Hopi High School, Polacca, AZ
Mrs. Emma Talashoma has been teaching Cooking and Hopi Cooking at Hopi Jr./Sr. High School for several years. She's always wanted to introduce Canning to her students, but never had the time. A chance conversation a few weeks back, opened the opportunity to have the Hopi Food Co-op help her in teaching this class.
Susan Secakuku and Lillian Hill of the Hopi Food Co-op met with one of her classes to teach those 12 students the basics of canning. By canning jalepeno's, they learned the recipe, learned about the equipment needed, and even stepped up to do the canning themselves. We also discussed in general, various methods of food preservation, why is it better to preserve your own foods and introduced the idea that we should all start to grow some of our own food.
Lillian and Susan brought with them a variety of canned goods for the students to taste test, apple/cherry jelly, canned chicken, potatoes, salsa, grape jelly, and pickled green tomatoes. All of this was canned by Lillian, Susan and other Hopi Food Co-op members this past season during one of the many canning workshops we offered or those offered by some of the churches in our community.
We hope to lure some of these young people to our Co-op and really do wish they will remain interested in our plan to change to world (for the better) with food. Thanks to Mrs. Talashoma for welcoming us into her kitchen. She rewarded us with a pieces of fresh lemon meringue
pie, made by some of the students in her class!
