Local entrepreneur, educator and community advocate Colette Muhammad is on a mission to help families learn the value of food preservation through canning.
Colette Muhammad is the founder of Canning with Colette, a company focused on teaching community members safe food preservation techniques. In the community, Muhammad serves Rochester’s youth as the communications and events support associate for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Rochester.
Muhammad has been canning food since 2020. Known as the "Canning Queen" in the community, Muhammad has hosted many virtual and in-person workshops with community groups, organizations and schools.
The following is a recent Democrat and Chronicle Q&A with Muhammad. Answers have been lightly edited for clarity
and length.
What was the inspiration behind Canning With Colette?
I was at a point where I was looking to discover my purpose and what kind of impact I could be making on my community. A couple of years prior, I learned how to can with my sisters in faith, and I remember saying, ‘Wow, this would be cool if I could bring this out to the community. Maybe I could do canning classes or come to people's homes and actually teach them how to make their own jam.’ I shifted to online classes, where I was teaching across the country. I started making content on social media. When we got out of the shelter-in-place, I got invited to various states to come in for conferences and teach at their events.
Why do you think canning is an important skill for people to learn?
I consider it an essential skill because it helps to restore food security in our homes. We're really only about a generation, maybe two, away from where this was a common practice in the home. And with the times that we're living in, I think it's more important now to can while we can, to help bring back that food security, and ensure more quality food in our homes.
It's a healthier option for us, and we also can save money on our grocery bills, uh, because we're able to kind of get ahead of inflation in a few ways when we're home canning our food.
I think that there's a bit of a stigma or a myth attached to canning, where when we think about canning, we think about someone living on a homestead, who's growing all their own food, with a fabulous kitchen and they're doing this in their spare time. Really, none of that is necessarily true. I live in the city. I don't grow my own food. My kitchen is ridiculously small, and I wanna get across to people that it's, you know, it's very doable.
Muhammad hosts a two-hour canning workshop each month in various locations. Tickets to a workshop cost $30 per person and include all supplies. The next class will be hosted at 3 p.m. Aug. 30 at 1 South Washington St., Suite 100. Attendees will learn how to make and can their own applesauce.
Visit canningwithcolette.com to learn more.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Rochester's Colette Muhammad teaches community canning skills
