I think it has been coming back during the last 2 years. There are so many more people in our community that are growing more of their own food and it bothered me that there were no food preservation classes in our county. I had asked for information on becoming a Certified Food Preserver last fall, but got nothing. I was talking with my friend and Extension Educator at the Extension Office last week and again requested information on classes. We are now trying to get enough people interested in taking the classes in order to get the teacher from the University of Illinois to come to Southern Indiana to teach us. From what I've seen from their past classes, the price is pretty high for most people here.

Here in the Atlanta suburbs it doesn't appear to be a big thing. When I hearing others talk about the canning supplies in their local grocery stores I'm amazed because I've never seen it in ours. But it must be making a comeback.. too many people are talking about learning it. I know I would love to have the classes here for the canning part. BWB I've got down, but still afraid of the pressure canners. HA!

People here are starting to become aware of the ammount of chemicals and preservatives that are in our daily food and that is the main reason for preserving our own getting popular again here

Last year the amount of people taking classes and calling in with questions was much more than in prior years. I am guessing this year will be no different. Things have really picked up around here. Not only the chemicals, but just the cost of food has caused more people to start canning here.

I took a class last year as a refresher, and the extension agent said she had to ADD classes in order to handle all the requests! DirtGirl...see if your local County Extension is going to have canning classes in the spring.

Also COOK'S WAREHOUSE offers canning classes in Atlanta. I was down there in July and they talked about their classes. Not sure how close you are or if they have other stores.

June Lynn

I read that there was nearly a 30% increase in vegetable seed sales this past year with many outlets running out. I do know the last two years, canning supplies have been in short supply where I am in Wyoming (and they were never, ever before.) We shop at Billings Montana, 75 miles away and I had to hunt for more jars at several outlets. They were completely sold out of quarts in my local stores.

Beyond the economy, which is definitely a factor and one that many people feel may get very much worse before it gets better, I think many are beginning to worry about what is in the food they eat.

More and more produce is coming in from Chile, Mexico, Costa Rica and other South American countries where, to be perfectly candid, sanitary conditions are not what they are here. Also factor in the continued buy-up of land by Del Monte & Monsanto...they currently own nearly 75% of all arable farm land in this country. Those large corporations will do whatever it takes, use what ever is necessary to increase production in the shortest amount of time, in the cheapest way possible on the smallest acreage imaginable and that includes genetic finagling and chemical enhancement. I think there may very well be a fast-approaching point in time when a horrible disease comes in from imported produce or physical consequences because of genetic enhancement and use of chemicals.

It just makes sense to do what you can to mitigate possible problems. Our county Ag agent reports a steady increase in those signing up for the preservation classes they offer here and says they are primarily interested because of rising food costs (I just read Walmart is raising prices 23% across the board...)There may come a time where your ability to grow enough food to feed your family may once again be a necessity and not a hobby.

Totally agree with you brokenbar!
I grow for our health (and my sanity....cheaper than a therapist! LOL)
I love it.
But, it sure is nice to not pay the high prices and worry about what's in my food. I know.
Except bananas. I just can't quit 'em. My DH kids me about them not being local, but most everything else we eat IS!!
Now, anybody know how I can grow my own coffee, sugar and olive oil? :-)

I've seen an increase in interest here as well. It's good to see a younger generation becoming interested. Maybe we won't lose the art after all.

I hope!

Deanna

Hi Deanna,

Not sure, but there might be olive trees that grow in zone 8, and you can grow sugar beets, for sure!

My kids were interested in how sugar is made, so we looked into sugar beets, and the seeds are widely available, and if you don't mind your sugar being less than snowy white, it's not supposed to be too hard to process the beets into sugar.

I said not supposed to be hard because my husband made me realize how insane my life would be if I tried to grow my own sugar. But it can be done. . .

bcskye, let me know if that comes together! I'm in Bloomington, might be interested depending on timing and topic...

I wish someone had told me it was a lost art, before I made 2500 jars of jam last year.. lol

Lost art? Hardly. It just hasn't been in style for the last few decades. But it is again. Local Wal-Mart was out of jar lids last summer. There is a meetup group in my town devoted to homesteading that hosts classes on canning, sausage making, and the like, and the classes keep filling up.

Food and Wine magazine ran a couple of articles about homemade pickles and preserves last year. That was unheard of in the past.

I'm an organizer of a meetup group devoted to vegetable gardening and we're pushing 80 members, many in their 20s and 30s: software programmers, attorneys, nurses, stay-at-home moms, you name it. Some 20 people of that group preserve some of their produce.

A few years ago I didn't seen much canning stuff in the stores here around the Nashville area. Now they have a good selection. Canners. Jars. Rings and weights. Lids. Canning books. :)

Some of it should be "lost" - dead, buried, and lost forever.

Just came from reading on another canning forum and am appalled at some of the things folks argue are perfectly safe to home can! And they are spreading the info and teaching this stuff to even more folks with their here's-how to do it posts. Not to mention all the stuff that seems to get done on a regular basis without any processing at all - "the heat will seal the jars fine".

EX: canning butter, canning milk, BWB Italian sausage with onions and peppers, all sorts of low-acid recipes using commercially canned items, no skimming of fats from meats (claim it's not necessary and gives it more flavor), BWB corn and/or green beans (all you supposedly have to do is add vinegar), and open kettle and oven canning are still alive and well - yeah, right!

Believe me, the "grandma always did it this way, raised 10 kids, and we are all still alive so there!" bunch seems to be growing even faster than the resurgence in canning is and that is sad and dangerous.

Dave

Dave - your comment leads to another thought. When I'm reviewing recipes that I want to try or recipes of my own that I want to modify, it really helps to understand the underlying theory of what you are trying to accomplish here.

So for example, if my homemade soup calls for pasta or rice, I can either omit it, substitute potatoes, or substitute rehydrated and cooked beans. I leave out flour and fats.

Tomato sauces can be modified in a number of ways, but once it gets past plain tomato sauce with citric acid or lemon juice, it needs to be pressure canned for whatever ingredient takes the longest to preserve safely (such as if I am using ground beef to make spaghetti sauce).

I keep that in mind when I am reading recipes to try on the Internet. I try to evaluate whether there is anything in here that is not a safe practice, is it acidic enough for BWB, are there any no-no's for pressure canning. I also recheck the times for processing.

Recently, I read with interest of canning mandarin oranges. The author got the recipe from UGA's "So Easy to Preserve". When I rechecked on canning oranges in my Ball book, everything was correct including the syrup and processing times.

Even for Ball, I recheck against other recipes to make sure it all makes sense before I start.

dogear6 7

I just thought I'd add my 2'c worth here. I grow lots of mandarin oranges, lemons, limes and juice oranges, and still trying to find ways to preserve them.

However, mandarin oranges aren't very tasty canned. They become insipid, mushy and lose most of their refreshing flavor. It is better to freeze them, or eat fresh. I don't even care for the commercially canned mandarins for that reason, as they can take on a lot of the "tinny" flavor from the can.

I've always assumed because citrus had a lot of acidity, that it was probably OK to can it.

In recent months, I have been trying to find some recipes to can BWB, using these particular fruits. As it turns out, I'm not really certain that they would be considered "safe" because of the pulp issues. Even though straining the juice through cheesecloth may eliminate these small particles - I'm still not sure.

When canning most juices - berrys, etc., the juice is extracted by steaming - not squeezed. For this reason, the resulting juice does not have these particles. Also there are quite a few fruits with higher acid content than citrus.

Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I'd appreciate some advice on this.

Bejay

Joannaw, we're working on it right now. We have contacted the lady at the U of Illinois who gives the Master Preserver Classes and also the Extention Educator for Johnson County who is also certified to teach the classes. Will let you know when we get something actually set up.

Regarding scarcity of canning supplies in season. I never hit a canning season but what my canning supplies aren't already ready and waiting. Some stores take their canning supplies off shelf when they think people aren't canning. They don't understand that we who do can may be processing year-round. So, I buy a couple packs of lids in advance each time I market and set them back for the next canning season. I've hoarded jars for years, and literally don't understand the concept of having 'too many'. They sit in my cellar and don't mind. I have found an Amish market wehre lids and rings are sold in bulk and bought a supply of them last summer for this coming summer.

I notice lid prices usually go up in canning season too. LOL. I also start stocking sugar months before fruit and jelly season when it goes on sale. Then freezer it.

calliope, I agree, prices go up during canning season, they know people are going to buy them. I'm usually all stocked up way before canning season, but I can pretty much year round, so I'm always picking up a couple of boxes of lids.

Canning never was a "lost art" here, although not so many of my generation are canning. A lot of elderly ladies gave me their canning jars because none of their kids were interested in canning. That was several years ago, now suddenly everyone is interested.

As for the safety issue, not everyone is going to follow the "rules". People exercise free choice and do as they please, it's human nature. It's also human nature to try to change other people and "make" them do it our way, LOL, but that seldom works.

The information is available to anyone who wants to use it or look for it. We can state our opinions, tell people why those are our opinions and then we have to let it go, they'll exercise their free will and do as they decide and as their comfort level dictates.

Annie