Canning for safe food preservation

PELION, S.C. – Canning has made a resurgence in recent years and the Clemson Extension Service is showing South Carolina residents how they can use this method to safely store food.

Samantha Houston, Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service food systems and safety agent, is partnering with the Pelion Branch Library to provide a series of workshops designed to show people how to can jams, pickles and peanuts.

“Each workshop covers a different food preservation topic,” Houston said. “There is so much involved with food preservation we felt it best to break up the information into individual presentations.”

The workshops are open to anyone 18 years and older who is interested in learning about food preservation. The sessions will feature master food preservers canning different types of food.

All demonstrations will be held at the Pelion Branch Library, 206 Pine St., Pelion, South Carolina 29123. Workshop dates are:

• July 20, 10:30 a.m., Blueberry Jam
• Sept.18, 11 a.m., Strawberry Jam
• Sept. 21, 11 a.m., Strawberry Jam
• Oct. 16, 11 a.m., Pickles
• Oct. 19, 11 a.m., Pickles
• Nov. 9, 11 a.m., Freezing Peanuts
• Nov. 13, 11 a.m., Pressure Canning and Canned Goods as Gifts
• Nov. 16, 11 a.m., Pressure Canning and Canned Goods as Gifts

Food preservation is believed to have started in 12,000 B.C. when people living in the Middle East dried foods in the hot sun.

Canning foods began in the 1790s when French confectioner, Nicolas Appert, discovered that heat applied to food in sealed glass bottles preserved the food. In 1810, Peter Durand, an Englishman, used tin cans to preserve food. Louis Pasteur discovered the relationship between microorganisms and food spoilage and illness in 1864.