Putting Food By - Janet Greene [202]
A sprawling metropolis may not have agents listed for every county it embraces geographically, but it is likely to have an Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) center, with branches in boroughs or settlement houses. Try them.
In the telephone directory your most likely listing will be plain “Extension Service.” Or look under your county agencies, and your state university. The Yellow Pages may list county agents under “Vocational and Educational Guidance.” You can also find your local extension service online. Go to www.csrees.usda.gov (USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture) and then click on Local Extension Office.
More General
The best way to get USDA H&G (Home and Garden) bulletins is to access Index to USDA Home and Garden Bulletins at www.nal.usda.gov/ref/USDApubs/hgb.htm. The bulletins are searchable by title, by number, and by subject. Otherwise, contact your state or local library, land-grant university library, or other large research library.
In Canada, contact your provincial agriculture departments, through which materials may be available; their measurements are metric.
We refer often to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. It is available for free online at www.cdc.gov/mmwr.
Of the materials on nutrition, one of the best is Health and Nutrition Letter from Tufts University. It has depth and scholarship, and what seems to be unfailing good sense. To subscribe, go to www.tuftshealthletter.com/.
Chapter by Chapter
CHAPTER 1. WHAT IS IT?
The 2008–2009 sales figures for Jarden Homes brands were provided by Brenda Schmidt, brand manager for fresh-preserving products at the company, to Southern Maryland Online, October 9, 2009, http://somd.com/news/headlines/2009/10614.shtml.
The six methods of food preservation described in the Master Food Preserver workbook of the University of California, Davis (led by Kathryn Boor, 1987), are credited to the University of Illinois MFP program manual.
CHAPTER 2: WHY FOODS SPOIL
USDA H&G Bulletin No. 162, Keeping Food Safe to Eat, available online (see above for link).
The introductions to preserving food at home are in all accredited manuals.
Several food safety publications are available from the Federal Citizen Information Center, Pueblo, Colorado. Most of these publications are available for free online, at http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/Epubs/epubFO.htm. Or call 1-888-878-3256.
CHAPTER 3: ALTITUDE AND METRICS
Altitude. The Colorado State University pamphlets are especially good for their simplicity and quickness, among them: Pamphlet 41, High Altitude Food Preparation (Revised 1977), by Dr. Pat Kendall, Extension Specialist, Food Science and Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523. Pamphlet 41 is available online: http://www.gunnison.colostate.edu/hh/hh_docs/highaltfdprep.pdf.
Also extremely valuable for their sensible recognition of the problems “out in the field” are the New Mexico State University, Las Cruces bulletins, especially Guide E-215: High-Altitude Cooking, which is available online at http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/.
Metrics. Where to begin? Most recently published general-purpose cookbooks include metric conversion charts. Also, the Pueblo Information Center (see above) lists government publications.
CHAPTER 5: COMMON INGREDIENTS AND HOW TO USE THEM
Artificial sweeteners. From time to time the Centers for Disease Control include items on artificial sweeteners; see the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (the link to MMWR is listed earlier).
Other addresses for common ingredients: Morton Salt Consumer Products, 123 North Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606, or www.mortonsalt.com. Morton’s online store offers a range of salt products useful in home preserving. For information on food-grade chemicals and other substances, Fisher Scientific