Home Canning for Food Preservation

With uncertain economic times and unusual weather earth events, it appears home canning and food preservation are making a comeback. Gone are the days when you can assume your local grocery store will have whatever you need when you need it. Katrina showed us the unimaginable when Mother Nature wreaks havoc. Any collapse of the monetary system would shut down transportation and public facilities. Food shortages are already a contributing factor to the rising cost of food and with increasing wild weather could get worse. The skills of yesterday will determine who is prepared for such events and who isn’t. Getting back to the basics will mean your family will have food to eat when you need it.

Making what my family calls “Chicken Spaghetti” was always a special treat growing up. Hours of preparation and slow aromatic simmering went in the making of this family traditional meal. I remember my mother carefully selecting her jars of tomatoes that she had canned the year before. She canned her tomatoes whole and always had plenty for the various meals she prepared. They were included in everything from stews and vegetable soups to her delicious “chicken spaghetti”. Along with her rows of canned tomatoes would usually be green beans as well. Rows of beautiful golden peaches cinnamon flavored apples, pickles, jellies and jams lined my mother’s pantry. My father loved hot green peppers so we always had numerous jars of various pickled peppers. There many other vegetables and fruits my mother preserved by freezing. There was always fresh frozen creamed corn, various peas and okra in ample abundance. These were the traditional means of preserving food back in the day. That is the day before grocery stores were made so convenient. Sure, Mom always went to A&P to get her staple items such as milk, sugar, flour and such, but the vegetables were either canned or fresh. A garden was always grown every year to supplement the vegetables. Meat was bought in bulk such as buying the pig or cow and having it butchered. Hunting wild game and fishing was popular and also supplied us with more variety. This was the traditional approach to supplying your family with food.

With farm crops being devastated by unusual weather and food prices on the rise, food preservation and home canning are a buffer against the inflation. Canning food is a simple process that just takes time and patience to accomplish and give you the rewards of life should any natural disaster occurs. Self-sufficiency starts with you and being prepared is always a good thing while prices are relatively affordable, now is the time to prepare and start by learning home canning for food preservation.

Tips: If you want to preserve food quickly and efficiently, you should find yourself a best pressure canner. That's what most of the world's customers recommend.



There are several ways to get food in bulk if you don’t happen to have your own garden. Your area should have a local farmers market that sells to the public and garden vegetables are always plentiful and sold by various venders. Buy extra food at the grocery store sales. Visit your local Chamber of Commerce, talk to neighbors or ask local produce stands about local farmers coops. Here is a link that may help in finding growers in your area.