Progress 09/01/05 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Popularity of the National Center website, www.homefoodpreservation.com, remains very high. The website currently has 895 HTML pages, 170 PDF and 32 slideshow files, 7 multimedia tools, a search engine, and an Information Request form. From December 2009 through November 2010, 1.365 million visits were recorded from over 1.084 million unique visitors, and with an average of 3,700 visits per day. Visits per month ranged from 50,397-268,784. Pages viewed per month averages 349,254, with a range of 153,000-732,000. During this project, 1100 to 1900 personal e-mails were answered annually until spring 2010. After staffing ended, this function was greatly reduced and even discouraged for site users. Registered participants in the online self-study, Preserving Food at Home, numbered 1,930 from 9/1/09 - 8/31/10; however, registration was closed down 10/3/09 to 3/15/10 to switch to a new platform. (8,869 registered for the course from April 2005 to March 2010.) The 4 additional modules for the online course are being programmed at this time. Video clips on basic canning methods and concepts were added to the website. The home-canned tomato-pepper salsa formula-based procedure research was concluded. Even after the procedural variations and unattended use of the recipe in homes of Extension volunteers in Illinois and Oregon, the resulting product pH was well within the acidified food range. A journal article is being finalized, and the canning procedure is available on the website. A graduate student research project addressing the control of L. monocytogenes in a former USDA home refrigerator dill pickle procedure was completed. Cucumbers were inoculated with a five-strain cocktail and partially fermented for 7 days at 20-22 degrees C. Various heat treatments were applied post-fermentation; L. monocytogenes survival in the brine and on the cucumber skin and in the tissue was monitored. The other major objective for this project was developing, teaching and evaluating an undergraduate course. Activities were piloted in 2006; the course was taught and evaluated in May 2007 and May 2008. The audience reached through this effort for a combination of the two years include: Enrollments of juniors and seniors, 14 females and 1 male. Two-thirds were foods and nutrition majors (dietetics, consumer foods, or nutrition science majors) and 1/3 were from majors such as speech, health promotion and behavior, and FACS education. Fewer than half the students had had previous relevant coursework; just under 50% had not yet had food science or microbiology coursework. Students enrolling in the course had no experience in preserving food at home by the methods included in this course. Only 10-50% of students each year had experienced family members practicing various methods of home food preservation. Both the website and evaluation of impact from the website is going to continue past the conclusion of this project with University of Georgia resources. In the last year, assistance was provided to Extension agents in 4 states via teleconference updates about food preservation and the Center; two additional states were assisted in curricula development. PARTICIPANTS: This list is in addition to the project team roles as described in the original proposal. For coordination of salsa research volunteers: Jananne Finck, Univ. of Illinois Extension and Nellie Oehler, Oregon State Univ. Extension. Salsa research volunteers: 12 from Illinois and 16 from Oregon. For online course review: Sue Hovey, Clemson University and Barbara Ingham, Univ. of Wisconsin. Media collaborator, who published articles about the National Center resources: Benjamin Gisin, Editor, Touch the Soil magazine. For review and editing services for curricula and publications: Shirley Camp, Illinois Extension. Graduate student Lindsey Brandau. Consultant roles provided to and by Jarden Home Brands and National Presto Industries. Training Opportunities: Extension In-service Trainings in final year (others reported annually): Univ. of Georgia , 26 hours, April 2010, 10 educators; Univ. of Georgia, 2 hours distance education update, June 2010, 32 Extension educators; Univ. of Georgia, 2 hours distance education basic principles, April-June 2010, 28 educators; Univ. of Illinois and Purdue University, 2 hours (presentation), May 2010, 65 Extension educators and Master Food Preserver volunteers. Project Life: Online course, Preserving Food at Home: A Self Study: 1,930 participants registered from 9/1/09-8/31/10, bringing the project total to 8, 869. 125 evaluations were completed this last year, for a total of 369 submitted evaluations. Participants range from home preservers, food entrepreneurs, educators including Extension faculty and public school teachers, 4-H youth, media, industry professionals and master volunteers. Email responses to individual requests for information provide training opportunities and in some cases, professional development for educators, about specific processing and preservation principles or issues. The NCHFP project team answered approximately 600 email requests for assistance for half this report period; this service was discouraged and unstaffed beginning in May 2010. Over the life of the project, about 5400 individual requests for information were handled. In-service teleconference updates have been provided throughout the project annually to Georgia, Illinois and Florida agents and at least once to agents in Utah, Minnesota, Montana, and New York. In person in-service trainings have been provided for Extension agents in Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, and Texas. Frequent interviews were granted every year to news writers for magazines, news services, newspapers, and websites around the country. TARGET AUDIENCES: Undergraduate college students, Extension educators and master volunteers nationwide, home farmers and gardeners, general public both nationally and internationally, media, industry professionals and food entrepreneurs interested in starting a processing business. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: A no-cost extension was requested due to retirement of two planned collaborators after funding was received and the need to replace the planned evaluation collaborator from Univ. of Illinois due to a job change for him. Continued staffing problems at Illinois and retirements of team members at other universities created a need to change the way some objectives were met. Evaluation of the website was moved to the University of Georgia (from Illinois), and the online course modules were delayed due to collaborator retirements. Some additional evaluation analyses are still being completed and journal articles written.
Impacts
Outreach: Registered participants in the online self-study numbered 8,869 from April 2005 through August 2010; 369 submitted evaluations. Average pre- and post-test scores are about 70 and 90 percent and reviews of the course experience remain favorable. Reasons for taking the course are stated as saving money, wanting to know what is in food, and wanting to teach others among other reasons. An analysis of the first 1400 registered participants reveals that almost half provide more than one reason for wanting the information in the course; in an open-ended question, approximately 25% cite interests related to wanting to learn, family activities and personal interest. About 10% cite health and nutrition concerns, 5% disaster preparation or self-sufficiency concerns, 10% food safety and control of food, and 5% cost-savings, to teach others and 4-H club work. Another approximately 15% state an interest because of home gardening activities. Analysis of information from the online course will continue after this project as the four new modules are implemented and evaluated. A journal article will be prepared from analysis of all evaluation results. Research: The research on a tomato-pepper salsa recipe for home canning found that the equilibrium pH of finished product from 44 batches made by 28 volunteers at home was 3.24-3.91. Volunteers varied types and sources of vegetables as well as proportions of chopped onions and/or peppers within guidelines provided. A new consumer recommendation was made using the tested formula-based recipe. Conclusions from the research on refrigerator dill pickles did not yet yield a new consumer recommendation. Results were very variable within a post-fermentation heat treatment, but the L. monocytogenes population generally decreased with increased heating. Findings suggest that heating at 100C will be most practical for consumers at home, but a 5log reduction will require longer heating times than tested. Subjective analyses indicated that changes in color and texture of the final product may be undesirable and alternative methods for controlling L. monocytogenes should be investigated for a refrigerator pickle. Education: The undergraduate college course included a comparable pre-test and final test of knowledge; students demonstrated improved knowledge with an average pre-test score of 51.0% and average of 88.8% on the final. Students rated themselves at course end on seven items (1=very low to 5=very high). The course improved interest in this subject matter (rated 2.6 for prior to course and 4.3 for after). Knowledge was self-assessed as 1.7 for prior and 4.1 after the course. Two-thirds of students indicated a "very high" likelihood that their food handling and safety practices would change as a result of knowledge learned in this course. About half of the students planned to use the information learned in the course to preserve food within the next year. Teaching the class as a short summer session with longer class meeting times was advantageous for interspersing hands-on learning with lectures in various time arrangements. It also allowed for use of in-season produce for some labs.
Publications
- Brandau, L.L. 2010. M.S. Thesis, University of Georgia. Thermal destruction of Listeria monocytogenes in a partially-fermented dill pickle intended for refrigerator storage. Will be available at: http://www.libs.uga.edu/etd/
- Andress, E.L., ed. 2009, December. Complete Guide to Home Canning, by Kuhn, G.D., Andress, E.L. and Dimick, T.S. Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Available at: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html
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Progress 09/01/08 to 08/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Popularity of the National Center website, www.homefoodpreservation.com, continues to grow and be documented. The website currently has 890 HTML pages, 160 PDF and 31 slideshow files, 7 multimedia tools, a search engine, and an "Information Request" form. Usage statistics indicate that the website received 1,049,000 visits in this reporting period, from over 814,900 unique visitors, and with an average of 3,040 visits per day. Visits per month from December 2008 through October 2009 ranged from 45,361-201,679. 1150 personalized e-mail "Information Requests" were received from December 2008 through October 2009. Registered participants in the online self-study, Preserving Food at Home, numbered 3003 from 9/1/08 - 8/31/09; 244 submitted evaluations. (6,939 have registered for the course since its release in April 2005.) The 4 additional modules for the online course connected to the web effort are still in development. Video clips are also in production for use in the online course and website. The online self-study had to be migrated from the WebCT platform to UGA eLearning Commons in the fall of 2009. Analyses of thirty batches of a formula-based home-canned salsa processed by Extension volunteers in Oregon and Illinois in 2007 were completed. These batches were analyzed (in Georgia) for pH, titratable acidity, consistency (spread) and physical characteristics such as headspace, fill weight and piece size. Data collection was completed on the refrigerator dill pickle research addressing risk of listeriosis. Various heat treatments were applied post-fermentation, to be used prior to storage of pickles, to study the effect on L. monocytogenes survival on the cucumber skin and in the tissue. Data are being analyzed and a graduate student thesis being written from this work. Other product development research work not originally planned was a reduced sugar home canned apple butter procedure, released to the public in November 2009. Work continues on a model Master Food Preserver curriculum. The National Center worked with USDA in 2009 to publish the 2006 Complete Guide to Home Canning electronically and then a slightly revised 2009 version in print. Additional activities by the NCHFP, not accounted for in the stated project objectives, included updating of Extension educators through conference call in-service activities in Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Minnesota and Georgia. Scientific papers (as posters) were presented at the IFT, IAFP, and Georgia ESP annual meetings. Service reviewing Extension publications was provided to both Montana and Texas Cooperative Extension. Service was provided to Minnesota Extension to evaluate a tomato-vegetable mix canning procedure and advice from a former specialist in their organization. PARTICIPANTS: This list is in addition to the project team roles as described in the original proposal. For coordination of salsa research volunteers: Jananne Finck, Univ. of Illinois Extension and Nellie Oehler, Oregon State Univ. Extension. Salsa research volunteers: 12 from Illinois and 12 from Oregon. For online course review: Sue Hovey, Clemson University and Barbara Ingham, Univ. of Wisconsin. Media collaborator, has published articles about the National Center resources: Benjamin Gisin, Editor, Touch the Soil magazine. TARGET AUDIENCES: Undergraduate college students, Extension educators and master volunteers nationwide, home farmers and gardeners, general public both nationally and internationally, media, industry professionals and food entrepreneurs interested in starting a processing business. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: A no-cost extension was requested due to retirement of two planned collaborators after funding was received and the need to replace the planned evaluation collaborator from Univ. of Illinois due to a job change for him.
Impacts
At this time, documented outcome impacts are in knowledge improvements and usage rates of resources. Knowledge and intended behavior change assessed for the undergraduate college course was reported in November 2008. Registered participants in the online self-study, Preserving Food at Home, numbered 3003 from 9/1/08 - 8/31/09; 244 submitted evaluations. More completed without submitting course evaluations. Average pre- and post-test scores remain at about 70 and 90 percent. The website received 1,049,000 visits in this reporting period, from over 814,900 unique visitors, and with an average of 3,040 visits per day. About 77% of website users from December 2008 through October 2009 were first-time users. Visits per month in those eleven months ranged from 45,361-201,679. The majority of users in the past 6 months have entered the website through search engines, and 1/3 enter from referring sites. As expected, visits are highest in the summer months and peak in August. So far there is only anecdotal, unsolicited messages documenting that members of the website and email audiences are using the recommendations provided. Doing an online search for the term "food preservation" brings up the NCHFP website within the first 1-5 links (directly or indirectly) using different search engines (Google, Yahoo, Lycos, Live Search, AOL). The URL (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp) appears in 3,960 pages in sites indexed by Google, 2,210 pages10,527 inlinks in Yahoo indexing, 8,010 pages in AltaVista indexing.
Publications
- Andress, E.L., ed. 2009. Complete Guide to Home Canning, by Kuhn, G.D., Andress, E.L. and Dimick, T.S. Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
- Andress, E.L., DSa, E.M., Harrison, J.A. and Harrison, M.A. 2009. Developing and implementing a college-level course in home food preservation. Paper P1-104 [Abstract], International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting Poster Abstract: IAFP, Des Moines, IA.
- DSa, E.M., Andress, E.L., Harrison, J. and Harrison, M. 2009. Survey of home food dehydration and vacuum packaging practices in the United States. Paper 122-03 [Abstract]. Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting Book of Abstracts: IFT, Chicago, IL.
- National Center for Home Food Preservation. 2009. Reduced sugar apple butter; original home canning procedure. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, National Center for Home Food Preservation. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/apple_butter_r educed.pdf
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Progress 09/01/07 to 08/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Popularity of the National Center website, www.homefoodpreservation.com, continues to grow and be documented. The website currently has 886 HTML pages, 158 PDF and 31 slideshow files, 7 multimedia tools, a search engine, and an "Information Request" form. Usage statistics indicate an annual average of 840,000 website visits, and 1900 personalized e-mail "Information Requests" addressed during 2007; that number should exceed 2000 in 2008. Registered participants in the online self-study, Preserving Food at Home, numbered 1,550 from 9/107-8/31/08; 154 submitted evaluations. More may have completed without submitting course evaluations. (3,936 have registered for the course since its release in April 2005.) The 4 additional modules for the online course connected to the web effort are still in development. A new collaborator still has to be engaged for evaluation of the website's impact; efforts in 2008 did not work out. Thirty batches of a formula-based salsa for canning that were processed by Extension volunteers in Oregon and Illinois in 2007 were received. These batches of salsas along with written experiences of the testers are in the process of being analyzed in Georgia for pH, titratable acidity, consistency (spread) and physical characteristics such as headspace, fill weight and piece size. Work began in July 2008 on the refrigerator dill pickle research addressing risk of listeriosis. Other product development research work included two canned fresh fruit toppings, two cucumber relishes, and testing revisions to two pepper jelly products. New product recommendations released are under publications. The Undergraduate Education objectives of the NCHFP were concluded by teaching a college course for the second year. The audience reached through this effort for a combination of the two years include: Enrollments of juniors and seniors, 14 females and 1 male. Two-thirds were foods and nutrition majors (dietetics, consumer foods, or nutrition science majors) and 1/3 were from majors such as speech, health promotion and behavior, and FACS education. Fewer than half the students had had previous relevant coursework such as Principles of Foods; just under 50% had yet had food science or microbiology coursework either. Students enrolling in the course had no experience in preserving food at home by the methods included in this course. Only 10-50% of students each year had experienced family members practicing various methods of home food preservation. Additional Activities by the NCHFP, not accounted for in the stated project objectives, included updating of Extension educators through conference call in-service activities in Illinois, Indiana, Florida and Georgia. Scientific papers (as posters) were presented at the IFT, SNE, IAFP, Georgia ESP, and GAFCS annual meetings. A regular column was provided to an agriculturally-oriented bi-monthly magazine, and assistance was provided to 1 book editor and at least 12 news writers. Hands-on teaching was provided to prepare an educator to teach food preservation in Honduras. A food entrepreneur from Honduras was hosted for product development assistance. PARTICIPANTS: This list is in addition to the project team roles as described in the original proposal. For coordination of salsa research volunteers: Jananne Finck, Univ. of Illinois Extension and Nellie Oehler, Oregon State Univ. Extension. Salsa research volunteers: 12 from Illinois and 12 from Oregon. For online course review: Sue Hovey, Clemson University and Barbara Ingham, Univ. of Wisconsin. Media collaborator, has published articles about the National Center resources: Benjamin Gisin, Editor, Touch the Soil magazine. TARGET AUDIENCES: Undergraduate college students, Extension educators and master volunteers nationwide, home farmers and gardeners, general public both nationally and internationally, media, industry professionals and food entrepreneurs interested in starting a processing business. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: A no-cost extension was requested due to retirement of two planned collaborators after funding was received and the need to replace the planned evaluation collaborator from Univ. of Illinois due to a job change for him. The evaluation collaborator issue has still not been resolved as of November 2008.
Impacts
At this time, documented outcome impacts are mostly in knowledge and usage rates of resources. The undergraduate college course included a comparable pre-test and final test of knowledge. Combined results for both years show that students did improve their knowledge of food preservation principles and practices. The average pre-test score of 51.0% increased to an average of 88.8% on the final exam. Individual results for each year were comparable. Registered participants in the online self-study, Preserving Food at Home, numbered 1,550 from 9/107-8/31/08; 154 submitted evaluations. More may have completed without submitting course evaluations. Average pre- and post-test scores remain at about 70 and 90 percent. The website received 8.77 million hits in this reporting period, with 25,000 to 150,000 visits per month. Each month showed an increase in traffic over the year before. Email responses to individual requests were approximately 1900 for this report period, an increase over the previous year. Monthly demand ranges from about 40 to over 350 requests. So far there is only anecdotal, unsolicited messages documenting that members of the audience are using the recommendations provided. Doing an online search for the term "food preservation" brings up the NCHFP website as the first 10-20 links (directly or indirectly) using different search engines (Google, Yahoo, Lycos, Live Search, AOL). The URL (http://www.uga.edu/nchfp) appears in 17,404 pages in sites indexed by Google, 9,014 pages in Yahoo indexing, and 8,290 pages in AltaVista indexing.
Publications
- National Center for Home Food Preservation. 2008. Peach fruit topping; original home canning procedure. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, National Center for Home Food Preservation. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/peach_fruit_topping.html
- National Center for Home Food Preservation. 2008. Dill pickle relish; original home canning procedure. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, National Center for Home Food Preservation. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_06/dill_pickle_relish.html
- National Center for Home Food Preservation. 2008. Fresh dill cucumber relish; original home canning procedure. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, National Center for Home Food Preservation. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_06/fresh_dill_relish.html
- National Center for Home Food Preservation. 2008. National center for home food preservation research and education. Georgia Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Meeting Poster, Peachtree City, GA. March.
- DSa, E.M., Andress, E.L., Harrison, J.A. and Harrison, M.A. 2008. Survey of home freezing practices in the U.S. Paper 005-01 [Abstract]. Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting Book of Abstracts: IFT, Chicago, IL.
- DSa, E.M., Andress, E.L. and Hansen, J.P. 2008. Home food preservation education: Contemporizing a tradition through the use of the Internet. Paper P-1 [Abstract], Society for Nutrition Education Annual Meeting Poster Abstracts: SNE, Indianapolis, IN.
- Andress, E.L., DSa, E.M., Harrison, J.A. and Harrison, M.A. 2008. Curriculum development and pilot-testing for a home food preservation college-level course. Paper P-2 [Abstract], Society for Nutrition Education Annual Meeting Poster Abstracts: SNE, Indianapolis, IN.
- Andress, E.L., DSa, E.M., Hansen, J.P., Harrison, J.A. and Harrison, M.A. 2008. Promoting science-based home food preservation learning for adult consumers through the use of online educational tools. Paper P3-54 [Abstract], International Association for Food Protection Annual Meeting Poster Abstract: IAFP, Des Moines, IA.
- Harrison, J.A. 2008. Canning foods at home--The basics. Slide show. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/multimedia/slide_shows/CanningatHome_web.ppt
- Simmons, H. and Staff, National Center for Home Food Preservation. 2008. Step-by-step canning of tomato salsa using slicing tomatoes. Slide show. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/uga/TomatoSalsa_web.ppt
- Andress, E.L. 2008. Pressure canning & canning low-acid foods at home. Slide show. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/multimedia/slide_shows/CanLowAcid_web08.ppt
- Andress, E. L. 2008. Burning Issue: Canning Your Own Salsa Recipe. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/salsa.html
- National Center for Home Food Preservation. 2008. Sweet cherry topping; original home canning procedure. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, National Center for Home Food Preservation. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/cherry_sweet_topping.html
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Progress 09/01/06 to 08/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Expansion and maintenance of the website, www.homefoodpreservation.com continues. A review form to allow collaborators to assess the presentation and content of online course models is being refined. After review and editing, the 4 additional modules will be added to those presently online. A new collaborator has had to be engaged for evaluation of the website's impact; the plan for that activity will be decided in early 2008. Multiple variations of a previously proposed formula recipe for home canning of salsa were tested using locally grown organic heirloom produce. Thirty batches of the salsa have been processed by Extension volunteers in Oregon and Illinois, using locally grown garden produce. These salsas are in the process of being analyzed in Georgia along with written experiences of the testers. Firming treatments for homemade pickles were explored by carrying out preliminary experiments with slicing and pickling cucumbers using two firming options: a calcium
chloride product and traditional pickling lime, both available in the retail market. Firming was documented subjectively and compared to a product receiving no firming treatment. The second phase of this research will extend it to additional pickling recipes and analytical methods. Education objectives of the NCHFP were furthered by curriculum development and course instruction during the University's Summer 2007 session. An undergraduate college course to teach basic principles and methods of home food preservation was developed for the Maymester format (FDNS 3010), which is a 3-week, 3 hours per day course. The course, taught for the first time during May-June 2007, included lecture and laboratory sections on applied microbiology of foods; home methods in canning, freezing, drying, pickling, and making jams and jellies; storage of preserved foods; spoilage of preserved foods and nutrient changes in preserved foods. Pre-tests and Post-tests of knowledge provided documented evidence
of student learning. Instructor and course evaluations were also administered and will be used to make any needed modifications for offering the course a second time in Maymester 2008. Additional Activities by the NCHFP, not accounted for in the stated project objectives, included updating of Extension educators through conference call in-service activities in Illinois, Florida and Georgia. Multi-day in-service trainings were conducted for Purdue Extension, the Pacific Northwest Extension organizations (Washington State University, Oregon State University, and University of Idaho), and Ohio State University. A one-day workshop was conducted for Texas A&M Extension. A research paper was presented at the IFT annual meeting 2007. Two factsheets were published as webpages to address issues raised repeatedly in individual emails to the NCHFP. Three new slide shows were added to the website. A regular column was provided to an agriculturally-oriented bi-monthly magazine, and assistance was
provided to 1 book editor and at least 8 news writers.
PARTICIPANTS: This list of individuals is in addition to the project team roles as described in the original proposal. For coordination of salsa research volunteers: Jananne Finck, Univ. of Illinois Extension and Nellie Oehler, Oregon State Univ. Extension. Salsa research volunteers: 12 from Illinois and 12 from Oregon. For online course review: Sue Hovey, Clemson University and Barbara Ingham, Univ. of Wisconsin. Media collaborator, has published articles about the National Center resources: Benjamin Gisin, Editor, Touch the Soil magazine. Training, etc.: FDNS 3010, Principles of Processing and Preserving Food at Home, 3 semester credits, May 2007, Univ. of Georgia. 7 undergraduate students. Extension In-service Trainings: Texas A&M Univ., 1 day (lecture), January 2007, X county Extension educators; Purdue University, 3 days (lecture and labs), March 2007, 14 county Extension educators; Washington State Univ, Oregon State Univ. and Univ. of Idaho, 2 days (lecture), June 2007, X
Extension educators and master volunteers; Ohio State Univ., 2 days (lecture and lab), July 2007, 33 Extension educators; Univ. of Florida and Univ. of Georgia, 1.5 hours (presentation), April 2007, 66 Extension educators; Univ. of Illinois, 2 hours (presentation), May 2007, 16 Extension educators; and Montana State Univ., June 2007, 38 Extension educators. Online course, Preserving Food at Home: A Self Study: 340 participants who registered and at least partially completed; 90 of these completed all modules and tests. Participants range from home preservers, food entrepreneurs, educators including Extension faculty and public school teachers, 4-H youth, media, industry professionals and master volunteers. Email responses to individual requests for information provide training opportunities and in some cases, professional development for educators, about specific processing and preservation principles or issues. The NCHFP project team answered approximately 1900 emails for this report
period, an increase over the previous year. Monthly demand ranges from 60 to over 350 requests. Laboratory demonstration sessions: University of Georgia, incoming freshman, 30 undergraduate students.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Undergraduate college students, Extension educators and master volunteers nationwide, home farmers and gardeners, general public both nationally and internationally, media, industry professionals and food entrepreneurs interested in starting a processing business.
PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: A no-cost extension will be requested due to retirement of two planned collaborators after funding was received and the need to replace the planned evaluation collaborator from Univ. of Illinois due to a job change for him.
Impacts
At this time, documented outcome impacts are mostly in knowledge and usage rates of resources. The undergraduate college course included a comparable pre-test and final test of knowledge. The class (n=7) average on a pre-test of knowledge was 52.5 percent; the average on an expanded cumulative final exam of knowledge was 88.4 percent. Additional impacts are still to be analyzed. Pre- and post-test scores can also be compared for Extension agent in-service trainings conducted in other states in 2006. The results for a 3-day in-service workshop (lab and lecture) for Extension educators (n=14) at Purdue University show a knowledge score increase from 67 percent (pre-test) correct to 84 percent correct (post-test). Program evaluation data is available for a 1-1/2 day experience with lecture and lab conducted for Ohio State University Extension educators (n=33). Average responses to evaluation questions (with 1=Strongly Disagree and 5=Strongly Agree) were: I learned new
information, 4.9; I plan to use the information I learned, 4.97; I feel more positive about this topic, 4.88; and, this program was helpful, 4.97. Registered participants in the online self-study, Preserving Food at Home, numbered 340 in this time period; 90 individuals completed the online self-study course. (2,080 have registered for the course since its release in April 2005.) This year's 26% completion rate is higher than in previous years. Average pre- and post-test scores remain at about 70 and 90 percent. The website received 7.98 million hits in this reporting period, with 46,000 to 150,200 visits per month. Each month showed an increase in traffic over the year before, from a 4 to 32 percent increase in a given month. Email responses to individual requests were approximately 1900 for this report period, an increase over the previous year. Monthly demand ranges from 60 to over 350 requests.
Publications
- Dsa, E.M., Andress, E.L., Harrison, J.A., and Harrison, M.A. 2007. Survey of home canning practices and safety issues in the U.S. Abstract 005-04. Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting Book of Abstracts: IFT, Chicago, IL.
- Andress, E. L. 2006. Burning Issue: Canning in Pressure Cookers. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/pressurecooker s.html.
- Andress, E.L. 2006. Burning Issue: Canning on Smooth cooktops. At http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/smoothtops.htm l.
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Progress 09/01/05 to 09/01/06
Outputs
The National Center for Home Food Processing and Preservation (NCHFP) is conducting multiple activities in outreach, education and research to make safe home food processing and preservation recommendations available to professional educators and consumers. Work on the Extension objectives during the first year has included expansion and maintenance of the NCHFP website, www.homefoodpreservation.com. The site receives over 6 million hits per year, with 42,000 to 131,000 visits per month (347,00 - 1,181,647 hits per month). As of November 2006, the site contains 1,072 pages, excluding index pages and report pages of site statistics and the online self-study. It does include 878 html pages, 157 pdf pages, 5 slide presentations, 7 video clips and the FAQ search engine pages. Email responses have been sent to 10 to 60 individual requests for information received through the website per week, depending on the time of year. Two of the four modules to be added to the online
self-study have been drafted; freezing and pickling were chosen first based on individual requests for information to the NCHFP. Collaborators in four states will be reviewing those after a drafted review form is finalized. In preparation for evaluation of the website's impact, statistics on pages visited and unsolicited comments from individual users are being compiled to guide decisions about the evaluation. To accomplish the Research objectives, a literature search on intervention processes for refrigerated pickled products has been completed. A formula for home canned tomato-based salsas is being standardized for 2007 testing by Master Food Preservers and in the lab with a variety of produce. The Education objectives are to be accomplished with a college-level undergraduate course to teach basic principles and methods of home food preservation. Laboratory activities for this course were pilot tested in spring 2006 and are being revised for implementation of the full course in
spring 2007. Additional activities by the NCHFP, not accounted for in the stated project objectives, included updating of Extension educators through conference call in-service activities in Illinois, Florida and Georgia, as well as in person in New York and Pennsylvania with small agent meetings. Eleven factsheets were published as webpages to address issues raised repeatedly in individual emails to the NCHFP. Assistance was provided to 2 magazine and 7 newspaper writers for feature articles; review and editing was provided to 1 book editor. Extension staff in two other states received assistance with recommendations for fair judging rules.
Impacts
Providing timely answers to consumers processing food at home usually requires multidisciplinary research and/or interpretation of existing scientific literature. The Center provides a network among home food safety experts with various specialities to meet these needs. It also serves as a national outreach mechanism for sharing recommendations which minimize the risks of foodborne illness and economic loss from spoiled food products. The activities will result in updated home canning recommendations and communication of sound principles for many types of home food processing and preservation to a variety of audiences. Easily accessible USDA recommendations should result in more people adopting them and reducing their risks.
Publications
- Andress, E.L. and Dsa, E.M. 2006. Preserving a Harvest of Tomatillos. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/tips/summer/preserving_tomatillos.html
- Dsa, E.M. and Andress, E.L. 2006. Developing a recommendation for home-canned peaches with a sucralose sugar substitute. Abstract 020D-07. Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting Book of Abstracts: IFT, Chicago, IL. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/papers/2006/06ift-peaches.html
- Dsa, E.M., Andress, E.L., Harrison, J.A. and Harrison, M.A. 2006. Thermal process development to ensure the safety of a home-canned lemon curd product. Abstract 020D-06. Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting Book of Abstracts: IFT, Chicago, IL. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/papers/2006/06ift-lemoncurd.html
- Dsa, E.M. and Andress, E.L. 2005. Backgrounder: Heat Processing of Home-canned Foods. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/heatprocessing backgrounder.html.
- Dsa, E.M. 2005. Preservation Principles in Chutney. http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_06/chutney_principles.html
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