Do you like pickles on your hamburgers? What about chips and salsa, peanut butter and jelly, or jerky? Food preservation is a way to enjoy seasonal fresh-grown fruits, vegetables, and even meats, all year long! The foods mentioned can all be preserved by canning, pickling, freezing, or drying.
Food Preservation Project - Preserving your own garden produce can help extend your family’s food budget while guaranteeing your food is healthy and safe. You can choose from several preservation methods: canning fruits and vegetables, making jams and jellies and preserves, freezing fruit and vegetables, drying produce and meats, and making pickles.
Youth learn how to safely preserve tomatoes, vegetables, and meats and use these home-canned foods in healthy recipes. The manual includes nutrition information, kitchen basics, the basics of the preservation procedure, and activities for the youth to conduct to learn the techniques. Activities include canning vegetables, beans, and combinations of meat and vegetables.
There are 4 different Project Areas
Home Foods Preservation: Pressure Canning Project: Activities include canning vegetables, beans, and combinations of meat and vegetables.
Home Foods Preservation: Boiling Water Canning Project: Activities include canning fruit, making syrup, jams and jellies, and making pickles.
Home Foods Preservation: Freezing Project: Activities include freezing fruit and vegetables, conducting a taste test, and creating a freezer inventory.
Home Foods Preservation: Drying Project: Activities include drying fruits and herbs, making fruit leathers, and making a menu plan.
Links to project guides and resources are found at the bottom of this page.
Show Your Skills
- Display of how to preserve foods safely showing the different types of food preservation
- Exhibit your canned foods
- Make a recipe book for preserved foods
- Present a food preservation topic at a local public presentations contest
Service and Leadership
- Make jam/jelly for others in your community
- Teach others about how to preserve food
- Volunteer at a community garden
- Volunteer with a local food pantry
- Organize a food preservation workshop
- Share food preservation recipes with others
- Start a food drive for commercially canned foods in your community
- Grow your own garden with vegetables you can preserve
Entrepreneurship
- Create your own food preservation cookbook
- Contact the local health department for local rules on selling your products, then sell your preserved good at a farmer’s market or create an online store
- Create a business plan for your preserved food sales
Technology Connection
- Videos of how to properly can foods
- Take virtual tours of canning factories
Connecting with a Mentor
- Master Food Preserver
- Extension nutrition and wellness educators
- Extension Master Gardeners
- Older 4-H members
Events
- Local Illinois Extension workshops and events
- Exhibit opportunities at your county and state fair
- Local taste test
- Local food cookoff
- Local food fairs
- Farmer’s markets
Project Manuals & Exhibit Requirements
- Put It Up Food Preservation for Youth Online Resources
- Boiling Water Canning Project Manual
- Drying Project Manual
- Freezing Project Manual
Purchase manuals on the Shop Illinois 4-H Store.
View exhibit requirements and scoresheets on the Illinois State Fair page.
Related Projects
National Center for Food Preservation
University of Wyoming Extension 4-H project sheet
South Dakota State University 4-H Project Sheet
North Dakota State University Extension 4-H Project Sheet
4-H Spark Sheets are a collaborative effort of 4-H staff, volunteers, alumni and teens from across Illinois. A big thanks to the many contributors and reviewers!