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<< back to the 2000 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Quotations From Jack, August 2000 Our organization has a bright future It is a cliché but it is hard to believe that a year has passed already. It has been a high point of my career to have served as President of the most important food safety professional organization in the world at a time when the importance of food safety is enjoying new recognition. After much discussion, our Members voted to change our name to the International Association for Food Protection by over 94%. Our stagnant Membership numbers have begun to grow. We are gaining new affiliates in North America (Mexico, Washington, D.C., and Quebec) and interest is being shown for even more affiliates in North America and in other continents. Our Journals continue to lead the way with cutting edge papers every month. Our Annual Meeting grows in prestige and attendance. We expect to break 1,200 in attendance this year and 1,300 is even possible! The quality of our staff in Des Moines assures that the organization is responsive to Member needs and that we operate like a first class professional organization. Our Journal Editors, Committee and Professional Development Group (PDG) chairpersons and Members continue to supply us with outstanding products, networking opportunities and outstanding Annual Meeting symposia. Last but not least, we are an organization made up of professionals whose membership in our organization demonstrates dedication to food safety and a desire to stay ahead of the curve in their constantly changing careers. Little wonder I am so proud to be a Member of IAFP, not to mention to be honored to have served as President. Our organization has a bright future. A Student PDG is in the formative stages thanks to Scott Burnett from the University of Georgia and Kalmia Phelps from Virginia Tech. The student PDG will provide an influx of new young Members. We will be sponsoring a workshop on produce safety in Mexico in November of this year, our first such effort in that country. The World Health Organization (WHO) passed its first ever declaration setting up a more active food safety program and we have begun to explore how our organization could work toward official recognition from WHO as a non-governmental organization. We are working with the 3-A Symbol Council, FDA, USDA, IDFA, and IAFIS to develop a certification program for equipment bearing the 3-A symbol. The US Food and Drug Administration approached us with a request to hold a very important public meeting on their draft Listeria monocytogenes risk assessment in conjunction with our Annual Meeting. The National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods will hold a meeting regarding the LM risk assessment immediately following our Annual Meeting. This is happening because so many of the nation's and world's experts on microbial food safety will be at our meeting anyway! We also have a bright future due to our history. Earl Wright, Harry Haverland, David Tharp, Didi Loynachan, Jackie Runyan, and Donna Bahun completed a history of our organization that will be handed out at the Annual Meeting and be published as a series of articles in DFES this fall. If you read this history or the other past Presidential Addresses that have been published in recent DFES issues you know how our roots are in milk safety and quality. Many of our past Members made significant contributions to the field of milk safety and quality and many of the concepts we use in the safety and quality of other foods originate in the milk safety and quality experience. With the strength of that history as our foundation and our mix of industry, academic and government Members, I have every confidence that the International Association for Food Protection will grow and evolve as the premier food safety organization in the world. In closing I would like to thank some folks who have made this experience one I will never forget. First, I would like to thank the Executive Board members who I have had the privilege of serving with over the past four years, who have supported me and who have taught me a great deal: Ann Draughon, John Bruhn, Michael Brodsky, Lawrence Roth, Gale Prince, Beth Johnson, Bob Brackett, Jenny Scott, Jim Dickson, Anna Lammerding, and Randy Daggs. I would like to thank David Tharp, Lisa Hovey, Donna Bahun, Julie Cattanach, Lucia Collison, Bev Corron, Karla Jordan, Didi Loynachan, Beth Miller, Pam Wanninger, Tanya Wheeler, and Frank Zuehlke for their dedication to our organization and for their support. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Judy, for her patience and support during my weekends away and many nights doing IAMFES/IAFP work. She has put up with a lot! I look forward to my last year on the Executive Board as Past President and for the friendship of my fellow IAFP Members for many years to come. |