Travis Alexander, UC Master Food Preserver Coordinator Online Program
In a week, the University of California Master Food Preserver (UC MFP) Program will officially kick off its annual training run. Applicants will receive more than 50 hours of training over the course of 16 weeks, covering food safety principles, food preservation methods, and public teaching skills. New UC MFPs are required to volunteer a minimum of 50 hours in the first year and 25 hours each year subsequently. They must also complete a minimum of 12 hours of continuing education per year, starting their second year, to maintain certification. While prior food preservation knowledge is not a requirement of acceptance into the training, willingness to teach others is. Traditionally, certification was really limited to those who resided in a county that offered a UC MFP Program out of the local UC Cooperative Extension office, as has been the case for Master Gardening. As of 2024, with Specialty Crop Block Grant Program funds administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the UC MFP Program was able to increase accessibility by establishing an entirely online, statewide cohort of UC MFPs. These volunteers meet and educate the public entirely online, specifically via Zoom, with a focus on specialty crops, as defined by the USDA. As of today, the online cohort consists of 30 certified volunteers, from Santee to Chico, and as of this day next year, the cohort could be double in size given the number of trainees in the 2025 run.
Below is a bit more background on the SCBG project that has increased accessibility to food preservation education statewide.
Title:
Provide Research-Based Online Food Preservation Educational Events for Specialty Crops
Duration:
November 1, 2023 - June 30, 2026
Summary:
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more people are preserving fresh produce and then preparing meals with their preserved food. Often home canners rely on internet recipes, blogs, old canning books, and family history for preservation recipes, many of which use out-of-date and potentially unsafe methods. The University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, will leverage a new online-only version of the University of California Master Food Preserver model to extend science-based preparation, storage, and preservation practices to anyone with an internet connection. It will build a network of online volunteer educators to provide online helplines, education materials distributed through social media and websites, and online classes addressing safe preparation and preservation methods with research-based recipes to promote awareness and consumption of specialty crops. Project success will be measured by the increase in specialty crop knowledge and consumption reported through pre- and post-event surveys.
Objectives:
- Develop a training program for online volunteers and certify 50 UC MFP Volunteers for service (by July 2025).
- Develop a marketing and education plan for a two-year series of online specialty crop food education and preservation events and educational outreach media outlets (by June 2025).
- Develop and conduct multiple monthly online educational events, with a goal of completing 42 events (by June 2026).
- Create an online, statewide helpline system to answer food preservation questions about specialty crop products (by June 2025).
- Create an active social media presence for the statewide UC Master Food Preserver Program with 1,000 followers (by June 2026).
- Create a statewide UC Master Food Preserver online educational newsletter with 4,000 subscribers (by April 2026).
