Making Georgia the national and international leader in the food processing industry in the 21st century

Home | Directory of Personnel | Food Chain Archive

Volume 8 | Issue 1 | July-August 2004

FoodPAC Steering Committee to Hold Summer Meeting

FoodPAC’s Steering Committee will hold its annual Summer Meeting at the New Ebenezer Retreat Center in Rincon, Georgia, on August 27 and 28. The meeting will focus on planning for next year’s program and provide an opportunity for the committee to meet with state Representative Ann Purcell of Rincon.

Representative Purcell is a seven-term member of the Georgia House of Representatives. She is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee, and the Economic Development and Tourism Committee. Representative Purcell chairs the Interstate Cooperation Committee.

During the meeting, committee members will discuss industry priorities and funding requests for the coming year; decide on whether or not to hold a half-day fall seminar for principal investigators who wish to submit FY 2005 FoodPAC proposals to outline the guidelines for the program; consider dividing the Process & Product Competitiveness Technical Committee into research areas (recommendations will be heard from John Leszczynski, P&PC Chairman, and Craig Wyvill (P&PC University Coordinator); and generate a list of additional project needs for bond funding consideration.

The New Ebenezer Retreat Center is located on the banks of the Savannah River. FoodPAC’s leadership promises the retreat will be fruitful and fun for all involved. In addition to holding their annual summer planning meeting, committee members will participate in a group barbecue and lodge in very nice cottages that include all the comforts of home.

Upcoming Food-Related Events

The University of Georgia’s Food Product Innovation & Commercialization Program (FOODPI&C) will hold a two-day short course September 5-6 in Griffin, Georgia, on Developing Value-Added Peanut Products for a Changing Marketplace.

The objectives of the course are to discover how consumer preferences determine the attributes of successful new peanut products and to optimize the food product development process by integrating all components of production technology, distribution, marketing, and consumer demand. University faculty members and professional affiliates will deliver various presentations during the two-day event.

For registration details, contact Dr. Yen-Con Hung at (770) 412-4739 or e-mail yhung@uga.edu.

F o o d f a c t

Did You Know? Georgia was the first colony to produce cotton commercially, first planting it near Savannah in 1734. In 1793, school teacher Eli Whitney invented and patented the cotton gin. The first major textile mill was built in 1811 near Washington, Georgia. Cotton is actually two crops: seed and fiber.

Cotton seed is crushed in order to separate its three products: oil, meal, and hulls. The oil is used for shortening, cooking oil, and salad dressing. Some cotton seed is used as a high-protein concentrate for food products. The meal and hulls are used in products such as livestock, poultry, and fish feed, while the stalks and leaves are plowed under to enrich the soil.

The most important part of the cotton plant is the fiber or lint, which is used to make textile products. The common characteristic among all cotton species is that each fiber has a single-cell composition, a characteristic science has yet to imitate. This gives cotton its qualities of absorption and ability to breathe.

Georgia ranks third nationally in cotton production and acres planted. The 2000 crop covered 1.5 million acres and yielded 1.66 million bales. The 1995 Georgia crop, at 1.97 million bales, was the largest since 1918.

The products that consume the most cotton are men’s and boy’s clothing, towels and wash cloths, drapery, upholstery, and slip cover fabrics. About 40 percent of the U.S. crop is exported.

Cotton makes up 35 percent of Georgia crop income and grows in more than 100 counties. Cotton-related professions provide 53,000 jobs in the state of Georgia. Cotton’s overall impact exceeds $3 billion.

Source: Georgia Agricultural Resources