By Brooke Hatfield
University of Georgia
For Daryl Lund, the path to a food science career wasn't a straight one. But he's convinced others can learn from that. Food science isn't always an obvious choice for a student. But it's a good one.
Lund said his delivering the University of Georgia's annual Woodroof Lecture March 27 in Athens, Ga., was "an opportunity to let undergraduates know what a math major is doing in food science."
Tried to become a mathematician
A senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison almost 40 years ago, Lund had a background in chemistry. But after falling in love and getting engaged, he changed his major to math because he thought it would be less time-consuming.
He ended up working in a food science lab doing statistical analysis. And after one summer, he was convinced he'd found his career choice.
"The real advantage in attending a college or university is the opportunity to explore," said Lund, now executive director of the North Central Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors. "Take advantage of it."
Academic blinders might prevent some students from developing an interest in food science, he said. And students who limit themselves to classes inside their major might miss out on other things as well.
Take classes outside your field
"I think every student should be required to take courses outside his or her college," Lund said. "Taking an introductory food science course should be great fun. And you'll learn something about food and you."
Lund said food science outside traditional classrooms is vital, too. As chair of the International Union of Food Science and Technology's Distance Education Task Force, he's seen distance education help not only professionals in the field, but villagers in sub-Saharan Africa.
"It's estimated that 15 to 50 percent of all harvested food spoils," Lund said. "We have an obligation to share knowledge of food science throughout the world so that people are served and hunger is reduced."
Lund urges university faculties to take a hand in getting students into food science. "We absolutely must mount more diligent efforts to recruit undergraduates," he said.
Professional diversity on a science faculty is important, too, Lund said, to a food science program's overall strength.
"Most departments are hiring chemists, biochemists, chemical engineers, microbiologists, nutritionists and physicists," he said. "I think that's very good for the future of food science, because it constantly reminds us that food science is an applied discipline that relies on fundamental sciences."
The Woodroof Lecture series is named for J.G. Woodroof, a former professor and creator of the food science department at the UGA Georgia Experiment Station in Griffin, Ga. Each year, a leader in food science is invited to present the lecture.
