Canning heats up again

RALEIGH -- ******

CORRECTION

A front-page story Monday about canning entries at the N.C. State Fair gave the incorrect title of an N.C. State University department. The correct name is the department of food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences.

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One sign of the current economic times: Canning entries at the N.C. State Fair have almost doubled in the past two years.

"I think the economy plays into it," said Ben Chapman, an assistant professor and food safety specialist at N.C. State University who was helping those judging the canning entries last week at the State Fairgrounds.

It would be more appropriate to describe the entries as food preservation instead of canning, since people can also enter beef jerky and dried fruits, vegetables and herbs. But the majority of contests in this category are for canned goods: fruits, vegetables, preserves, jams, jellies, juices, syrups, pickles, relishes, salsas and even chutneys. The number of entries has skyrocketed from 719 in 2007 to 1,063 in 2008 and 1,360 this year.

The State Fair contest entries aren't the only indication that more people are canning. Extension agents across North Carolina report a 300 percent increase in inquiries about canning and participation in canning workshops, Chapman said.

And Joanna Foegeding, a research analyst at NCSU's Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, says she is seeing more people start their own small food businesses.

"With the economy being down, I think people are looking for other income sources," Foegeding said while judging salsas at the State Fair last week. She has seen an uptick in "especially pickles, jams, lots of barbecue sauces, salsas."

Alice Christensen of Raleigh is one of the new canners. This is her first year. She was bestowed with a bunch of canning jars, and that was the impetus to try her hand at something she has always wanted to do. "Then it was addictive," she said.

Christensen was among the last-minute stream of people Tuesday morning dropping off their entries before noon. Like many, she brought the maximum 15 entries in the food preservation contest, from pickled beets to blackberry syrup. Folks hauled their canned goods to the contest table in laundry baskets, canning jar boxes and even decorative baskets.

The experienced canners and State Fair competitors have noticed an increased interest, too.

"Last year, when I went to get jars, I couldn't find jars anywhere," Rebecca Evans, 48, of Clayton said after dropping off her entries.

Carole Caniford of Youngsville says she noticed canning supplies available for sale in places she had never seen them before, such as Ace Hardware and Lowe's Home Improvement stores.

Others, such as Lisa Brewer of Clayton, say more people are asking her questions about canning. She's even gotten several co-workers to take up what once looked to become a lost art.

"I really have seen resurgence. I have more people to talk to about it," said Brewer, 52.

While canning can be addicting, experienced fair competitors say it's the blue ribbons that truly suck you in.

"I canned my first apple butter in 1981," said Judy Bridges of Fuquay-Varina, "and it won first prize."

"That got her hooked," chimed in her husband, Frank Bridges.

So Judy Bridges has returned year after year, in her own words, becoming, in her own words, "a ribbon slut."