Canning and Food Preservation People I have a question for you

[KatWrangler]

Mods not sure if this belongs here or Parenting. Please move if necessary.

So the ILs were here this weekend. My husband tells me after they leave that he told his Mom we want to get back into Canning (its been several years and before we had kids). Back story, in order to can we will need to buy a camp stove (we are renting a townhouse and it has a glass top stove that won't hold my pressure canner). So MIL told him, why waste our time? Just go to the store and buy the stuff we need. Instead we should spend our time playing with the kids.

Well I was really ticked. I feel by canning/preserving food we are teaching our children how to take care of themselves. Not having to rely on the food industry to take care of us. Not to mention this is buying and supporting local farmers. Just like cleaning the house and cleaning the car. I am trying to make our children self-sufficiant. Who knows, maybe they will want to live off the grid some day.

Does that make sense? Or am I all screwed up?

[dachshundqueen]

I'm honestly not sure what the question is.

I can and the children love the jams and applesauces I can.

I don't know about the glass top stove problem though. A camp stove could easily be borrowed from REI - don't they rent stuff like that - for a weekend and you could just buy the propane.

I don't personally consider canning "fun" until the jars are on the table and I can admire them.



Liz

[pinky]

Well, you're preaching to the choir here, I think.

There are tons of reasons to can your own stuff. No chemicals or ick in the food. No BPA in the cans. The satisfaction of all those gorgeous jars of tomatoes that you canned yourself. Supporting the local farming economy (assuming you're canning local produce).

In "Animal, Vegetable, Miriacle," they note that Americans spend an average of 3.5 hours watching TV. So it doesn't seem at all crazy to spend some of that time instead on preparing food for your family, and teaching your kids how to do that.

There will always be people who don't get it. Time to say, "pass the bean dip..."

[abckidsmom]

I really prefer that my kids grow up seeing that adults "play" in productive ways. I do enjoy canning, I love eating green beans that I picked myself back in the summer.

I love the taste of jam I made on my fresh bread. This is not wasting my time. When my kids come down in the morning and help me put our breakfast on the table, made out of food we grew, life is good.

The memories we're leaving in their brains are worth it!

[Elizabeth2008]

I think it's fine to just ignore the inlaws. No need to make an issue of it with them. You are right though that canning is a great thing to teach your kids. I have similar moments with friends who claim they just don't have time to ever cook a meal from scratch, yet they spend their whole weekend carting their kids from oned organized activity to the next. I sometimes want to say "you know, planning, preparing and cooking a meal is a great activity to do with your little ones". I feel the same way about fixing things around the house. Those can be great, teachable moments and projects that can be made fun as well as equipping them with knowledge they'll need later in life. Spending time with your kids doesn't always have to include toys, the park or soccer games.