The development of food science and technology in universities

摘要

The successful development and growth of food science and technology as a field of academic pursuit within a university is dependent upon four key factors. Firstly, the subjects of food science and food technology, and their associated topics, e.g. food business management, food marketing and supply chain management, need to be housed in an appropriate location within a university's departmental structure. The credibility of the specialist academics who establish and sustain food departments, and who interact almost daily with prospective students and food industry contacts, will be lessened if the rationale for the location of food science and technology is not easily understood. Subordinating food science and technology within biological sciences for instance, or within generic management and marketing departments, makes no sense in terms of the role of food science and technology in the real world of the food industry. Combining food science and technology with food business management, food marketing and food supply chain management, as a set of food industry-facing academic specialisations, is logical when one considers that food departments exist to serve the graduate needs of the food industry, amongst other things. It should go without saying that the second key factor in the successful development of food science and technology within universities is top-down commitment for the subject area by vice-chancellors and senior managers. In this respect it is important that they understand that food science and technology is not about kitchens, cooking and meal preparation, but about the combination of scientific and management disciplines that enable focus on the manufacture and preservation of safe food products. Even though politicians patently fail to understand that food science and technology is equal to and sits alongside the STEM subjects, it is important that university leaders have no such illusions and support the subject area appropriately.