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Country Ham

The program details:

  • Youth meet once in January (usually during MLK weekend on Saturday or Monday) to learn about country hams and prepare their hams for curing and hanging.

  • End of May/early June, youth clean their hams and rehang them.

  • Tuesday before KY State Fair, youth will return to the office to clean their hams and pick out the best one to enter.

  • First Thursday of KY State Fair, youth will attend the fair and give a 3-5 minute speech in the morning and attend an awards ceremony in late afternoon. 

  • Fee $70: Youth receive 2 country hams, 2 tickets to the KY State Fair, and parking pass at fair

  • Deadline to apply: December 8, 2023

 

 

Country Ham Topic for 2023 Juniors born 2013-2009: 

Country ham is considered a Southeastern food, but that was not always the case.  Before mechanical refrigeration, salting food was a common preservation method.  Discuss the history of the country ham and how it became part of Kentucky’s food heritage. 

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Country Ham Topic for 2023 Seniors born 2004-2008:

Country hams are susceptible to various pests; identify those pests and discuss the various ways the pests can be controlled and/or eliminated.

 

Speeches should be between 3-5 minutes in length

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