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VO: When you pair world-class scientific research
and the culinary arts you have the ingredients for success that could reap a better economy
and healthier citizens. In a dynamic, first-of-its-kind partnership, North Carolina State University
at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis and Johnson & Wales University in Charlotte,
joined forces for the N.C. Strawberry Project. Supported by a grant from the Golden LEAF
Foundation, the project was designed to help grow the state’s agricultural industry,
strengthen the strawberry sector and involve consumers in the process.
The project also put the spotlight on N.C. State’s Plants for Human Health Institute
at the North Carolina Research Campus. The research component focused on Dr. Jeremy Pattison’s
work to breed a better North Carolina strawberry. Dr. Pattison teamed up with Chef Mark Allison,
dean of culinary education at Johnson & Wales. This project brought together both to complete
the research-to-farm-to-fork circle.
JEREMY: This is a really exciting new partnership
that we’ve developed and we think it’s very unique in plant breeding in that we’re
bringing in the culinary industry into helping us define what is exceptional in terms of
fruit quality. And really, the overall goal is to marry high quality with all of our agronomic
traits that keep our growers profitable.
CHEF MARK: At Johnson & Wales, we teach our students
to source the best quality in all products. So working as a team, with N.C. State, the
local farmers and Johnson & Wales students, hopefully we’ll get the taste right and
it will be a fabulous strawberry.
VO: North Carolina ranks 4th in the nation in
strawberry production which adds nearly 21 million dollars to the state’s economy each
year. Through a sensory analysis process 20 genotypes of strawberries were studied. In
addition, consumers, chefs and produce buyers were part of focus groups and surveys that
provided valuable consumer information. This gave Dr. Pattison important information on
flavor, color, texture and size that he will incorporate into his breeding program.
JEREMY: So with plant breeding, what our ultimate
goal is, is to create a better plant. We define what better is, and we go ahead and implement
strategies to do that. And strawberries, they’re a cross pollinated crop, and so we use traditional
breeding methods to take pollen from one parent and place it on flowers of another parent
to hope for that recombination of beneficial attributes from both parents. And it provides
us with some opportunities to see a harvest season that can go from 4 weeks potentially
to 4 months.
DAN GERLACH: The Strawberry Project appealed to the Golden
LEAF Foundation board and staff on three counts. One it takes advantage of one of our leading
crops, strawberries, on how to add value and make sure we take advantage of our other resource,
the Johnson and Wales staff and leadership in Charlotte, where they know what these high
end consumers want and will pay a premium for; to three, our North Carolina farmers,
working with NC State, the Research Campus at Kannapolis and here at the research station
in Salisbury . . . have some of the leading work going on in strawberry breeding. That’s
going to make more money for our farmers, more opportunity for local restaurateurs by
taking advantage of all these great North Carolina partners.
VO: Members of the Golden LEAF Foundation joined
North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler and Johnson & Wales faculty on a tour
of Barbee Farms outside of Charlotte. They also visited the N.C. Department of Agriculture
and Consumer Services’ Piedmont Research Station in Salisbury.
STEVE TROXLER: The partnership between Johnson & Wales, N.C.
State and the Piedmont Research Station is pretty unique. And I think it’s a wonderful
way to approach marketing if you know what the consumer really wants to begin with and
then can direct the research toward the end user of the product, getting what they want,
then that’s a very good way to approach marketing.
VO: Chef Paul Malcolm, an assistant professor
with Johnson and Wales is an advocate for supporting local farmers and he believes this
unique partnership will result in better chefs.
PAUL MALCOLM: I think all too often we forget that food
doesn’t come from a box. It really comes from people investing a tremendous amount
of time and energy into loving and having passion for the growing of fruits and vegetables
and then sharing that with learning how to use that for cooking.
VO: Robert Brenner, an associate chef instructor
at Johnson and Wales, echoes the importance of a holistic approach to knowing where our
food comes from.
ROBERT BRENNER: I hope to take back to the class room from
our visit out there on Barbee Farms a deeper understanding of where our food comes from
and the differences between quality product and distribution channel product.
VO: During a visit to Barbee Farms and the father-son
team of Brent and Tommy Barbee, the Johnson & Wales chef learned about the passion many
North Carolina farmers have to produce the best food possible.
JENNIFER GALLAGHER: Barbee Farms was a great experience. He was
so passionate about what he does, what his family has done over generations, what they’re
currently doing, and what he sees for the future. And I think that’s really important
for our students to understand that.
MICHAEL CALENDA: I’ve spent twenty-five years in the industry
and having really never gone to a farm and seen how things are grown and really just
receiving products through the back door and pushing it out to the customer, I really never
kind of understood how things are grown and how things are managed in that side of the
business. So, it’s really a neat way to kind of bridge the gap between the back door
and the customer.
PETER LEHMULLER: The production of food is the most basic human
activity there is. It is the foundation of civilization. And I think our modern society
we have gotten away from that. And many of our students do not understand where food
comes from, how it’s grown, and the personal sacrifice and the dedication and the love
that goes into farming. When they come to the research station they can see what is
application of scholarship and research in the field, and how it makes a difference in
people’s lives.
VO: After the Johnson & Wales faculty visited a local farm and the Piedmont Research Station,
students had their turn at the on-farm experience. About 50 Johnson and Wales students in their
chef whites travelled to Barbee Farms, and seeing firsthand where food production starts
proved to be eye opening for them all.
SARAH ESTERLY: And I think every student should have the
opportunity to come out here and get to be able to experience this, because it’s something
that’s once in a lifetime if you don’t have the resources to do it.
JOSHUA MASON: I would say local foods have a lot more, it’s
more quality oriented. And, as a chef, I enjoy the taste a lot more.
VO: There’s no doubt that when the students
returned to the impressive kitchen laboratories at Johnson and Wales, their creative juices
were flowing. In a series of strawberry cook-off competitions, they put their skills to the
test. The criteria was that recipes need to be unique, healthy, with a prep time of no
more than 30 minutes – a recipe any home cook would want to try!
The results of the competitions were inspirational for anyone buying local strawberries! In addition,
the recipes and other project materials were shared with strawberry growers across the
state at the Southeast Strawberry Expo.
JIM OBLINGER: I think it is really important that we’ve
involved the students at Johnson & Wales, not just the faculty. They are the chefs of
tomorrow. They, through Johnson and Wales, can end up anywhere around the world plying
their trade. And the unique partnership between N.C. State, the Plants for Human Health Institute
at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, combined with Johnson and Wales University
here in Charlotte, makes it unique because of the fusion of all disciplines that are
involved. I don’t think there has ever been that combination put in place anywhere at
anytime.
VO: Another important dimension of the project
was a marketing outreach effort to raise awareness of the partnership and to encourage North
Carolinians to buy strawberries from local farmers.
LEAH CHESTER-DAVIS: The support from the Golden LEAF Foundation
for the N.C. Strawberry Project has made a big difference. With their support, we have
initiated an educational marketing outreach campaign to reach the public across the state.
VO: Local, regional and even national newspapers
and magazines featured the Strawberry Project. Project coordinators and Johnson & Wales students
participated in radio and television interviews in the Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh markets.
And the project was highlighted on radio stations in all markets from the coast to the mountains.
RADIO AD: The North Carolina Strawberry Project, a partnership
of North Carolina State University at the North Carolina Research Campus, and Johnson
and Wales University, is working to breed a better North Carolina strawberry. The North
Carolina Strawberry Project is supported by the Golden LEAF Foundation.
VO: Marketing research conducted as part of this
project across the state as part of this project confirmed that the combination of a media
campaign, consumer taste tests, and Cooperative Extension outreach, including the Produce
Lady, helped direct people to local farms.
CHEF MARK: It’s a win-win situation, not only for the
students and the alumni, the local farmers and the researchers – a great team working
together will produce outstanding results. And hopefully we’ll end up with a quality
product.
VO: This comprehensive project can serve as a
model for pairing plant breeding research, the culinary world and marketing communications
and extension to raise awareness about some of the exciting efforts under way to benefit
our state’s citizens and economy.
For more information, visit the North Carolina State Plants for Human Health Institute website.