Micro Processing Certification

Congratulations to Cowan Community Center Grow Appalachia participants who completed the Micro Processing training presented by the Letcher County Extension Office.   Special thanks to Anne Bradley, Letcher County Extension Agent for hosting the workshop.   Nine of our Grow Appalachia participants attended the workshop on April 10th and are now certified to sell their value added products at the Letcher County Farmers Market, Roadside Stands or their Farm.

I believe even the most experienced home canners among us learned from the workshop and walked away feeling accomplished, proud and excited about the opportunity to earn extra income from their produce.

After participants receive their certification, their will be an additional $50 fee and $5 fee per recipe submitted for approval to the Department of Health and Safety.    We also hope to provide technical and creative assistance if requested for making labels for home based products.   We will be looking forward to their products at the market this season and know our customers will appreciate the opportunity to buy locally grown and value added products at the farmers market.

This is one piece of the pie in building the local agriculture economy and as we celebrate this success, we begin to plan our next steps.   GAP (Good Agriculture Practices) will be the next workshop offered.   This will insure our growers have the best tools and resources to provide the safest product possible.    Being GAP certified is also a necessary step in selling produce to the school system, a goal for our farmers and our students.