Ask your County Agent

Stephanie R. Butcher County Coordinator Agricultural & Natural Resources Agent UGA Extension – Coweta County

Q. Can you save money by preserving food at home?

A. The short answer is it depends.

There has been a significant increase in learning home food preservation practices throughout the United States. During the pandemic, people spent extra time at home growing their gardens, preparing new food items, and trying new methods to preserve their foods.

In fact, the National Center for Home Food Preservation (NCHFP) saw an increase of 620% in website access and 270% in requests for home food preservation validated recipes from March 2020 to 2022.

Whether or not you can save money by preserving food at home depends on several factors including the availability of raw materials such as produce and ingredients; equipment; resources and time.

Raw materials can be mainly divided into three categories: grown yourself, purchased or received as a donation. Each of these categories will affect the cost per pound of the main ingredient.

If you grow the produce yourself, you must consider the costs of plants, soil amendment, equipment, irrigation, and your own time.

When purchasing raw materials from the store, look for bulk pricing and in-season commodities for the best bang for the buck.

Equipment to preserve food will vary depending on the food preservation method used.

If canning is the method of choice, consider the cost of the canner, jars, rings, flats, canning tools, maintenance over the years, electricity or gas for your stove and your own time, which can vary greatly depending on the knowledge and experience you have.

If freezing is the method of choice, it is essential to understand the costs associated with freezing and