Agricultural News
Cargill, General Mills Partner to Fund Development of National Food Science and Safety Curriculum
Wed, 24 Oct 2012 09:55:52 CDT
Cargill and General Mills have committed nearly a half-million dollars to fund the creation of a state-of-the-art food science and safety curriculum and teacher training program. The new curriculum and training will be part of the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE), an instructional system that provides rigorous, relevant education in a variety of agriculture-related programs of study.
Once complete, the CASE Food Science and Safety course will be a key part of an educational pathway that consists of four courses for high school and postsecondary students across the United States: Introduction to Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources; Principles of Agricultural Science; Food Science and Safety; and an Agricultural Business, Research and Development capstone course.
The course will be implemented across the United States through agricultural education programs. Students in agricultural education courses benefit from its unique model of classroom instruction, hands-on, real world applied experiences, and the leadership and soft skills development provided by FFA.
Teachers who want to implement the CASE Food Science and Safety course must first undergo an intensive training that prepares them to lead students through the rigorous curriculum. They also receive continued support through CASE for as long as they are teaching the course.
"This will be a program from which students will emerge prepared for higher education in food science, and ultimately, for careers in the food science industry," said CASE project director Dan Jansen. "Food scientists are in high demand and it's a very technical field that requires a strong background in math and science. This curriculum will provide that."
Cargill and General Mills have committed $457,000 over a four-year period to fund Food Science and Safety curriculum development, piloting and field testing. Once complete, this course will be available to high school and postsecondary programs throughout the United States.
"Food safety is an increasingly important public health issue and is fundamental to our business," said Dirk Jones, president of Cargill's pork business and National FFA Foundation board member. "We're happy to support the development of the CASE Food Science and Safety course, as it will help prepare the next generation of food scientists."
"General Mills is enthusiastic in our support of the CASE Food Science and Safety curriculum because as a company we work every day to build a safer global food system," said Peter Erickson, senior vice president of Innovation, Technology and Quality for General Mills. "The CASE curriculum will provide students and teachers with a rigorous, real-world experience, establishing high safety and quality standards that will help build a robust pipeline of food scientists that will keep our industry strong."
Cargill and General Mills are funding the CASE Food Science and Safety course as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI
Top Agricultural News
More Headlines...
