach communities that are often underrepresented in such programs. The MFP Program partnered with UC Master Gardener Program, the Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program, 4-H and CalFresh Healthy Living, UC. The story narrates their journey and lessons learned in their efforts to promote equity and expand the program's reach.
A pullout version of the Community is Our Jam story includes on page 3 a note of dedication to Dorina Espinoza, UC Cooperative Extension youth, families and communities advisor for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, who recently passed away.
This 83-page yearbook publication – presented in a lively magazine format – shares how these grant projects improve human, environmental, and community health. It contains an overview of the NTAE program, which has supported nearly 75 Cooperative Extension projects and program teams over four years.
Using illustrated feature articles and Q&As, the publication shares innovative Cooperative Extension work across the U.S., from technology to composting to youth development to health and equity. In addition, the publication shares information about the vital work undertaken by the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy's Program Action Teams.
The yearbook was edited by Julie Halverson, Rose Hayden-Smith (emeritus UC Cooperative Extension advisor for digital communications in food systems) and Heather Martin of the Extension Foundation.
It's peak season for fruits and vegetables from now through September: peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, peaches, apricots, plums, berries … the list goes on and on. It's not unusual for a neighbor to drop off a bag of peaches, or to find a roadside stand offering melons, or to encounter a box of cucumbers or zucchini labeled with a “free” sign when out on a walk. Our farmers markets offer an amazing selection of locally-grown fruits and vegetables, and wild blackberries thrive on the banks of our creeks and rivers. If you find yourself in the enviable position of having more fresh produce than you can possibly consume or give away, it's time to start canning and preserving. You'll be glad you did when you can pull out a jar of homemade bread & butter pickles at Thanksgiving, or slather your own apricot jam on a piece of toast come February.
Apparently the ancient Greeks and Romans loved jams and jellies. Around 500 BC, traders began pulverizing over-ripe fruit, then boiling the juice and adding honey to turn what would have been waste into something useful. One of the first known cookbooks is De Re Coquinaria (“The Art of Cooking” in English), from the fourth century AD or earlier. It includes a recipe for jam which is simply fruit and sugar boiled together. Those living in northern climates with insufficient sunlight to properly dry fruits soon added this method to their food preservation techniques.
Toward the end of the 18th century, natural refrigeration became a means of preservation in areas where snow and ice were available. Holes were dug into the ground and meat was stored and covered with snow during the winter. This method of preservation reduced both enzymes and bacteria, keeping meat from going rancid. But it wasn't until the invention of mechanical refrigeration that cold storage became more widespread.
At around this same time in England, there was increasing need to feed the navy as well as arctic explorers over long periods of time. Drying, pickling, or preserving in jars were the only methods of longer-term food preservation. Metal cans came into the picture when Peter Durand, a British merchant, patented a method of storing food in cans on behalf of French national Phillippe de Girard who had invented the method in 1811. Durand sold the patent to Bryan Donkin, a British inventor and manufacturer. Donkin began processing meat in iron tins, and this canned meat made its way to the English Royal household. Several days after King George III and Queen Charlotte tasted the canned meat, Donkin received a letter from the Duke of Kent telling him how much the King and Queen had enjoyed the meal. Soon the manufacturing company of Donkin, Hall, and Gamble began distributing canned foods to the British navy and eventually selling canned perishables throughout England and across the Atlantic to merchants in New York City.
In the early years of the 20th century the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its first guide to home food preservation. “Canning Vegetables in the Home” was published in the Farmer's Bulletin 359 in May 1909; a year later, “Canning Peaches on the Farm” appeared in the same publication.
Since that time, home canning has played a critical role in important eras of American history: growing and preserving one's own food helped many citizens supplement rationed food supplies during World Wars I and II; home canning was a means of survival for many families during the Great Depression of the 1930s; and the back-to-the-land movement of the 1960s and 1970s saw increased interest in preserving home-grown food. As many of us are well aware, a home canning resurgence occurred during the COVID pandemic, so much so that it became difficult to find canning jars for sale on grocery shelves.
The University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources offers a Master Food Preserver Program in some counties (alas, not in Butte County; the closest program is in Yuba County). The Program's website contains all the information you need to start canning safely – including plenty of useful recipes.
If you'd like to try some very easy ways to preserve the summer's bounty, here are two simple no-fuss recipes.
Fruit Leather: Any fruit or combination of fruits works well
Wash fruit (peel stone fruits)
Puree three cups of your chosen fruit or fruit combination in a blender
Add a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice
Add a tablespoon of honey (optional)
Spread mixture on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and either bake at 150 degrees or leave in the sun (covered with cheese cloth) until dry.
Bread & Butter Pickles:
Mix together: 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup cider or white vinegar
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon celery seed
Slice three to five cucumbers into rounds about 3/16ths of an inch thick and put into the mixture cold. Bring to a boil and boil for two minutes. Pack into jars and seal (or just pack into jars, forego the canning process and store in refrigerator – super easy!). Makes 2 pints.
- Author: Christine Davidson
Five groups of parents participated in a series of workshops from the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), Master Gardener (MG) and Master Food Preserver (MFP) Programs. The series was part of a grant for the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP). Twelve workshops per group were provided at the Victor Elementary School District Parent Resource Center (VESD) and Middle College High School. Four of the five groups conducted workshops in Spanish to reach under-served communities in San Bernardino County. Kits provided an opportunity to practice skills alongside the educators during workshops or afterward in their homes.
The EFNEP workshops consisted of a series of 9 lessons including topics such as reading the food label, food safety, MyPlate, stretching the food dollar, importance of exercise, limiting salt, sugar and fat. A kit provided ingredients to prepare Cowboy Caviar and Apple Salad recipes. The in person workshop included a live demonstration and kits to prepare Apple Salad. Virtual workshops included live food demonstration via Zoom while parents made the recipes in their homes. Graduates of the EFNEP program (n=37) received a cookbook and certificate of graduation.
MFP and MG workshops followed the EFNEP program alternating each week. Victor Elementary School District held an in person hands on activity making three tiered herb gardens. Participants received pots, soil, seeds, transplants and cuttings during the workshop. All participants went home with their new garden and tips on maintenance. The workshop was repeated virtually for the Middle College High School parents and VESD via Zoom. Parents received kits at their school sites and watched the live demonstration with time for questions at the end. The last MG workshop was Growing Cool/Warm Season Vegetables. Parents learned how to care for vegetables and which grew best in their home climate of the high desert or city of San Bernardino. They were given a binder with information about growing and maintaining vegetables, a pot, Popsicle sticks and a sharpie to label their vegetables, seeds for carrots, peas and radishes, and tote bag.
The Master Food Preserver program provided two workshops for parents. Each workshop emphasized food safety importance including proper storage of food, sanitation and hand washing. The first workshop, refrigerator pickling included a live demonstration walking parents through the entire process. Parents were given a kit containing carrots, jalapenos, garlic, pickling salt and spices, a container, a bottle of vinegar and the recipe to take home to replicate the demonstration. Options were provided to create the recipe either sweet or salty depending on preference. The next workshop consisted of making mixed berry freezer jam. The kit included a bag of frozen mixed berries, a container, sugar, pectin and recipe. Volunteers walked parents through the process and they took home their homemade jam.
All workshops reinforced food safety, saving money when food shopping, growing and preserving food. These topics addressed food insecurity, which is something families in San Bernardino struggle with. Parents were excited to participate in all workshops and share photos of making and growing food at home. Parents who attended all twelve workshops received a certificate of completion (n=18).
“I definitely enjoyed the nutrition classes and additional workshops. At my age, you reminded me the importance of building muscle and maintaining strong bones. I try to read the nutrition labels and have added more water to my diet. In addition, I have tried to implement certain habits to my daughters. I am also happy to report that two of my plants are still alive -lol. Not bad, I think. However, the sun and heat make it hard. I can go on... but I honestly enjoyed being a part of your class and workshops. I even shared your link with one of my cousins. The one with the jam and other tutorials.” – Participant
“I enjoyed the workshops very much! It was nice to receive all the information instead of having to look for it and being able to ask questions and of course, I loved the supplies that were provided. It made everything a lot easier!”
- Participant
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Although UC Cooperative Extension started offering the program in a few counties in the 1980s, its parent organization UC Agriculture and Natural Resources recently designated it as a statewide Master Food Preserver Program.
UC Master Food Preservers are volunteers who teach people in their communities about food safety and how to preserve food. Certification entails about 50 hours of instruction and a commitment to volunteer service to the program.
In the fall, UC Cooperative Extension held a course to train and certify UC Master Food Preservers in Los Angeles.
“I had 86 applicants for 18 spots,” said Drusilla Rosales, a UC Cooperative Extension advisor who oversees the program in Los Angeles County. “It's very much in demand. I get requests almost daily from people who are either looking for a class or wanting to become certified as a UC Master Food Preserver.”
“People are chomping at the bit for this course,” said Virginia Bolshakova, UC Cooperative Extension director for San Mateo and San Francisco counties, who is trying to build the local Master Food Preserver Program slowly. “I have a feeling we're going to have to turn away 75 percent of the people that apply this time around! Our phones are ringing off the hook about this program.”
The program is currently located in 16 counties and expanding.
“We are hiring a staff person to move things forward and expect to have more resources for existing UC Master Food Preserver programs in the near future,” said Missy Gable, UC Cooperative Extension statewide Master Food Preserver Program co-director and UC Master Gardener Program director.
Most of the 46 MFP volunteers are in west Los Angeles and hold workshops at farmer markets, do demonstrations at community gardens and staff booths at the Los Angeles County Fair. They have begun reaching out to low-income residents and high school students.
“Some of our UC Master Food Preserver volunteers are working with high school students,” said Rosales. “A lot of schools now have gardens and one of the high schools has a culinary arts program and a beautiful new kitchen to prepare students for careers in the food industry. MFP volunteers have been teaching students how to dehydrate herbs and cook with herbs and dehydrate kale to make kale chips. They are also teaching jams and jellies classes.”
In Orange County, UC Master Food Preserver volunteers are working with UC Cooperative Extension's 4-H Youth Development Program to create a Junior Master Food Preserver Program for youth. One goal of the program would be to give students an opportunity to earn a certificate in food preservation that they can put on college or job applications.
For more information about the UC Cooperative Extension Master Food Preserver Program, visit http://mfp.ucanr.edu. To find an MFP program near you, visit http://mfp.ucanr.edu/Contact/Find_a_Program.
In the video below, Missy Gable, talks about plans for UC Cooperative Extension's statewide Master Food Preserver Program.
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To watch Susan Algert, UC Cooperative Extension advisor, demonstrate safe canning practices in a video, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeoymcsLWlg.