- Author: Dohee Kim
Want to know what to do with that bumper crop of tomatoes or summer squash? Ask a master food preserver! Pickling, dehydrating, freezing, canning, curing and fermenting can be safe and easy. Get the most from your harvest or farmers market purchases.
Cooperative Extension is pleased to announce the LA County master food preservers will be conducting demonstrations and answering home food preservation questions at the LA County Fair (Sept. 3 to Oct. 2). There will also be a special kids program, explaining how food is preserved and helping them identify typical preserved foods in their pantry, such as raisins and ice cream. Demonstrations will be held throughout the day on Thursdays to Sundays at the fairgrounds Farmhouse Kitchen. Due to health department regulations, samples will not be distributed.
The LA County Master Food Preserver Program is designed for individuals who have a strong interest in home food preservation and would like to pass this knowledge onto the public. County residents who would like to become master food preservers attend an extensive USDA-approved training program. Once trained, master food preservers perform volunteer work and participate in continuing education each year. Graduates of the program have a strong commitment to reach limited-resource communities. The activities include answering e-mail inquiries, providing farmers market and community garden demonstrations, and participating in the annual LA County Fair.
For more information on the program, please contact Brenda Roche, nutrition advisor, at (323) 260-3299, bkroche@ucdavis.edu or visit http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/Master_Food_Preserver_Program/.
- Author: Dohee Kim
Due to a renewed interest in food preservation, Cooperative Extension will bring back the Master Food Preserver (MFP) program to Los Angeles County.
Classes will begin on Monday, March 28, and meet every Monday until June 20, 2011. Conducted at UC Cooperative Extension office in East Los Angeles, the classes will be led by UC Master Food Perserver Ernest Miller, a formally trained chef. Miller has years of experience with home food preservation and is the chef at The Farmer's Kitchen, a project of Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles (the nonprofit organization that manages eight farmers markets in the Los Angeles area, and includes LA's largest market, the Sunday Hollywood Farmers Market). Participants will learn how to can, ferment, pickle, cure, smoke, dehydrate and brew.
"As the sole Master Food Preserver in Los Angeles for more than a year, I know that there is a tremendous interest in traditional methods of food preservation," said Miller. "We also teach people skills on proper emergency food preparation. The immense tragedy taking place in Japan illustrates the need for people to learn how to prepare for natural disasters in earthquake-prone California," he added.
Once trained, the Master Food Preservers will conduct food preservation workshops for the general public. The response to this program has been tremendous. Many preservation enthusiasts are looking forward to MFP-led workshops and are hoping to become certified MFPs in the future.
Support for the Master Food Preserver program is provided by the Metabollic Studio, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation.
For more information, please contact Brenda Roche at (323) 260-3299, bkroche@ucdavis.edu.
