The Feeding Your Future summer camp introduces high schoolers to careers in food science
With a growing number of mouths to feed and challenges that threaten a sufficient and sustainable food supply, the need for solutions increases by the day.
The Kansas State University departments of Agronomy and Grain Science and Industry are tackling this search head on, and inspiring future food scientists through the Feeding Your Future Camp.
The big picture
Each summer more than 30 teens from across the country gain bushels of knowledge about the transition of grain from plant to plate. After digging into K-State’s growing, harvesting and milling programs, they try their hand at turning grains into nutritional foods for people, pets and livestock in the university’s baking labs.
At K-State’s top-tier academic and research facilities — the Agronomy Education Center, K-State Baking Lab, Hal Ross Flour Mill, Bioprocessing and Industrial Value-Added Innovation Center, and O.H. Kruse Feed Technology and Innovation Center — campers get a firsthand, all-access view of the inner workings of the grain industry. And for a better understanding of specific careers in the field, industry professionals also attend to provide networking opportunities.
Growing interest in grain The forecast for careers in agriculture and food science is blindingly bright. The Feeding Your Future camp is part of K-State Ag Experiences [https://www.ag.k-state.edu/ag-experiences/], an outreach program that includes Celebrate Ag Day, FFA career development events, Ask an Expert classroom visits and other services that showcase the many options available to high school students pondering their post-graduation plans.
