Celebrating Food Science & IFT’s 75th anniversary

From its music to its museums, its rich cultural heritage to its equally rich cuisine, New Orleans is the kind of city where there’s always something to celebrate. And that makes it an excellent place for the Institute of Food Technologists to mark a major milestone: its 75th anniversary. 

New Orleans shares with IFT an ability to envision a stunning future without losing sight of its storied past. For New Orleans, that is evident in the way in which the city has rebuilt in the wake of 2005’s devastating Hurricane Katrina. For IFT, it is apparent in the future-focused projects and plans in place as the organization moves through its anniversary year. 

IFT was founded in 1939 by a small group of individuals dedicated to the idea that communication among food scientists and technologists was essential to the progress of the profession. Seventy-five years later, the vision and commitment remain, and IFT will be celebrating that and more at the 2014 Annual Meeting & Food Expo^® June 21–24.

Of course, the Annual Meeting & Food Expo is always a celebration—a celebration of ideas and insight—as well as a destination for cementing longtime friendships and making new professional contacts. That will be as true as ever this year.  About 18,000 food industry professionals from more than 100 countries will gather in New Orleans to participate in a wide-ranging Scientific Program and innovation-packed Food Expo trade show at the Morial Convention Center. The 2014 event will also feature some brand new exhibits and events linked to the celebration of IFT’s 75th anniversary. 

Among the most visible will be a boldly imagined, visually striking Innovation Center. Centrally located on the Food Expo floor, the Innovation Center will take visitors on a trip into the archives of food science via an interactive timeline showcasing major milestones in IFT’s history and an anniversary exhibit highlighting the top food science innovations of the past 75 years and celebrating the people who made them possible. The Innovation Center will allow visitors to look forward as well as back; a future trends exhibit will offer a preview of what the years ahead will hold for consumers. The Innovation Center will also be home to the IFT booth and the site of special sessions focused on emerging consumer trends and how food science will address them.

A truly special celebration on the agenda in New Orleans is Diamonds & Donations, which begins at 9 p.m. Sunday, June 22, in historic Generations Hall, a onetime sugar refinery built in the 1800s that now serves as a unique venue for parties and special events. Brass-A-Holics, a New Orleans–based band, will provide music for dancing, and shuttle service will help keep things convenient.

Proceeds from the Diamonds & Donations celebration will support the programs of Feeding Tomorrow, including student scholarships, the Summer Scholars program, the Food4Thought food science STEM initiative, and the Developing Solutions for Developing Countries product development competition, among others. Tickets to the event are tax deductible.

On Monday, June 23, from noon to 1 p.m., Academy Award–nominated filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy and Josh Schonwald, acclaimed author of The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food, will take part in a panel discussion in a general session that is sure to provide an intriguing preview of a new documentary film on the future of food. The session, “A Filmmaker’s Perspective: FutureFood 2050,” will include a video preview of the documentary and a discussion on the challenges ahead in communicating the role of food science and technology. It will take place in the convention center’s New Orleans Theater.

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ON THE FRONT END
Those interested in getting a jumpstart on their Annual Meeting & Food Expo educational experience will have that opportunity in the days just prior to the start of the event when IFT will offer a full schedule of short courses at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. Nine courses—each either one or two days in length—will be held on Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21.

New courses for 2014 are “Globalized Food Protection: Prevention and Response to Intentional Contamination,” “Leveraging Consumer Research for Product Claims Substantiation,” and “Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods in Enhanced Sports Performance, Exercise, and Muscle Building.” The courses slated for a return engagement include “Certified Food Scientist Prep Course,” “Commercializing Innovation in Food Products,” “Food Science for the Non-Food Scientist,” “Flavor Interactions in Foods,” “Labeling Requirements and Implications for Foods Marketed in the U.S.,” and “Microencapsulation in Food Applications.”

Short courses have an excellent track record, and last year course attendance and evaluations reached record levels: More than 600 participants collectively gave the courses an average rating of nearly 4.4 on a 5-point scale.

With the establishment of IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center last year, IFT took a giant step toward establishing itself as a leading resource on the important issue of food traceability. So it’s appropriate for IFT to host “Capturing Business Benefits from Traceability: Growing Global Market Access and Reducing Food Waste,” a half-day workshop that will offer a close-up exploration of food traceability policies within Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member nations.

The workshop will be held on the morning of Saturday, June 21, at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside. A separate registration fee is required.

ACCOLADES FOR IFT ACHIEVERS
Expect to be inspired at the annual Awards Celebration recognizing some of IFT’s most accomplished members. The roster of 2014 honorees will include 16 Achievement Award Winners, 15 Fellows, and two student recipients of Excellence in Leadership Awards.

The awards event will get underway in the convention center’s New Orleans Theater at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 21. During the celebration, IFT President Janet E. Collins will highlight some of the past year’s IFT accomplishments and will introduce IFT President-Elect Mary Ellen Camire.

This year will mark the debut of a brand new award, the Trailblazer Award, jointly bestowed by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the Institute of Food Technologists. The award was created to recognize a leader in the field of nutrition and food science who has made innovative contributions in improving the health of underserved populations and exhibited intellectual courage in research, instruction, and/or communication. 

When the Awards Celebration wraps at 6:45 p.m., the good times will really get rolling during the Welcome Reception to be held at neighboring Mardi Gras World, a unique New Orleans attraction where teams of artisans craft spectacular floats for the annual Mardi Gras parade. So at this year’s reception, in addition to enjoying New Orleans–themed music, refreshments, and views of the Mississippi River, attendees will also have the opportunity to take a close-up look at some of the artisans’ parade-scale handiwork. 

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KEYNOTE INSIGHTS FROM A RETAIL INNOVATOR
The Opening General Session, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 10:15 a.m., Sunday, June 22, in the New Orleans Theater, promises to be both informative and inspirational. It will feature comments from IFT leaders, including IFT President Janet E. Collins, IFT President-Elect Mary Ellen Camire, and new IFT Executive Vice President Christie A. Tarantino, and videos that spotlight what’s new at IFT. The videos will provide the audience with fast-paced updates on the FutureFood 2050 initiative, the 2014 Food Expo Innovation Award winners, and the I HEART Food Science campaign celebrating the stories of IFT members. In addition, the latest installment in the award-winning Day in the Life of a Food Scientist series will debut during the Opening General Session.

The session’s keynote speaker is Doug Rauch, former president of the Trader Joe’s chain of grocery stores. Rauch spent more than three decades with Trader Joe’s before retiring in 2008. He is currently focused on developing nonprofit solutions to issues such as food waste, hunger, and obesity. Chief Executive Officer of the nonprofit organization Conscious Capitalism Inc., Rauch is working on a project called Daily Table that will sell food prepared from products that have reached their sell-by dates but are still safe to consume. He has described the venture, which is expected to debut in a neighborhood of Boston, as a hybrid between a grocery store and a restaurant.

In his keynote address, Rauch will share his personal perspective on how to feed the world in ways that are healthful and sustainable. Based on some of the former retail executive’s recent projects, those perspectives promise to be thought-provoking indeed.

EYE-OPENING EDUCATION
Almost every aspect of the Annual Meeting & Food Expo tends to be an educational experience, but that is true in a very particular way for the event’s Scientific Program. Over the course of three days, hundreds of experts will share their insights in more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific sessions on topics ranging from protein-based nanostructures to product formulation in a post trans fat world. To help attendees better optimize their time at the Annual Meeting, scientific  program sessions are organized according to key industry focus areas and the four core sciences that are the foundation of the food science discipline.

Nicolas Bordenave, PepsiCo Inc. Project Manager, who served this year as Chair of the Annual Meeting Scientific Program Advisory Panel, a volunteer group that evaluates submissions and chooses the final roster of sessions for the Scientific Program, said that it’s important for the Scientific Program to be both meaningful and broad-based.

“Attendees have a wide range of perspectives and are also seeking different information from the IFT Annual Meeting—the latest science developments, new trends, basic learning in fields they are new to, and more,” said Bordenave. “We did our best to incorporate all these ingredients in the Scientific Program and strived to find the best balance between depth and breadth. I believe we managed to find such a balance. We have great speakers, and now it’s up to all the attendees to make this program theirs through their active participation in the IFT Annual Meeting.”

To further enrich the Scientific Program educational options, a Hot Topics Workgroup spent several months identifying issues of importance, and built sessions around them. 2014 Hot Topic sessions are planned on the following topics: azodicarbonamide, GMOs, obesity, the Food Safety Modernization Act, and multi-hurdle technologies.

For the past several years, one of the special features of the Scientific Program has been inclusion of at least two Beacon Lectures. Beacon Lecturers are invited because each brings an added dimension to the programming. Their topics are provocative and mind-expanding and often fall a bit outside the boundaries of other Scientific Program content. 

The lecture format is quick and powerful: a 45-minute session that includes time for questions and answers. On Sunday, June 22, beginning at 4 p.m., Kenyan Jane Karuku, President of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, will share her thoughts on global food security challenges and how best to address them. Karuku’s résumé includes positions as Deputy Chief Executive and Secretary General of Telkom Kenya and as Managing Director for Cadbury in East and Central Africa, with responsibility for managing the company’s operations in 14 countries.

The Beacon Lecturer on Monday, June 23, from 4 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., is Cornell University engineering professor Hod Lipson, an expert on food printing, bio-printing, and self-aware and self-replicating robots. In his lecture, Lipson will discuss the principles that underlie 3D printing and their impact in areas including food printing. Co-author of the book Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing, Lipson directs the Creative Machines Lab and has co-authored hundreds of technical papers. His work has been covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and Time and on CNN and National Public Radio. The Beacon Lectures will take place in rooms 293–294 in the convention center.

Diane Ebert-May, Professor of plant biology at Michigan State University, will present the 2014 Fennema Lecture from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. on Sunday, June 22. Her presentation, “Driving Instruction with Data,” will be a discussion of student-centered learning, including best practices and insights into how students learn.

Introduced last year to recognize distinguished food scientist and IFT Past President Owen Fennema, who passed away in 2012, the Fennema Lectureship is the cornerstone of the newly created Teaching & Learning SPA Program geared toward IFT’s academic members and others interested in educational issues.

The SPA will be located in rooms 286–287 in the convention center. A number of 30–50 minute sessions that highlight best practices, current research, case studies, and practical, skill-building resources for food science educators will be held. Also planned are meet and greet sessions with academic and industry partners to promote internship opportunities and other networking events.

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MORE EDUCATION OPTIONS
IFT’s Technical Field Trips are another popular educational option, which allow participants to get an insider’s view of a local food or beverage company. The lineup of field trips this year includes Pontchartrain Blue Crab Inc., Chef John Folse & Co. Manufacturing, and Celebration Distillation Corp. Check the website at ift.org/IFT14 to sign up for the trips.

In another educational highlight this year, special product development and business solution sessions will be presented on the Food Expo floor. Finally, in addition to all of the preceding Scientific Program content, 1,100 poster presentations will provide the opportunity to zero in on myriad topics of interest. 

Certified Food Scientists may earn credits toward recertification by attending Scientific Program sessions. 

AN ENERGIZING FOOD EXPO
Experiencing the IFT Food Expo is always an exhilarating experience thanks to the seemingly unending array of products and services on display on the show floor. More than 850 ingredient, equipment, processing, and packaging suppliers from around the world will be on hand this year, and many of them will be serving up new product samples, ensuring that it’s also a deliciously satisfying experience. 

Comfortable shoes are a must because the Food Expo’s 2,183 booths will be spread across 243,000 square feet in the Morial Convention Center. The show floor will be open from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 22; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday, June 23; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24.

According to IFT data, the average Food Expo attendee spends more than eight hours on the show floor and interacts with more than 80 suppliers.

• Food Expo Innovation Awards. The winners of the coveted IFT Food Expo Innovation Awards, which recognize groundbreaking new technologies from exhibiting companies, will also be highlighted on the Food Expo show floor. This annual competition is open to exhibitors that have introduced a new product, technology, ingredient, instrumentation, equipment, or service since January 2013. The 2014 competition drew numerous entries, and those that scored highest in an evaluation conducted by an expert panel of judges will be recognized in New Orleans.

• Cooking Up Science. Several chefs are slated to present 30-minute cooking demonstrations on the show floor. Each will showcase ingredients from Food Expo exhibitors. Cooking Up Science made a successful debut in 2013. In a new addition to the format, this year eight lucky attendees at each demonstration will be able to sample the offerings the chefs concoct.

• Innova Pavilion. Daily presentations on trending topics of marketplace significance will be featured at the Innova Market Insights Taste the Trend Pavilion, booth 3651. Always a hub of activity, the Taste the Trend Pavilion never fails to deliver a wealth of data on new products from around the globe, augmented with insightful analyses and predictions. The pavilion will be staffed by a team of experts from Innova Market Insights who will be available to share their perspectives and help guide visitors through the Taste the Trend displays.

• Mintel Pavilion. Mintel’s New Products & Consumer Insights Pavilion, booth 1641, will offer daily small group presentations on topics including sugar reduction, clean labels, and energy by new product gurus David Jago and Lynn Dornblaser. Mintel food science analysts will be on hand to discuss the more technical aspects of new product development. The Mintel Pavilion will also put innovative product samples from many different markets in the spotlight.

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• Taste the Expo. Nothing says Food Expo more than the always-appetizing assortment of food and beverage samples served up by exhibitors. IFT’s Taste the Expo program simplifies the process of locating exhibitors that are providing samples. Taste the Expo participants will be featured in the mobile app and in IFT Live. The menu will be varied and tantalizing; it will include everything from king cake to vegetable gumbo, mini muffins to macaroni and cheese, and much, much more.

• What’s New! An eye-catching, bright yellow What’s New! icon will help draw attention to the booths of Expo exhibitors that are showcasing innovative new products. Companies whose products are included in the What’s New! program will also be highlighted in a section of the event’s mobile app and in the Program & Exhibit Directory. 

• Specialty Pavilions. Beverages are often considered a cuttingedge category for formulation innovation—a category in which product developers frequently introduce ideas and ingredients that ultimately have applications in other product categories. So this year show organizers added a Beverage Flavor & Ingredients Pavilion to the Food Expo lineup, and it promptly sold out. Also new this year is Holland Food Valley Pavilion, which will be home base for representatives from innovative Dutch companies. Other buzz-worthy special interest pavilions on the show floor in New Orleans will include Asia-Pac Pavilion, Food Safety & Quality Pavilion, Healthy Food Ingredients Pavilion, and Organic Food Ingredients Pavilion. A new feature is the addition of topical education sessions in the pavilions.

AN A+ LIST OF STUDENT ACTIVITIES
Hundreds of IFT student members will be bringing their energy and enthusiasm to New Orleans for the Annual Meeting & Food Expo, and a long list of activities, including competitions, social events, and educational sessions, will await them there. Students also provide an important support system at the Annual Meeting & Food Expo, volunteering in a variety of capacities.

Those who are looking for the perfect place to meet other students and to receive important IFT updates will want to stop by the IFT Student Association (IFTSA) Lounge in rooms 278–279 of the Morial Convention Center. Exhibits from the finalists in the Chapter of the Year competition will be on display in the lounge. 

Here’s a preview of some of what’s on the agenda for students in New Orleans. 

• Division Poster Competition. Student research achievement will be celebrated when the winners of the division poster competitions are announced at the Phi Tau Sigma (ΦΤΣ) & IFT Division Poster Competition Awards Ceremony, which will take place from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Saturday, June 21, in rooms 283–285 of the convention center.

• Developing Solutions for Developing Countries Competition. Call it a competition for a cause. As its title suggests, this annual competition, now in its sixth year, invites student teams to come up with new products and processes that will improve the quality of life for those in developing countries. Each year student competitors are asked to address a specific theme. For 2014, it involves coming up with a product for human consumption using vegetable oil by-products that currently are typically used in animal feed.

In the final segment of the competition in New Orleans, six finalist teams—three from colleges or universities in the United States or Canada and three from international institutions—will vie for top honors. The North American competitors and their products include California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo with Amma Mamas, a sweet potato–based tortilla; Cornell University with So-Sweet instant porridge; and Rutgers University with Soy-Sunsation, a breakfast meal. The international competitors include Bogor Agricultural University with FLOYA instant porridge; Bogor Agricultural University with Soymuch, a high-protein cookie; and Universiti Putra Malaysia with Sunny Soy, a high-protein instant noodle. Competition sponsors are General Mills, DSM, and Buhler.

• Disney–IFTSA Product Development Competition. Student competitors looking to add a touch of whimsy to a worthwhile endeavor—conceiving healthful products for children—have the opportunity to do so each year in this competition. Specifically, the contestants are asked to develop a nutritious, innovative snack appropriate for a retail or foodservice audience that ties into a popular Disney character. Five teams will take part in the competition finals in New Orleans, where one grand prize winner, one first prize winner, and three honorary prize winners will be recognized by competition sponsor Disney Consumer Products.

This year’s finalists are Cornell University with Donald Duck’s Quinoa QUACKers, sweet and salty cocoa-flavored crackers sprinkled with puffed quinoa; Cornell University with Finding Dory and Friends, a gummy snack; Iowa State University with Flight Bites, fruit and gluten-free granola snacks; California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo with Nemo-O’s, a healthful twist on oatmeal cookies; and University of Wisconsin-Madison with Pocahontas Canoe Cruisers, mini canoe-shaped pies with sweet potato filling.

• IFTSA & Mars Product Development Competition. Skills important to tomorrow’s food industry product developers are essential ingredients in this annual competition, which invites participating student teams to conceive of a brand new product concept and bring it through all stages of development to the point where it is ready to be commercialized. Finalist teams will go head-to-head in New Orleans; first, second, and third place winners will be recognized.

The list of this year’s finalists and their product entries includes California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo with Java Joltz, espresso-filled gummies; Cornell University with Popples, a better-for-you extruded snack; McGill University with Frisson, a shelf-stable frozen dessert; University of Florida with Vine and Cheese Chips, artisan kettle chips; University of Minnesota with Bean-go, an allergen-free chewy bar; and University of Wisconsin-Madison with Walking Wok, a tortilla-wrapped stir-fry item. The competition is sponsored by Mars Chocolate North America.

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• Undergraduate Research Competition. Students who conduct original research have the opportunity to participate in this competition. Six finalists will showcase their efforts in oral and poster presentations in a session that will take place from 9 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Monday, June 23, in room 275 of the convention center.

• IFTSA Mixer. It will be time for student socializing and networking when the IFTSA Mixer gets underway on Monday, June 23, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Grand Ballroom AB.

• IFTSA Closing Ceremony. This event will begin at 7 p.m. immediately after the mixer; it will take place in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Grand Ballroom CD. IFTSA leadership will be introduced and awards for student association competitions will be presented.

• College Bowl Competition. Always a fiercely contested event, the College Bowl Competition each year tests the knowledge of teams representing student chapters from eight geographic areas across the country, all vying for the coveted designation of national champion. Questions in the competition cover general food science and technology, the history of food and food processing, food law, and general IFT and foodrelated trivia. The 2014 competition will take place in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Grand Ballroom CD following the closing ceremony.

The roster of competitors includes the following teams: Central Atlantic, North Carolina State University; Midwest, the Ohio State University; Mountain West, Chapman University; North Atlantic, Pennsylvania State University; North Central, University of Minnesota; Pacific West, University of California-Davis; Southeast, University of Georgia; and South Central, Texas A&M University. The College Bowl Competition is sponsored by Nestlé Gerber and Nestlé Purina.

• Chapter Leaders Workshops. Incoming student chapter presidents will be briefed by IFT and IFTSA leaders and learn new skills at three workshops. The schedule of workshops is 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, June 21; 10:30 a.m. to noon Sunday, June 22; and 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 24.

• IFTSA Networking Party. Arcade games and networking will come together in what promises to be a fun-filled event from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at Barcadia, 601 Tchoupitoulas St.

ALSO ON THE AGENDA
• New Professionals Mixer. Those who might be loosely categorized as “food science newbies” (i.e., a member of the profession for a decade or less) are invited to join in the fun at the New Professionals Mixer. This social event will take place from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at Mother’s Next Door, 401 Poydras St. at Tchoupitoulas St.

• Career Center. Employers and job seekers will come together for informal networking from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 22, in La Nouvelle Ballroom of the convention center. Formal, prescheduled interviews will be conducted throughout the day on Monday, June 23, and Tuesday, June 24.

• Division Networking Reception. Those interested in learning more about IFT’s 23 divisions will have the perfect occasion to do just that in a relaxed, social setting at the Division Networking Reception from 4:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Monday, June 23, in the New Orleans Theater foyer in the convention center. (Divisions are communities of IFT members with shared expertise/interest.) 

MORE CAUSE FOR CELEBRATION
The celebrating won’t be over when the Annual Meeting & Food Expo concludes in New Orleans. Far from it. Not only will the spirit of celebration carry over throughout the remainder of the year, but IFT will have another anniversary to observe in 2015: the 75th anniversary of the Annual Meeting & Food Expo. That very special event will take place July 11–14, 2015, in IFT’s hometown of Chicago. 

Note: All locations are accurate as of Food Technology press time, but may change prior to the event. 

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Easy Ways to Stay Up to Speed

• Download the app. One of the best ways to stay in the know about the Annual Meeting & Food Expo is by downloading the mobile event app. It’s available for iPhones and iPads through the App Store (IFT14), for Android phones through the Google Play app store (IFT14), and for Blackberry through a web-based version. The app may also be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection. Using the app can help with organizing a schedule, checking out new products, researching New Orleans sights and dining options, and much more.

• Read IFT Live. Before, during, and after the event, IFT’s digital show daily, IFT Live, is a valuable source of information about the Annual Meeting & Food Expo. Check it out at live.ift.org for news from the show floor, updates on Scientific Program sessions, competition results, videos, photos, and Twitter feeds to mention just some of the highlights. 

• Keep it social. IFT’s Annual Meeting & Food Expo social media outreach will include Twitter (#IFT14), LinkedIn (Institute of Food Technologists), and Facebook (IFT). 

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The Fun Run: Fitness, Fellowship, and Fundraising

The IFT Student Association and Feeding Tomorrow Fun Run & Walk is the perfect opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, get some exercise, and support a worthwhile cause. Proceeds from the annual 5K/3.1 mile event—now in its 14th year—support undergraduate and graduate student food science scholarships.

New Orleans’ beautiful Audubon Park is the setting for the 2014 Fun Run & Walk, which will get underway at 6:15 a.m. Monday, June 23. 

Registration for the Fun Run & Walk is $25 for students and $35 for all others. Pre-registrants may pick up their race bibs from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, and 6:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 22, in the registration area in Hall G of the convention center. Race space permitting, registration for the event will be open onsite in the same area. 

For those who want to make a contribution—without the early morning fitness option—an “I Slept in for the Fun Run” t-shirt is available for $30. 

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A Tradition of Caring Continues

New Orleans was the site of the first IFT Cares volunteer initiative in 2008, and the tradition of pitching in to help underserved residents of the host city will continue in 2014. Two opportunities to help out are available for Annual Meeting & Food Expo attendees thanks to IFT’s partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank, a member of the Feeding America Network.

Second Harvest provides food for distribution via more than 200 nonprofit and faith-based agencies located throughout its service area, which extends from the Mississippi border to the Texas state line. 

Volunteers are needed from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, immediately after the close of the Food Expo, to collect donated food from exhibitors. Then on Wednesday, June 25, volunteers will travel to the local food bank warehouse to assist with sorting and packing food. A bus to transport volunteers will leave from the Hilton Riverside New Orleans at 8 a.m. that day and will return by 1 p.m.

Those interested in participating in an IFT Cares activity may pre-register when signing up for the Annual Meeting or register onsite, based on availability, at the Ticket Desk located in the Registration Area in Hall G of the convention center. The cost of registration is $10 for students and $15 for all others.

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Register Now
Visit ift.org/IFT14 for more information on the Annual Meeting & Food Expo and to register online.

 

Mary Ellen Kuhn is Executive Editor of Food Technology magazine ([email protected]).