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Home preservation practices and knowledge of Alberta homemakers

The rationale for this study lies in the upsurge of home food
preservation which has occurred as a result of the unprecedented rise
in food prices and, concommitantly, the danger and economic loss
entailed in the use of faulty methods. A sample of 200 non-urban
homemakers in the province of Alberta who do food preservation were
examined on their practices and knowledge with regard to canning,
drying, making sauerkraut, pickling, smoking and root cellar storage.
The demographic characteristics of the sample population were
delineated as to age, education, income, and size of family still
living at home. These general demographic differences were not
reflected in the food preservation methods used, in general.
Cookbooks, some of which may have been government bulletins, were
the most important source of information followed by family and district
home economists.
Unsafe practices followed by these homemakers were the use by
12% of the open kettle method for processing foods other than jams and
jellies and the use by 76% of the boiling water bath rather than pressure
processing for the low acid foods. These unsafe practices were
made more serious by incorrectly evaluating the safety of food and
the inability of the respondents to relate acidity classification of
the food with its safety.
The recommendation is made that canning publications provide the
rationale for approved methods. More effective communication methods
to reach homemakers are needed. / Graduation date: 1980

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/27177
Date06 August 1979
CreatorsWhitmore, Aileen Perdue
ContributorsWoodburn, Margy J.
Source SetsOregon State University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis/Dissertation

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