Food Freezing Guide

Formerly published under the HE seriesFN-403 (Revised

Seniors and Food Safety: What's a Senior to Eat?

Formerly published under the HE seriesFN-69

Food Freezing Basics: Methods of Wrapping

Formerly published under the HE seriesFN-W61

Food Freezing Basics: Packaging, Loading the Freezer and Refreezing

Formerly published under the HE seriesFN-W61

Get the facts! : steps to reading and understanding nutrition facts labels

FN-140

Food Preservation: Using a Boiling Water Bath Canner

Growth of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum in canned food may cause botulism—a deadly form of food poisoning. These bacteria exist either as spores or as vegetative cells. The spores, which are comparable to plant seeds, can survive harmlessly in soil and water for many years

Beef Quality Assurance from Farm to Fork: Development of a Pilot Program in Farm to Table Food Safety

The goal of the project described here was to develop an interdisciplinary 3-day food safety training program. Course material for this program included content focused on food safety issues at the pre-harvest (farm, ranch, feedlot), post-harvest (slaughter and fabrication), and consumer (foodservice, retail, home) level. A pre-and post-test were given to each participant to assess the impact of this training program. Pre-test scores averaged 62%, while post-test scores averaged 87%. The 3-day interdisciplinary food safety course was effective at increasing constituent knowledge of food safety issues related to beef production and consumption from farm to fork

Best practices for urban local food entrepreneurs and building regional Extension networks

Interest in local foods production in the urban environment has been steadily increasing in North Dakota and the surrounding region. Food entrepreneurs are seeking safe and reliable ways to grow, create, and market their fresh or freshly preserved products. Urban consumers are demanding local foods and food products that are fresh and safe. As an increasing number of producers and vendors enter farmers markets and other local food sales channels, these growing small businesses need technical assistance for safe food handling and marketing in the changing world of pandemics and supply chain issues. Although some basic practices, such as hand washing, have been encouraged for decades, the pandemic has shown that they are in constant need of reinforcement. Regulations for small-scale food entrepreneurs vary widely from state to state and can be confusing for both entrepreneurs and consumers. This lack of clarity is an ongoing issue, so a best practices document was created and disseminated throughout the North Central Region. The North Central Food Safety Extension Network (NCFSEN) has been building a coalition of Extension food safety professionals in our region since 2016. We have implemented several activities together, including monthly meetings, building relationships with industry professionals, developing educational materials, and creating a program evaluation tool for our region. Our network also has been working steadily to help other regions establish their own Extension coalitions to better serve their constituents as developed around a particular topic, such as food safety in our case. To that end, we have assembled best practices for creating regional Extension networks. The following elements was presented at the conference: 1) background of cottage foods in our region, pre- and post-pandemic; 2) best practices for local food entrepreneurs, including the relevance of “best practices” in view of varying state laws and regulations, health and hygiene policy for employees, volunteers, and family members, market day preparations and contingencies, creating, labeling, and sampling value-added food products; 3) evolving practices for pandemic circumstances in urban markets; 4) building regional Extension coalitions to better serve local constituencies; and 5) best practices for implementing your own regional Extension network, including benefits of regional collaboration, organization, communication, and setting goals

The Sol-Gel Process Simulated by Cluster-Cluster Aggregation

The pair-correlation function $g(r,t)$ and its Fourier transform, the structure factor $S(q,t)$, are computed during the gelation process of identical spherical particles using the diffusion-limited cluster-cluster aggregation model in a box. This numerical analysis shows that the time evolution of the characteristic cluster size $\xi$ exhibits a crossover close to the gel time $t_g$ which depends on the volumic fraction $c$. In this model $t_g$ tends to infinity when the box size $L$ tends to infinity. For systems of finite size, it is shown numerically that, when $t<t_g$, the wave vector $q_m$, at which $S(q,t)$ has a maximum, decreases as $S(q_m,t)^{-1/D}$, where $D$ is an apparent fractal dimension of clusters, as measured from the slo pe of $S(q,t)$ . The time evolution of the mean number of particles per cluster $\bar {n}$ is also investigated. Our numerical results are in qualitative agreement with small angle scattering experiments in several systems.Comment: RevTex, 13 pages + 9 postscript figures appended using "uufiles". To appear in J. of Non-Cryst. Solid

The Role of Cooperative Extension in Chronic Disease Prevention and Management: Perspectives from Professionals in the Field

Chronic diseases are strongly associated with premature death and increased health care costs. Nearly half of American adults report they have one or more chronic health conditions. Cooperative Extension is calling for refocus to refine and align with broader efforts to promote public health by supporting the prevention and management of chronic disease. The success of this refocus is dependent on a shared vision between funding agencies, stakeholders, and Extension. As part of developing this shared vision, the Chronic Disease Health Implementation Team surveyed 152 Extension administrators, faculty, and Extension Agents/Educators to determine their perception of the role of Extension in chronic disease prevention and management in the next century. Respondents answered the open-ended question, “What role should Cooperative Extension have in working to reduce chronic diseases in America for the next 10, 25, and 100 years? Analysis with grounded theory identified three themes. The respondents perceived the role of Extension professionals as educators and collaborators in chronic disease prevention and management who focus on influencing individuals and environments. As educators, Extension should deliver evidence-based programs to communicate, inform, facilitate, and teach. As collaborators, Extension should facilitate and nurture partnerships to effect changes in chronic disease prevention and management