By Jade Bulecza - bio | email
LOWNDES COUNTY, GA (WALB) –Produce harvest time in south Georgia means the Lowndes County School Food Processing Center is busy.
People are taking advantage of the canning, washing, and blanching plants.
They like the low cost and ease of preserving their food and the educational experience it brings.
Hot steaming water is poured into cans of beans. Neil Warren got the snap beans from a farmer and brought his children with him to the food processing center and canning plant Friday for the first time.
"It's fun," said Warren, a Lake Park resident. "It's interesting for these kids to show them the process of canning beans from the field to the table."
"It's awesome," said his son, Brock Warren. "I get to watch them can beans and I get to learn how to do it."
Agriculture education teacher Quinton Hadsock says people leave the canning plant with peace of mind.
"It let's them know exactly what went in that can of food," said Hadsock. "If you buy it at the grocery store, there's probably a lot more preservatives that you really don't know is in there."
The cans are put on a steam line then sealed and put in a pressure cooker. The processing center also does shelling, washing, blanching, and peach peeling to name of few.
Student workers are also there to help out. Jan Devane and her husband Roy have been coming to the center for years.
"This is much easier than doing it at home," said Jan Devane, a Valdosta resident. "We love it out here. Everybody's so nice."
They brought acre peas, they'll later freeze. Neil Warren has been anxiously waiting for the center to open and Friday he took home 60 cans of beans.
The food processing center is open from now until July 17. Click here for more information.
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