Institute of Food Technologists Wins 2010 PR News Video Award for 'A Day in the Life of a NASA Food Scientist'

Video Highlights the Critical Role of Food Science Today and Future Missions to Mars

CHICAGO, Nov. 8 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific society focusing on the science of food, today announced that it received the PR News' Nonprofit PR Award in the video category for their "A Day in the Life of a NASA Food Scientist" video.   

The award-winning video follows IFT member, Michele Perchonok, Advanced Food Technology Manager at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and members of the food science team in Houston, Texas, as they conduct their work in the Space Food Systems Laboratory.  Through interviews with scientists, they convey how food science plays a critical role in ensuring that astronauts have safe, healthy and nutritious foods during current missions to space and how their work will contribute to future efforts to reach Mars.

IFT produced this educational three-minute feature video as part of its "Day in the Life of a Food Scientist" series designed to educate students, teachers, the media, and the general public about the positive impact and rewards of the food science and technology profession. The video is part of a broader effort to get students more interested in food science by letting IFT food scientists in academia, government and industry tell their unique story in their own words. 

"This video vividly highlights the importance of food science and technology in the lives of astronauts in the NASA Space Program, but it also reflects the great promise that the profession has in the coming years," said IFT President Robert Gravani, PhD, who is also Professor of Food Science and Director of the National Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) Program at Cornell University.  "Currently we safely feed more than seven million people worldwide, and we plan to promote our Day in the Life of a Food Scientist series to help us get more people interested in the profession to help meet the needs of a growing global population estimated to expand to nine billion people by 2050."

Nearly 200 PR and public affairs pros gathered for the November 3, 2010 PR News NonProfit PR Awards luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., The PR News Nonprofit Awards Program is solely dedicated to honoring the most talented communicators and teams in the nonprofit sector. The Nonprofit PR Awards are presented by the leading publication PR News and are judged by a blue-chip panel of communications experts.

The 2010 A Day in the Life of a NASA Food Scientist Video is available for viewing through IFT’s web site, www.ift.org.

About IFT

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is a nonprofit scientific society. Our individual members are professionals engaged in food science, food technology, and related professions in industry, academia, and government. IFT's mission is to advance the science of food, and our long-range vision is to ensure a safe and abundant food supply, contributing to healthier people everywhere. 

For more than 70 years, the IFT has been unlocking the potential of the food science community by creating a dynamic global forum where members from more than 100 countries can share, learn, and grow. We champion the use of sound science across the food value chain through the exchange of knowledge, by providing education, and by furthering the advancement of the profession. IFT has offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit ift.org.

SOURCE Institute of Food Technologists