Video workshop series helps small farmers sell produce year round

OREGON CITY, Ore. – The Oregon State University Extension Service has released four new Farm-Direct-Marketing Law video workshops to the public.

Each video was shot in a demonstration kitchen in Oregon City and introduced weekly throughout the month of February on the Clackamas Extension YouTube Channel. The videos explain the Oregon Farm Direct Marketing Law (OFDML) and demonstrate different food preservation techniques.

The 2012 Oregon Farm Direct Marketing Law (OFDML) allows small farmers to produce and sell certain low-risk products—without a license and in their home kitchen—from the produce that they grow. “Allowable” products include canned fruit, jams, jellies, and preserves, pickled vegetables, chutneys, relishes, salsa, dried fruit, dried herbs, herbal teas, hot sauces, sauerkraut, and kimchi.

Recognizing that improper food preservation methods can lead to food safety risks to the public, the OSU Extension Service Family and Community Health program in Clackamas County created a series of four 10-minute video workshops to explain the OFDML and help small farmers implement research-based food preservation techniques for:

  • Water Bath Canning: Fruit Syrup recipe, beav.es/4Zc
  • Acidified Foods: Pickled hot peppers recipe, beav.es/4Zp
  • Fermented Foods: Escabeche recipe, beav.es/4ZG
  • Dehydrated Foods: Dried apples & apple fruit leather recipes, beav.es/4ZN

These demonstration videos provide an alternative educational format to a traditional classroom setting and expand Extension's reach to people who live in rural areas or have limited schedules for attending workshops in-person. Viewers can watch the videos on their own time as many times as desired. Slide prompts allow viewers to forward to areas of interest and hit “pause” as they work their way through the food preservation steps and law guidelines.

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