When I was a food science student at Oregon State (back in the dark ages), every year during spring break, we would take an exciting trip to California to tour food plants and learn more about the industry. The highlight was the Western Food Industry Conference at UC Davis where we had a chance to interact (read: party) with the Davis Food Tech Club.

So, this month, I was especially excited to speak to about 30 members of the UC Davis Food Tech Club. Forty years may have passed since those wild parties, but we still had a great time together! I talked about my own career path and various challenges developing Yumbini. We tasted green beans with and without salt, sniffed for rancidity in instant rice, and of course everyone sampled Yumbini! I was impressed at the insightful questions from the students. They seem much more knowlegeable and prepared for the world than I was at their age. The future of food is in great hands!

At the end, I asked for suggestions on how to get the word out about Yumbini. And I received many informative suggestions about how to navigate the world of social media. They were so enthusiastic to help, I was really flattered! Overall a great experience, so thank you UC Davis Food Tech Club!!

PS: for those of you who never joined a Food Tech Club and don’t know what Food Science is, it is the study of the harvest, processing and preservation of food. It combines many disciplines: chemistry, microbiology, nutrition, biology, sensory evaluation (tasting), and engineering. The ultimate goal of every food scientist is to ensure that food is grown, harvested and handled in such a way that it gets to consumers in a form that is delicious, convenient, and most of all, safe, with no waste or spoilage. The University of California at Davis is one of the top ranked food science schools in the United States.