2. Environmentally friendly - using seasonally grown and locally sourced fresh produce, re-use preserving jars, reducing food packaging and reducing food miles.
3. Save money by buying in bulk and seasonally.
4. Flavour! Home canned food won't contain artificial preservatives, BPA or other artificial ingredients. You will know where the ingredients have come from and how they were grown (i.e. farm direct, homegrown or locally sourced).
5. Convenience - ready to serve in minutes.
6. Community involvement - both the canning process and sharing with family, friends and neighbours. Teach skills to the next generation.
7. Gifts - nothing beats a homemade jam for a present :)
8. Prepare for emergencies and/or illness. Weather impacting, job loss or even moving to a new home - preserving helps us!
9. Personal satisfaction. We love creating new flavour combinations that you cannot buy in your local store - and showing how to use canned food in cooking dishes (ie marmalade in a stir-fry)
10. Learn more skills i.e. how to use all of the fruit and reducing food wastage. For example: apples - make apple slices (or pie filling), extract juice from the peels and cores.
This is why Food Preserving was created. For you!
Author: Megan
Radaich
Image Credit: Megan Radaich
Publication: www.foodpreserving.org