Progress 12/01/16 to 11/30/17
Outputs
Target Audience:The 2017 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. on January 25 through 27, directly targeted individuals from public and private sectors who are engaged in educating others about the importance of safe food handing. More than 320 individuals attended the conference from across the nation and 70 individuals attended the pre-conference workshops. These individuals represented diverse institutions with 38% from academia and cooperative extension, 12% from public health, 21% from the private sector, 19% from government (local, state and federal), 9% from non-profits, and 1% from K-12 schools. Additionally, five sessions were broadcasted live to allow access to the conference for those unable to attend. In total, those live sessions were viewed by an estimated 683 individuals across the nation. Session recordings are still available for viewing at fightbac.org. Changes/Problems:While the 2017 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference was a great success, there were some challenges. One major challenge was around registration. Key marketing windows for registration fell within a winter holiday period, which is challenging to capture attention and move individuals to action. Also, registration opened during a presidential election year which may have been distracting and caused hesitancy from prospective attendees, especially government employees. The conference itself was held in Washington D.C., just a week following the Presidential Inauguration, also creating some distraction from prospect attendees. To combat these challenges in the future, the Partnership for Food Safety Education is moving the conference to a spring date to avoid the winter holiday window. The next conference is planned for Orlando, Florida March 6-8, 2019. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The 2017 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference (CFSEC) was designed to further the education and professionalism of all conference attendees. The conference offered continuing education units from the following professional societies: • American Association of Family Consumer Science • American Culinary Federation • Association of Nutrition & Foodservice Professionals/Certifying Board of Dietary Managers • Institute of Food Technologists • National Board of Public Health Examiners • National Commission on Health Education Credentialing • National Environmental Health Association Additionally, the CFSEC programming was planned with the need and importance for networking and idea sharing amongst professionals by including breakout sessions called Lightning Rounds and allowing for networking time during a poster reception. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A paper survey was dispersed to attendees to complete and be collected at the conference help desk upon leaving. These results have been shared with the conference program planning committee members and conference sponsors. Additionally, conference presentations, including broadcasted videos, and other resources have been shared with the Partnership for Food Safety Education's general constituency of 14,000 health and food safety educators through email marketing, webinars, and social media outreach. Conference attendees were notified of the availability of these resources. These resources are also freely accessible via the Partnership for Food Safety Education's website, fightbac.org. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
The 2017 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference (CFSEC) was hosted on January 25-27, 2017 at the Marriott Wardman Hotel in Washington, D.C. More than 320 individuals attended the conference from across the nation, 70 individuals attended the pre-conference workshops, and 683 individuals across the nation watched select conference programming via a live broadcast. 98% of attendees said they would attend this conference again. This is great success for the Partnership for Food Safety Education and for the topic. The conference engaged both public and private sector individuals in the planning and execution of the conference and it featured professionals from diverse disciplines. A post conference survey was distributed in a paper format to conference attendees and collected at the end of the event. There were one hundred respondents. The survey responses indicated an overwhelmingly positive experience for attendees. Specifically, 100% of respondents indicated that they will make changes in their practice as a result of information presented at the conference; 100% of respondents said the conference provided them with opportunities to develop their network of professional contacts, and 100% of respondents reported that they will disseminate information from the conference to create positive behavior changes in consumer food handling practices. Among conference attendees were twelve deserving graduate students who received scholarship support to attend the conference. The competitive scholarship process was conducted by a review committee composed of active BAC Fighters from cooperative extension. The scholarship included roundtrip travel (up to $700), two nights of lodging at the conference hotel, and conference registration. Below is a list of scholarship recipients, their field of study, and university. Name / Field of Study / University Ana Romero-Vega / food safety / Clemson University Austin Wong / food microbiology / Louisiana State University Basem Boutros / food safety / Kansas State University Dylan Martinez/ food safety / University of Arkansas Emily Holman / food microbiology / The Ohio State University Gemille Purnell / public health /University of Missouri - Columbia Laura Dickens / public health &community nutrition / West Chester University of Pennsylvania Lily Yang / food safety and food microbiology / Virginia Tech Mary Grigar / food microbiology / Texas A&M University Nick Sevart / food safety / Kansas State University Shiyu Cai / food microbiology / Cornell University Ray Xiong / food safety / Cornell University The Partnership asked the scholarship students to write a short essay about their experience at the conference. Below are a few quotes from what they submitted: "It was encouraging to hear industry, government, and academia personnel partake in transparent, two-way dialogue addressing pertinent food safety challenges and ways they may be solved. I would highly recommend this conference to not only students, but all interested individuals because it is the perfect venue to network with seasoned professionals and cultivate a deeper understanding for a topic as interdisciplinary as food safety. Without a doubt, multiple people from this conference have inspired me to play my role in shaping our food safety culture and I hope to see them in the very near future." -Austin Wong, Louisiana State University "The poster session was also sensational and the NoroCORE poster stole the show for me. The conference was completed with Charles Duhigg's presentation that absolutely blew me away and really helped me understand how key building an emotional connection is to behavior change and habit formation." -Dylan Martinez, University of Arkansas "I am so fortunate to have had this opportunity as an individual who is currently in a Master's Program and am contemplating pursing a PhD. Interesting attendees that I spoke with were all the other student scholars at the conference. I was provided the chance learn from other students in the field who are simultaneously working towards their PhD. It was wonderful to hear their experiences and advice first hand." - Laura Dickens, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Publications
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