This event takes place on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required. 

Charis welcomes Julia Skinner in conversation with Johnny Drain for a celebration of Essential Food Preserving, the must-have reference guide to all the methods used for preserving every type of food.

Featuring clear step-by-step instructions and original photography, Essential Food Preserving is organized by type of food, with multiple preservation methods for each one, so you can preserve almost anything in a variety of ways, including:

Food-preserving expert Julia Skinner focuses on minimizing waste; every part is used, including the byproducts of processes. Containing more than 250 recipes and creative zero-waste options, this guide has instructions for preserving every type of food - from canning vegetables to making fruit wines to curing meat. Just as important as her comprehensive approach is Julia’s expert curation of the topic and creative recipes that go beyond the basics.

Dr. Julia Skinner is a food writer whose work includes the award-winning book Our Fermented Lives, and The Fermentation Oracle. Her next book, Essential Food Preserving, will be published by Storey publishing in May 2026. She is the founder of The Culinary Curiosity School, and also runs Root, a food-focused community and consulting organization offering classes, consulting on creative projects, a weekly newsletter, and more. She's also the founder of Roots and Branches, where she coaches other writers to help them find their voice and share their most important work with the world.

She is also a nature lover, a teacher, and a traveler who firmly believes in finding, and sharing, the magic of everyday life. She has a PhD in Library & Information Science, and lives between Atlanta, GA and Cork, Ireland.

You can follow her work in her newsletter, or find her on social:

@culinary.curiosity.school (culinary courses)

Dr. Johnny Drain is an internationally recognized expert on the future of food, sustainable innovation, and fermentation. With a Ph.D. in materials science from Oxford and a career spanning Michelin-starred kitchens like Noma, he has pioneered ways to transform overlooked ingredients into delicious products for the world’s top hospitality brands and the zero-waste movement.

He co-founded Win-Win, spearheadeding the creation of the world’s first cocoa-free chocolate, challenging industry norms with patented innovations. He also co-founded MOLD Magazine, a forward-thinking platform exploring food design and technology. His thought-leadership has been featured by BBC, CNN, and Bloomberg, cementing his reputation as a leading voice in the future of food.

A dynamic speaker and advisor, Johnny has captivated audiences at the UN (AI for Good), the V&A, and top global conferences, helping organizations navigate food’s biggest challenges—zero-waste, gut health, entrepreneurship, climate resilience, and the intersection of AI and food. His book, Adventures in Fermentation (Penguin Life), reveals the vast and unsung ways in which microbes are shaping the future of what we eat and much more besides. Johnny is CEO of HypeSound, an Italian biotech startup pioneering the use of sound as a new dimension of biological control in fermentation.

Musuem of Food and Drink (MOFAD) is a new kind of museum that uses this power to create cultural change towards a more thoughtful, equitable, and delicious future. MOFAD brings the world of food and drink to life with exhibits you can taste, touch, and smell. They are the world’s premier food museum and a global educational resource that inspires generations of curious eaters of all ages and backgrounds. Learn more here.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate.

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.

By attending our event, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org.

Essential Food Preserving: The Comprehensive Guide to Canning, Freezing, Drying, and Fermenting -- Julia Skinner in conversation with Johnny Drain