Penn State Helps Our Food Industries Stay Viable

Don Thompson has a story to tell. As he sits in his second-floor office in Borland Laboratory overlooking the University Creamery, the head of Penn State's Department of Food Science seems eager to tell it. And a compelling tale it is. It's one that Thompson believes will strongly influence the vitality of his department, the College of Agricultural Sciences, and our entire food system. It's about economic stability and growth. It's about the survival and ultimate success of some of Pennsylvania's largest and most important industries. And it's about Penn State's role in helping to ensure the viability of these industries in the 21st century. "Among consumers–and even within our own college–there is little understanding of the food system and the relative importance of its various components," says Thompson. "That must change if Pennsylvania's food industry is to remain competitive.

"Our present food system begins with consumers," Thompson adds. "For a long time, agricultural production drove our food system, and research and education were aimed at finding ways to produce crops and livestock more efficiently. But that focus has resulted in diminishing returns. Now the opportunities are greater in finding ways to meet consumer demand by producing commodities that can be processed or used as ingredients in food manufacturing. Adding value to raw commodities is a critical, but often overlooked, part of Pennsylvania's food system."

Thompson's views are supported by a 1995 Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) report on the global competitiveness of U.S. agriculture. "The U.S. share of international markets for commodities and food products has declined over the past several years," the report states. "The United States, which exports primarily commodities with low value added, has been falling behind the rest of the world in exporting processed foods with high value added. U.S. agricultural producers and food processors will need to focus on adding value to agricultural products in a way that meets the needs and desires of an increasingly diverse group of consumers around the world. If they do not focus on consumer need, the United States will be relegated to supplying homogeneous commodities that are transformed into value-added food products in foreign countries."

The CAST report also calls for a shift in emphasis in the land-grant university system. "Universities cannot facilitate the transition to the global economy if their researchers focus on research for homogeneous products. In allocating research resources, we must consider the potential for adding value. Closer attention must be paid to the end use of products and to the means of tailoring product characteristics to those uses. Today, major agribusinesses are not looking for farm-level technologies to decrease their ingredient cost by a fraction of a cent per pound. Rather, they are looking for new technologies with which to deliver products at a time and place and in a form that will improve their competitiveness in the world economy."

Few states add value to agricultural commodities better than Pennsylvania. While the total farm gate value of Pennsylvania's agricultural products is about $4 billion annually, the state's food processing industry ships goods worth more than $16 billion a year. Food and kindred products also lead the state's manufacturing sectors in value added, contributing $7 billion to the economy. Despite this industry success, a 1991 survey by Penn State agricultural economists found that only 10 percent of Pennsylvania's food processors believed they were using "leading edge" technology, and 25 percent believed their current use of technology was "lagging." Against this backdrop, Thompson's department has set out to do its part in helping Pennsylvania's food processing industry to maintain and enhance its competitive position. Often in collaboration with industry partners, Penn State takes a multidisciplinary approach to tackling problems and issues, combining faculty expertise in chemistry, microbiology, engineering, nutrition, and consumer education.

Much of the department's research activities are organized into four areas, with projects and personnel often overlapping. The Microbial Food Safety and the Ingredient Functionality groups are not focused on specific commodities but serve a variety of needs. "Pennsylvania has an extremely diverse food industry," Thompson says. "Because of the variety of products–dairy foods, muscle foods, plant foods–our department can't emphasize every important commodity in the state. With these two research groups, we're trying to identify and encourage collaborative research that has broad application throughout the industry."

The Fungal Products and the Cocoa, Chocolate, and Confectionery research groups are designed to support sectors of the food industry that have a uniquely strong presence in the commonwealth. "Pennsylvania leads the nation in chocolate production and ranks second in ice cream manufacturing–two industry sectors that, besides employing thousands of workers, are major users of the state's milk," Thompson explains. "We also produce more mushrooms than any other state. Because of the significant economic contributions of these industries, it's important to keep them strong and viable."