University launches search for food institute interim executive director

Monday, April 23, 2012

by DAVE PINK

The University of Guelph is putting a fresh focus on food.

The university has announced plans to build on its reputation as one of Canada’s premier agricultural schools with the creation of a new Food Institute.

“It’s a move on the part of the university to demonstrate to the world that we are a leader in all aspects of food systems. This will be a showcase for all of the work we do,” says Rob Gordon, dean of the university’s Ontario Agricultural College.

The university has launched a search for an interim executive director who can bring together the university’s various agriculture and food specialists with those from industry, government and non-governmental organizations. It will be the goal of the Food Institute to address everything from health and safety issues to global food security.

It is a natural fit for the university, says Gordon. “For more than a century Guelph has been globally recognized as a pre-eminent agricultural university.”

It’s hoped that the interim executive director will be on the job in three or four months. Gordon says the job will not necessarily go to someone with an academic background, but to someone with strong organizational skills who can bring various members of the agricultural and food production community together.

The Food Institute is believed to be the first such group covering global issues in all aspects of food — production, safety, security, and the impact of food on culture, economies and the environment. The experts at Guelph will work with other research institutes around the world, and include faculty and researchers from all seven of the University of Guelph’s colleges, and its graduate and undergraduate students.

“Few institutions are as prepared as Guelph to address the food challenges facing the world,” says Gordon. BF