UCCE Master Food Preservers of San Joaquin County
"To teach research-based practices of safe home food preservation to the residents of California."
Who We Are
Find out more about us or more about becoming a Master Food Preserver, click here.
Stay tuned for our 2021 Virtual Workshops announcement!
Why Preserve Food?
Food spoilage is the process of food becoming unsafe or unacceptable for human consumption. Spoilage is normally caused by the growth of microorganisms in foods. Other losses in quality are caused by natural activities in fresh food tissues, for example, the excessive softening in overripe fruit caused by fruit enzymes. Spoilage and quality losses are partially or completely controlled in properly preserved foods. Food preservation is the maintenance of safe and nutritious food for an extended period of time. Examples of preserved foods include properly packaged refrigerated, frozen, canned, and dried products.
Objectives of food preservation:
• The primary objective of food preservation is to prevent food spoilage until it can be consumed. Gardens often produce too much food at one time—more than can be eaten before spoilage sets in.
• Preserving food also offers the opportunity to have a wide variety of foods year-round.
• It’s economic. The motivation for preserving fresh foods, whether from the garden, farm, or market, often includes saving money as well as satisfying personal preferences. There are many variables, however, that affect the cost of home-preserved foods. The true costs include total supplies, equipment, fresh food, human energy, and fuel energy to process and store food.
Calendar
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UC Food Blog
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Building institutional markets for plant-based proteins
This spring, the University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (UC SAREP) is joining a nationwide effort led by the non-profit Health Care Without Harm to build new markets in the healthcare sector for locally...
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Fighting hunger and building planet health go hand in hand
University leaders, faculty and students from across the U.S. and around the world are working together to tackle a complex set of challenges that prevent millions of people from getting enough of the right foods. In March 2021, UC Davis, the UC Global...
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How do you feel about gene editing in livestock?
Participate in a genome-editing webinar and survey April 17 The health and well-being of animals can be improved with genome-editing technology, but only if people trust and accept the methods. “A number of breeding methods, including...