In Appalachia, canning and quilting are more than practical skills. They are expressions of creativity, resourcefulness, and care—traditions carried across generations through time spent working and learning together.

With support from a Berea College Appalachian Fund Arts & Culture grant, Thompson Scholars created opportunities for children and families to experience these traditions firsthand through our Canning and Quilting Programs. The project brought Appalachian culture to life while also addressing present-day needs, encouraging community service, and strengthening connections among families.

Throughout our annual canning and food preservation series, participants learned how to prepare and preserve foods that could be enjoyed long after the growing season ended. This year, families canned tomato juice, green beans, and pickles for the winter months.

For some participants, the sessions offered an introduction to skills once commonly practiced in Appalachian homes. For others, they provided an opportunity to reconnect with familiar traditions and share them with a new generation. Children learned that food does not simply appear on a grocery store shelf: it can be grown, harvested, prepared, and carefully preserved through knowledge passed from one person to another.

The program also complemented the work taking place in the Thompson Scholars raised-bed garden. Scholars participated in growing fresh vegetables and produce, helping them understand the relationship between the land, the food on their tables, and the labor involved in feeding a family.

The canning series culminated in a harvest dinner where scholars and their families gathered to enjoy a meal together. The dinner included samples of the vegetables they had canned and produce grown in the scholars’ garden. It was a celebration of their work, but also of the Appalachian tradition of bringing people together around a shared table.

By teaching practical food-preservation skills, the program helps families make fresh food last longer and offers one small but meaningful response to the food disparities affecting our region. Just as importantly, it affirms that traditional Appalachian knowledge remains valuable, relevant, and worthy of being carried forward.

Several families were introduced to canning for the first time through this program. This summer, Thompson Scholars staff assisted two families with canning in their homes who had not canned before. Families were excited to feel that, next year, they will be equipped to continue this tradition on their own. As we gear up for this harvest season, families are requesting the types of foods they would like to can next.