URBANA, Ill. — Much has changed since 4-H started teaching youth important life skills more than 100 years ago, especially in terms of food preservation. The science has evolved, leading to changes in recommendations from the USDA, University of Illinois Extension, and the National Center for Home Food Preservation, said Leia Kedem, a U of I Extension nutrition and wellness educator. 

“Proper procedures must be followed when canning and dehydrating foods to prevent the growth of deadly botulism bacteria. Temperature, time, acidity and other factors must be incorporated into recipes to help protect consumers from life-threatening foodborne illness,” Kedem said. 

Although the reasons are varied, unsafe preservation methods are still used, and old family recipes make their way to the judges’ table during fair season, she said. 

Kedem judges food preservation projects at the county and state level. “I’ve seen many 4-H’ers bring in projects made from their grandma’s recipe or an outdated cookbook. It’s been hard to not be able to award blue ribbons in those cases, but it’s part of our mission to promote proper food safety. We want to see recipes from research-based sources because they’ve been rigorously tested for quality and safety,” she said.

The educator says that when she looked closely at the food preservation project manuals and exhibit requirements, she found them lacking. “The project manuals weren’t very user-friendly, and the exhibit guidelines were not clear in some places. I felt that we weren’t exactly setting 4-H’ers up for success,” she added.

“Just this past July, the National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, Clemson Cooperative Extension unveiled Put It Up!, a new curriculum specifically targeted toward youth.”

Madonna Weese, a U of I Extension 4-H specialist, said when she and and fellow nutrition and wellness educators Jenna Smith and Mary Liz Wright reviewed the curriculum, they agreed it would be a good fit for Illinois 4-H. 

The curriculum contains a leader’s guide and a series of six lessons that make it easy to teach food preservation skills. Each lesson covers a different food preservation method and is divided into beginning and advanced activities, making it adaptable to ages ranging from middle school to slightly older youth. 

Weese obtained the rights from curriculum authors to adopt Put It Up! as a project manual for Illinois 4-H. Meanwhile, Kedem, Smith, and Wright worked to revise exhibit guidelines and judging sheets.

“The exhibit rules are much clearer now as to what types of recipes can be used,” Smith said. 

To acquaint 4-H members, volunteers, and staff with the new project resources, a free webinar will be presented on the Put It Up! curriculum and the new food preservation exhibit requirements for 2015. The webinar will be offered on two occasions: Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 1 p.m. and Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. 

To register for the Jan. 14 webinar, go to https://web.extension.illinois.edu/registration/?RegistrationID=11420 

To register for the Jan. 27 webinar, go to https://web.extension.illinois.edu/registration/?RegistrationID=11421

Call-in information will be provided when you register for either of the webinars.

Put It Up! resource materials are available for download on the State 4-H website. Go to http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state4h - click on Members and then 4-H Projects. Scroll down and click on Food and Nutrition/Food Preservation. Click on each topic to download the files. 

The webinar will also be recorded for later access. For more information, contact the Illinois State 4-H office at 217-333-0910.

 

 

FISHERS, Ind. — The Hamilton Southeastern FFA livestock judging team traveled to Kansas City, Mo., to compete at the American Royal Livestock Show. The team consisted of members Emily Burris (HSE), Mark Fletcher (HSE), Kayleigh Crane (FHS), and Kassidy Fletcher (HSE). 

After a day of 10 classes and six sets of reasons, the team finished 2nd overall and are now Reserve National Champions. Individually, Mark was 5th overall in sheep and recognized for a high set in sheep; Kayleigh was 2nd overall, 2nd in swine, 5th in beef and 6th in reasons; and Kassidy was 5th overall, 3rd in sheep, 3rd in beef and 7th overall. 

 

 

ST. JOHNS, Mich. (AP) — An agreement between Central Michigan University and St. Johns Public Schools will bring a focus on agriculture to a Lansing-area school in the coming years.

Concepts in science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, will be introduced with an agricultural focus at Gateway Elementary in St. Johns, the Lansing State Journal reported. It also will be a professional development school for the university.

Jason Gnegy, curriculum coordinator for St. Johns Public Schools, said the Mount Pleasant university will be able to place pre-service student teachers and student teachers at the school. Pre-service teachers observe a classroom and can assist teachers.

“CMU has a lot of resources,” Gnegy said. “With this program, we will get a lot of needed resources for us – for our students and our staff.”

Professors will hold classes for CMU students at Gateway and conduct research on teaching. Michael Gealt, CMU’s executive vice president and provost, said students “are going to understand the importance of agricultural science and STEM.”

As part of the agreement, CMU will have use of a classroom at Gateway, Gnegy said. Math is expected to be the first focus of the partnership. “As research is done, we will put it into action in our school to try to improve the teaching and learning that takes place there,” he said.

The initial agreement between CMU and St. Johns is for five years, and is expected to grow to eventually include all elementary schools in the district as well as the middle and high schools, said St. Johns Superintendent Dedrick Martin.

“We are clear that things will not magically appear overnight,” Martin said. “However, working together over the next five years, we are confident that we can make a significant impact on the academic learning environment at Gateway and will share our ... experience.”