Projects

The 2006-2008 plan of work includes:

developing, implementing and evaluating 4 additional website-based self-study course modules;

conducting applied laboratory research on refrigerator dill pickles and canned tomato-based salsas; and,

developing, implementing and evaluating an undergraduate college course about home food preservation.

Projects of the Center, 2000-2005

Activities of the National Center addressed goals for providing scientific, research-based recommendations for home food processing and preservation to the public. The activities included research, publications and development of communication and outreach strategies. Here's a sampling:

Research

Scanning the scientific literature, reviewing and synthesizing findings, and creating electronic databases of the literature and reviews.
Conducting research on microbial safety of various procedures and ingredients to develop recommendations for new products to add to our home canning and other preservation databases.
Conducting microbial challenge studies of some historical processes to validate their safety in light of newer food safety knowledge.
Conducting new research on microwave blanching of vegetables.

Outreach/Communications

Publishing a CSREES-USDA Complete Guide to Home Freezing of Foods. (Due Summer 2008)
Updating the CSREES-USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning. (Submitted to USDA June 2006)
Developing a website to represent the wealth of information from USDA and the national Cooperative Extension System, and the National Center. (www.homefoodpreservation.com)
Developing a model Master Food Preserver curriculum and teacher manual. (In process, due Summer 2008)
Developing on-line instructional presentations about the science of food preservation and an on-line course for educators. (Available on this website.)
Producing an instructional video series for home food preservation educators (i.e., an updating of the University of Georgia's So Easy to Preserve series). (Available @ www.soeasytopreserve.com)

Instruction

The Center has employed graduate students in Food Science and Foods and Nutrition/Dietetics from the University of Georgia and Alabama A&M University. These students learned about home food preservation and conducted some of the research described above.

top ^

Home · Publications · Search · Seasonal Tips · Info Request · Multimedia · FAQs · Contact · Links