OSU Extension Advises Holmes County Families on Freezer Use
An OSU Extension advisory authored by Kate Shumaker offers practical guidance for using home freezers to reduce food waste, expand meal options, and lower grocery bills as winter approaches. The tips are aimed at helping Holmes County households manage seasonal budgets and strengthen food safety practices.
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An advisory from Ohio State University Extension, authored by Kate Shumaker, is urging households to make fuller use of home freezers as temperatures fall and grocery budgets tighten. The advisory packages simple, actionable steps that residents can adopt immediately to preserve produce and prepared meals, reduce waste, and stretch food dollars through the winter months.
The guidance stresses basic food safety first, noting that hot foods should be cooled in the refrigerator before being transferred to the freezer to protect quality and safety. Shumaker recommends dividing larger batches into meal size portions before freezing and labeling containers with the date of storage to make rotation and use easier. The advisory highlights the freezer as a tool for both preserving garden produce and saving leftovers for future meals, giving families more flexibility when planning grocery trips.
Practical organization is a key theme in the advisory. Good visibility and systematic rotation of frozen items can reduce the likelihood that food will be forgotten and wasted. The recommendations include arranging items so that older packages are used first and keeping commonly used ingredients in easy to reach areas. These steps are framed as household management practices that combine food safety with cost savings.
Safe thawing and reheating practices are part of the advisory, positioned as essential to protecting household health while maximizing the benefit of frozen foods. The advisory frames these habits as part of a broader effort to improve food literacy in the home, linking simple changes in storage and preparation to measurable reductions in household food waste and grocery spending.
For Holmes County residents, the timing of this outreach is relevant. Winter months often bring tighter household budgets and higher food demand among families balancing heating costs and other seasonal expenses. By adopting the advisory recommendations, local households can increase meal options without increasing grocery frequency, and by preserving homegrown produce they can extend the value of summer harvests into colder months.
Extension materials like this one are part of a longer tradition of county outreach that connects technical knowledge from universities to everyday household decisions. For local leaders and community organizations that work on food security, the advisory offers a straightforward, low cost step toward reducing waste and improving access to nutritious meals. As winter approaches, small adjustments to how households use their freezers could yield concrete returns for many families across Holmes County.
