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Those with an interest in feeding the hungry gathered for the second Hunger Free/Healthy Food Community Forum, hosted by Numana, Inc., Monday at noon.
Rick McNary, founder and CEO of Numana, opened the meeting by talking a little about his organization’s hunger-free, healthy food model.
He said at their last meeting, they came up with a plan to distribute information about the model.
They also have a Numana page on 360eldorado.com that lists what classes are offered on gardening.
He said the model was more than just the Numana garden; it was how to provide and distribute healthy food.
That model caught the attention of those with the USDA, which wants to make it their signature project.
“We intend to change the way people think about where our food comes from,” McNary said.
Mayor Tom McKibban also addressed the crowd.
“The city has been on board since day one,” he said.
The city sold Numana the land west of town for $1 for their facility. They also provided the land for the garden.
“It’s a way we can help each other,” McKibban said. “It’s a way we can teach our children to help each other. We enjoy being your partner and looking forward to seeing what happens with Numana in the future.”
The guest speaker for the lunch, Dr. Curtis Kastner, K-State’s Food Science director and a member of Numana’s advisory council, talked about food safety and security.
“As Numana builds, it will help this country build on something important,” he said.
He talked about vulnerability assessment and response regarding food safety.
He said this is a process of looking at how to detect hazards, then how to control them.
“Then we want to tell the world about it,” he said.
He showed a chart of the continuum of food production, which he said was a complex system.
“We need to have research that integrates all areas,” he said.
This looks at everything from pre-harvest plants and animals to consumption.
He also talked about the Biosecurity Research Institute at K-State and the work they are doing to help food safety through vulnerability assessments.
He went on to talk about the economic impact hazards can have.
“What can we do?” he asked. “Education is essential for the workforce.”
He said workers in these areas need to be educated on how to see the world differently from a protection standpoint and also know who is in these facilities.
Those with an interest in feeding the hungry gathered for the second Hunger Free/Healthy Food Community Forum, hosted by Numana, Inc., Monday at noon.
Rick McNary, founder and CEO of Numana, opened the meeting by talking a little about his organization’s hunger-free, healthy food model.
He said at their last meeting, they came up with a plan to distribute information about the model.
They also have a Numana page on 360eldorado.com that lists what classes are offered on gardening.
He said the model was more than just the Numana garden; it was how to provide and distribute healthy food.
That model caught the attention of those with the USDA, which wants to make it their signature project.
“We intend to change the way people think about where our food comes from,” McNary said.
Mayor Tom McKibban also addressed the crowd.
“The city has been on board since day one,” he said.
The city sold Numana the land west of town for $1 for their facility. They also provided the land for the garden.
“It’s a way we can help each other,” McKibban said. “It’s a way we can teach our children to help each other. We enjoy being your partner and looking forward to seeing what happens with Numana in the future.”
The guest speaker for the lunch, Dr. Curtis Kastner, K-State’s Food Science director and a member of Numana’s advisory council, talked about food safety and security.
“As Numana builds, it will help this country build on something important,” he said.
He talked about vulnerability assessment and response regarding food safety.
He said this is a process of looking at how to detect hazards, then how to control them.
“Then we want to tell the world about it,” he said.
He showed a chart of the continuum of food production, which he said was a complex system.
“We need to have research that integrates all areas,” he said.
This looks at everything from pre-harvest plants and animals to consumption.
He also talked about the Biosecurity Research Institute at K-State and the work they are doing to help food safety through vulnerability assessments.
He went on to talk about the economic impact hazards can have.
“What can we do?” he asked. “Education is essential for the workforce.”
He said workers in these areas need to be educated on how to see the world differently from a protection standpoint and also know who is in these facilities.
Kastner said there was a research project that said if you put a fence around the group of states in the South, the East, and so on, and compartmentalize everything, then if there was a problem it would not shut down every area like it would if everything was connected.
“You all in this community can play into this,” he said. “We can replicate what you are doing here in other parts of the country.”
He said it would take away the chaos if the big system went down.
Kastner said they could respond to local dietary needs and shortages.
“You need to make sure everyone has skin in the game when everyone is working together,” he continued. “It’s a wonderful concept you all are doing. I think people will discover it more and more all the time. If we had what you have here all over the country it would take the sting out of anything that happened.”
The next hunger forum will be held in two months, although an exact date has not been set.
For more information, follow Numana on Facebook or Twitter.
