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<< back to the 2004 archive listing << Food Protection Trends A View from Wisconsin “Our affiliates play a major role in advancing our Association's mission”
‘Tis the season for Affiliate meetings. We were pleased to see that the IAFP Executive Board Speaker Program was well utilized this fall, with Board members visiting the Wisconsin, New York, Metropolitan, Florida, Mexico, and Brazil affiliates. Personally, I am writing this column on the trip home from an exceptional educational conference held by the Florida Association for Food Protection. As is the experience for all our Board members, it was a great privilege to be invited to join an agenda with outstanding speakers, have the opportunity to meet new people and enjoy the friendship of some “IAFP regulars.” This year, I had the added bonus in Florida of being treated to a cruise on a pirate ship as their featured evening social event. Aarrrh, matey… it was a gem of a good meeting! I admire the resilience (and good humor) of the Florida affiliate members who have worked hard to meet their professional commitments while coping with the disastrous aftermath of the four hurricanes that hit the state in 2004. As Executive Board members attend affiliate meetings, we find ample evidence that our affiliates play a major role in advancing our Association’s mission. IAFP affiliates provide educational programs that focus on the needs of their local food safety professionals, those in local and state or provincial health and agricultural departments, retail and food service managers, small manufacturers, and local university programs. In addition, because the meetings are local and are scheduled for only one to two days, the costs to the attendee and their employer are kept to a minimum in terms of travel expenses and time, allowing more employees of an organization to be able to attend. While IAFP Strategic Plan has a goal to increase the number of affiliate members who belong to the parent organization, I also want to encourage our IAFP-only members to become involved with their local affiliate. If you are a regular attendee of the Annual IAFP Meeting or are an active member of our professional development groups, it is likely that you have developed skills and experience that could benefit your colleagues at the local level. I strongly encourage you to check out the Affiliate section on the IAFP Web site (www.foodprotection.org) for contact information in your region. As a member of the Wisconsin Association for Food Protection, I know first hand that affiliates are always looking for volunteers such as newsletter editors, webmasters, Board members, educational program coordinators, and ideas for program topics and speakers. At the same time, we ask that you become IAFP ambassadors to the affiliates. We realize that there is a substantial pool of professionals with food safety responsibilities who do not belong to IAFP, or even may have never heard of our organization. We ask that you share your experiences with IAFP activities, and the value of its journals, the Annual Meeting, involvement in committees and professional development groups, and the professional contacts and friendships made through the Association. IAFP strives to be attentive to the needs of our profession. One sentiment that we hear during meetings is that many professionals want to see more applied food safety research that can be readily put into practice by field inspectors, retail managers, product developers, or quality assurance departments. As an Association we can fulfill this request in a variety of ways. Affiliates can respond to this need by the addition of practical presentations at their workshops and other educational conferences. I also encourage researchers, professors and students to consider submitting manuscripts that provide practical information, such as the ones found in this month’s Food Protection Trends. Furthermore, we would like to expand our applied food safety programming at the IAFP Annual Meeting. Although we are still an association that highlights basic science, we are in need of abstracts for applied research that provide viable solutions to our food safety problems. In addition, we encourage submissions in the area of applied food toxicology as it pertains to current food safety questions. We are finding that many of our members wear more than one hat; that is, they need solutions to food toxicological and allergen issues as well as microbial safety concerns. Although we just published the summary of our 2004 Annual Meeting last month, IAFP is already starting to plan for the 2005 meeting. Abstracts for technical oral and poster presentations are due in just a few short weeks. Deadline for submissions is January 12, 2005. You are encouraged to submit your abstract online through our Web site. Click on the Annual Meeting button and look under “Call for Abstracts” for additional details. Be sure to follow the instructions for preparing abstracts, paying close attention to the “selection criteria” section. Submissions will also be accepted via E-mail. Additionally, we continue our commitment to foster the professional development of graduate or undergraduate students studying in our field and encourage students to enter the Developing Scientist Awards Competition when they submit their abstracts. As we near the beginning of 2005, we look forward to another successful year as an Association. On behalf of the IAFP Executive Board and Staff, our best wishes to you and
your loved ones for a healthy and Happy New Year. As always, I welcome your
ideas and comments. Please feel free to E-mail me at kglass@wisc.edu and let
me know your view. |