{"id":15391,"date":"2014-08-19T08:01:32","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T13:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=15391"},"modified":"2014-09-02T14:54:34","modified_gmt":"2014-09-02T19:54:34","slug":"yokel-food-we-are-the-yokna-bottoms-food-preservation-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/yokel-food-we-are-the-yokna-bottoms-food-preservation-society\/","title":{"rendered":"Yokel Food: We Are the Yokna Bottoms Food Preservation Society"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared in The Local Voice #209 (published July 31, 2014). To download a PDF of this issue, click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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by Betsy Chapman<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Yokna1\"<\/a>Sometimes farming and rock \u2018n roll collide. The Kinks<\/strong>\u2019 quintessential, nostalgic 1968 album The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society<\/em> laments the passing of the old ways, rural traditions, a quirky pastoral England of \u201ccustard pies,\u201d \u201clittle shops,\u201d and \u201cTudor houses.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Great album\u2026Brought to mind the current movement of organic farming, home gardening, sustainable living, self-sufficiency, and interest in traditional foodways\u2014our collective attempt to revive these relics of our bucolic past before they\u2019re forgotten altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent Sunday in the kitchen, as I often do\u2014 only this Sunday, I\u2019d decided to overcome one of my greatest food preservation fears\u2014canning! (And, yes, as a great lover of puns, you better believe I was singing as I canned: \u201cWe are the Yokna Bottoms Food Preservation Society…\u201d<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Yokna2\"<\/a>Home canning might be hip right now (think hipsters trying to ironically out pickle each other), but history shows that the revival of the practice is often fueled by necessity. For example, the sale of home canning supplies surged in 2009 as economic fears became all too real. During World War II, American propaganda urged Victory Gardeners to \u201cCan All You Can,\u201d making self-sufficiency an act of patriotism. <\/span><\/p>\n

Home canning <\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n