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<< back to the 2002 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Thoughts from the President . . . Timing is Everything I am sure many of you are aware of our Foundation Fund and what our objectives
are for these monies I grew up on a dairy farm in southwestern Ontario. My brother still runs the farm, not far from the city of Guelph where I live now, and my mom and dad have a home on the farm property. At the end of August this year, I received an exciting phone call from the home place … “The aliens have landed!”… What the heck? Apparently, that day my dad and my brother had started to combine a field of wheat and were astonished to see, in the middle of the field, an unusual bunch of circles where the grain had been completely flattened. You’ve probably heard about them (and I’m told there is a recently released movie… have not seen it yet)… these are ‘crop circles’. The ones at the farm were described to me in detail over the phone, several times, by several family members. My brother e-mailed pictures he had taken while standing on top of the combine. ‘Wind phenomena’, I said. At least, that is what I’d heard regarding the cause of such things. Not something I was going to get excited about. Well, of course, it wouldn’t do unless I came to see these for myself. I have to admit, a first-hand view, observing the near-perfect circles of flattened wheat within the swaying stalks of grain all around, was not quite the same as hearing the description over the phone, or even seeing the photos sent by computer. One large circular flattened patch, about 60 feet in diameter, and outside of it, three smaller circles of flattened wheat, each about 22 feet in diameter, placed in irregular spacing around the perimeter of the larger one. Most curious were three small circular patches, each about 6 feet in diameter, of untouched grain still standing within the larger circle. Intriguing patterns, quite precise, somewhat amazing! Upon a quick Web search, I found that crop circles are not that uncommon, about 80,000 have been reported throughout the world, recorded over a century or two. The local newspaper was notified, and the reporter who came out to take pictures pulled together a story about the background on crop circles. It seems that in the past and even now, such crop circle phenomena are perceived as somewhat mystical and that they are messages from “higher beings”, although the messages remain undecipherable at this time. We are talking about “real” crop circles, not the hoaxes. (How can you tell? Apparently, ‘hoax’ circles are those where the grain has been flattened with a physical object, like a board, breaking the stalks at ground level. In the “real” ones, the grain stalks are bent, not broken …which I did think was peculiar in what I saw). In some investigations (yes, there are organizations that investigate crop circles!), attributes such as balls of light, malfunctioning field machinery and cell phones in the vicinity, and changes in bird flocking patterns overhead are associated with crop circles. No one theory seems to be able to explain how crop circles created. I am now not sure about the wind theory, but am not entirely convinced about aliens either! What do crop circles have to do with food safety? Nothing really. I suppose one could philosophize that: what we hear about versus what we experience first-hand, and the beliefs we create in the absence of knowledge of underlying truths can be quite different. Be it food safety or crop circles. This next bit is definitely about food safety. Wednesday, September 18, 2002, saw the official opening of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety (CRIFS) in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The Director of CRIFS, Mansel Griffiths, and recipient of the IAFP 2002 Maurice Weber Laboratorian Award, explained that …“the work of the Institute is to provide multidisciplinary research committed to developing and implementing strategies that will have measurable health and economic benefits through the production of safe food with enhanced quality”. Doug Powell’s FSNet team, also located in Guelph, organized a welcoming golf tournament prior to the CRIFS official opening. An impressive slate of speakers were invited for the inaugural symposium, all of who provided a great platform for discussion and debate. Not surprisingly, two IAFP Past Presidents were guest speakers: Jenny Scott (US National Food Processor’s Association) and Robert Brackett (US-FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition). Other guest speakers included past president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ron Doering; Health Canada’s Jeff Farber (who is also the current IAFP Secretary); USDA-FSIS’s Danielle Schor spoke on the importance of effective risk communication, and, on the stimulating topic of “Food Safety: An Irish Solution to the Global Problem”, Raymond Ellard, director of audit and compliance with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. The day was topped off with a tour of the CRIFS facilities, including a new Level 3 laboratory, located on the University of Guelph premises. Watch out, folks… CRIFS promises to be a major player in food safety research and food safety management. Okay. Crop circles, CRIFS, and now, finally a third and final item: our IAFP Foundation Fund. I am sure many of you are aware of our Foundation Fund and what our objectives are for these monies. In brief, the Foundation Fund supports external speakers for our Annual Meeting, and, more importantly, provides the financing needed to disseminate food safety information to individuals in all parts of the world. This includes providing IAFP journals to libraries and institutions in developing countries through the help of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Foundation Fund also supports our IAFP Audiovisual Library, which is used by many instructors including academic and industry resource people in North America and around the world. At our Annual Meeting, we do fund-raising through our Silent Auction, which is supported by individuals and by our affiliate associations. We also “let loose” the founder and chair of the Fund, Harry Haverland, to go for the personal donations that help this fund grow. It is increasingly important for individuals to support society through giving charitable contributions. In our case, it is the society of food safety professionals around the world whom we support. As the IAFP Foundation Fund grows, we can seek new ways to best to utilize this money to support the objectives of our association and to support our colleagues, wherever they may be. IAFP President-Elect Paul Hall of Kraft Foods is spearheading a very successful corporate challenge campaign to help this fund grow. Nevertheless, you and I, as individuals, can make a difference too. As the calendar year comes to an end, remember: “Good Guys Win.” When you send a tax-deductible contribution to help support the work of the IAFP Foundation Fund, you can be proud that you have helped support your profession in more ways than you can imagine. |