UC Master Food Preserver logo- blue jar with orange lid, brown book with red strawberry all within a blue circle.
UC Master Food Preservers of Inyo and Mono Counties

About Our Program

People gathered around a kitchen counter learning about food preservation (Photo: D Blakey)

Who Are Master Food Preservers?

The University of California Cooperative Extension provides information and training on food safety and preservation through its UC Master Food Preserver program

Our focus is on supporting safe home food preservation in home kitchens.

UC Master Food Preservers are volunteers trained by the University of California in approved food preservation methods and food safety standards. Volunteers are certified to answer questions, present demonstrations and workshops, and develop educational materials, publications, and web resources on all aspects of home food preservation, including canning, freezing, drying, pickling, and preparing jams and jellies. 

Our program only teaches safe, tested processes intended primarily for home kitchens. 

Each year thousands of people will contract a food-borne illness. The MFP program is our way to help prevent people from getting sick from bad preservation and food handling practices!

If you have questions about whether a practice is safe, or if you are interested in learning about other preservation techniques, even if it is not a practice we can teach, we can point you to other resources that may help you. 

Our local MFP program was established in 2014. To find out more, please see Become A UC Master Food Preserver or send an email to immg@ucanr.edu.

If you are outside the Eastern Sierra and interested in the MFP program, you can learn about other MFP groups in California that may be near you. Please consult this list for more information.

Commercial Operations

Information regarding commercial operations or food safety regulations should be directed to your local Environmental Health department.

UC Cooperative Extension

The Inyo-Mono MFP program is part of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resource's Cooperative Extension Service. We have offices throughout California. Our office in the Eastern Sierra is located in Bishop.
If you have questions about gardening, 4-H or Agriculture, please call our office at (760) 873-7854.