Consumer and producer interest in food production systems continues to rise, partly in response to media reports, books and movies on how food is produced, and in response to recent food recalls and food-borne illnesses. These UC Davis faculty and staff members have expertise on topics related to food production and food safety, nutrition and health, organic and sustainable agriculture, animal welfare, biotechnology, and food production economics.

Consumer education

Community Food Systems -- Gail Feenstra is a community food systems analyst with the UC Davis-based Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (SAREP). She is the lead researcher on U.S. Department of Agriculture and other grants studying community food security, including shopping at local farmers markets, the economic health of small regional farmers, and community food policy councils. She also addresses nutrition education, and the comparative costs of locally produced and long-distance shipped foods. Contact: Gail Feenstra, SAREP, (530) 752-8408, gwfeenstra@ucdavis.edu.

Market Gardens and Farmers Markets -- Raoul Adamchak is the market garden coordinator at the UC Davis Student Farm, which provides learning opportunities to students interested in organic agriculture. Adamchak’s educational activities include programs in organic vegetable crop production, operating a community supported agriculture project, and participating in farmers markets. Adamchak is the co-author of “Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food,” and has served as the president of the board of California Certified Organic Farmers. Contact: Raoul Adamchak, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-7655, rwadamchak@ucdavis.edu.

Consumer Education -- Christine Bruhn is a food-science marketing specialist, director of the UC Davis Center for Consumer Research, and a national expert on consumer attitudes about food. She can address consumer issues in food safety and quality, including consumer attitudes toward food production methods. She investigates consumer food handling practices, quantifies food safety concerns and addresses consumer information needs. Her laboratory also investigates consumer responses to information in the news that impacts health and safety. Contact: Christine Bruhn, Food Science and Technology, (530) 752-2774, cell (530) 219-2888, cmbruhn@ucdavis.edu.

Food Processing, Food Safety and Biotechnology -- Sharon Shoemaker, director of UC Davis’ California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research, can address topics related to food processing, food biotechnology and functional foods. She facilitates technology exchange between the food and agricultural industries and UC Davis, particularly products related to health and well-being, biotechnology approaches, sustainable practices, food waste utilization and food safety. Contact: Sharon Shoemaker, Food Science and Technology, work (530) 752-2922, cell (530) 848-6733, spshoemaker@ucdavis.edu.

Food safety

Postharvest Food Safety -- Trevor Suslow is a Cooperative Extension plant pathologist and horticultural crop specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences whose research focuses on the postharvest quality and safety of perishable produce. He also is on the advisory board for the UC Davis Center for Produce Safety. He can discuss possible preharvest and postharvest sources of E. coli and Salmonella contamination in fruits and vegetables, how bacterial disease might be transmitted to consumers and what industry is doing to prevent microbial contamination of crops. Contact: Trevor Suslow, Plant Sciences, (530) 754-8313 or tvsuslow@ucdavis.edu.

Food Safety Microbiology -- Glenn Young researches how significant food-borne pathogens cause diseases in humans and how these pathogens survive in the environment. Active projects focus on the molecular biology, genetics and physiology of many pathogenic bacteria including E. coli, Salmonella species and Listeria monocytogenes. Contact: Glenn Young, Food Science and Technology, (530) 754-5292, gmyoung@ucdavis.edu.

Dairy Food Safety -- Professor James Cullor is director of the Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center, a School of Veterinary Medicine program located in Tulare, the top dairy-producing county in the United States, and of the Dairy Food Safety Laboratory. Cullor can discuss food safety and security issues on dairies that influence animal health and well-being, public health and ecosystem health. His research interests include pulsed-laser and microwave technologies for inactivating microbes in milk and other food products, rapid diagnostic tests for infectious diseases that can affect animals and people, food animal vaccines, mammary gland defenses and neonatal immunology. He is responsible for developing an important vaccine to prevent mastitis, which is a bacterial infection of the cow’s udder, and a DNA-based test to screen for contaminants in animal feed. Contact: James Cullor, Veterinary Medicine Teaching and Research Center, (559) 688-1731 ext. 202, jscullor@ucdavis.edu.

Protecting Food Animals -- Hailu Kinde, interim director of the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, can discuss how food animal veterinary practice protects food safety and how early detection of animal-disease outbreaks safeguards public health and California's economy. His research covers infectious diseases of livestock and poultry, with emphasis on Salmonella in egg-laying chickens. The laboratory system, headquartered at UC Davis, is a partnership of the School of Veterinary Medicine and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Kinde can discuss the laboratory system’s recent role in testing for melamine, anthrax, avian influenza, bovine tuberculosis, exotic Newcastle disease, as well as salmonella and other food-borne pathogens. More information on the laboratory system is available at http://www.cahfs.ucdavis.edu/. Contact: Hailu Kinde, California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System, (530) 752-8709, hkinde@ucdavis.edu.

Agricultural sustainability and environmental management

Sustainable Agriculture Policy and Practices -- Tom Tomich is director of the UC Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute and the UC systemwide Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. He holds the W.K. Kellogg Chair in Sustainable Food Systems and is a professor of community development and of environmental science and policy. He has expertise in areas of food policy, sustainable agriculture policy, natural resource management, global and regional environmental issues, agro-forestry and other farming systems, economic development strategy, and policy and ecosystem assessment. Contact: Tom Tomich, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, (530) 752-2379, tptomich@ucdavis.edu.

Sustainable Farming Systems -- Jeffrey Mitchell is a UC Davis-based Cooperative Extension specialist who focuses on biologically integrated farming practices in the San Joaquin Valley. His objectives are to work with farmers to reduce agrichemical inputs and provide community based demonstrations of agricultural technologies. Contact: Jeffrey Mitchell, Kearney Agricultural Center, Parlier, Calif., (209) 891-2660, mitchell@uckac.edu.

Groundwater Contamination -- Thomas Harter, an expert on the effects of agriculture on groundwater quality, holds the Robert M. Hagan Endowed Chair in Water Management and Policy. Harter can discuss confined animal facilities such as dairies and feed lots, groundwater contaminants such as nitrates from fertilizer, pathogens such as Cryptosporidium parvum, E. coli, and Salmonella, and emerging concerns including antibiotics, hormones and other pharmaceuticals. He also has expertise on salt intrusion in deep aquifers, surface water and groundwater resource management, and computer modeling of groundwater basins and pollution. Harter is director of the UC Cooperative Extension Groundwater Hydrology Program. Contact: Thomas Harter, Land, Air and Water Resources, (530) 752-2709, thharter@ucdavis.edu.

Air Quality -- Frank Mitloehner is a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences who studies air quality related to livestock production, especially quantification of ammonia, dust, and odor emissions in dairies, beef feedlots and poultry operations. He works with industry to establish environmentally benign livestock systems. He also focuses on the effects of air emissions on animal health and welfare. Contact: Frank Mitloehner, Animal Science, (530) 752-3936, fmmitloehner@ucdavis.edu.

Conventional and organic agriculture

Organic Versus Conventional Production -- Alyson Mitchell researches the influence of plant-derived chemicals and whole foods on human metabolism and health. Her team is also identifying factors that influence fruit and vegetable quality by assessing the influence of cultivation practices (including organic versus conventional production) on nutrient levels and the quality of fruits and vegetables. Contact: Alyson Mitchell, Food Science and Technology, (530) 752-7926, aemitchell@ucdavis.edu.

Pesticides in Foods -- Carl Winter researches the detection of pesticides and naturally occurring toxins in foods, how to assess their risks and how to use the science in the regulatory decision-making process. His recent work includes looking at the relationships between crop production systems and naturally occurring toxins (organic versus conventional). Contact: Carl Winter, Food Science and Technology, (530) 752-5448, ckwinter@ucdavis.edu.

Animal welfare

Poultry Welfare -- Joy Mench, an animal science professor and director of the UC Davis Center for Animal Welfare, focuses on the improvement of animal welfare, particularly the environmental enrichment of small laboratory animals (rodents and rabbits) and captive/domesticated birds. She also conducts behavioral research on poultry (chickens, quail and ducks), directed toward improving their housing, handling and management. Contact: Joy Mench, Center for Animal Welfare, (530) 752-7125, jamench@ucdavis.edu.

Dairy Cattle Welfare -- Cassandra Tucker, a professor in the Department of Animal Science, studies the assessment and improvement of dairy cattle welfare. She conducts behavioral research with cows and calves, with the goal of improving their housing, handling and management. She is particularly interested in how the behavior of dairy cattle changes in response to controversial procedures (e.g., tail docking and dehorning), management decisions (e.g., stocking density), and housing design (e.g., type and quantity of free-stall bedding, effects of inclement weather). Contact: Cassandra Tucker, Animal Science, (530) 754-5750, cbtucker@ucdavis.edu.

Livestock Welfare -- Carolyn Stull, a UC Cooperative Extension animal welfare specialist in the School of Veterinary Medicine, specializes in the welfare of domestic large animals. Her studies have focused on the impact of extreme weather on dairy cattle and the physiological responses of horses to long-distance transportation. She assisted in developing a program to certify and label food products that meet animal-welfare standards, launched by the Certified Humane Raised and Handled program. Contact: Carolyn Stull, Veterinary Medicine Extension, (530) 752-0855, clstull@ucdavis.edu.

Managing Herd Health -- John Maas is a Cooperative Extension veterinarian in the School of Veterinary Medicine, specializing in beef cattle. He can discuss management practices that help maintain healthy cattle herds and diagnostic procedures to detect infectious diseases in cattle. Contact: John Maas, Veterinary Medicine Extension, (530) 752-3990, jmaas@ucdavis.edu.

How Ranchers Keep Beef Healthy -- James Oltjen is a Cooperative Extension livestock specialist in the animal science department. He can discuss management practices that ranchers use to protect their herds against a variety of health problems. He provides educational programs for beef cattle producers through a “Beef Quality Assurance Program.” Contact: James Oltjen, Animal Science, (530) 752-5650, jwoltjen@ucdavis.edu.

Biotechnology

Animal Biotechnology -- Alison Van Eenennaam addresses beef cattle genetics, the applied use of biotechnology in animal agricultural systems, the transgenic modification of milk fatty acid composition and triglyceride structure, and the development of methods for the biological containment of transgenic fish. She developed the educational video, “Genetic Engineering in California Agriculture.” Contact: Alison Van Eenennaam, Animal Science, (530) 752-7942, alvaneenennaam@ucdavis.edu.

Plant Biotechnology -- Kent Bradford is an expert in agricultural biotechnology and crop production. He is also an expert on seed production and the development of new crop varieties. He is knowledgeable about plant intellectual property (patents, variety protection, etc.) and the biotechnology regulatory system. He is the director of the UC Davis Seed Biotechnology Center. Contact: Kent Bradford, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-6087, kjbradford@ucdavis.edu.

Organic Farming and Biotechnology -- Pam Ronald can comment on applications of biotechnology to rice and other crops and the significance of sequencing the rice genome. She is the co-author of “Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food.” Contact: Pamela Ronald, Plant Pathology, (530) 752-1654, pcronald@ucdavis.edu.

Nutrition and health

Functional Foods -- Clare Hasler is an authority on “functional foods” — foods that provide specific health benefits that may reduce risk of chronic disease, such as lowering the risk of heart disease or cancer, in addition to meeting basic nutritional needs. She is also executive director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UC Davis. Contact: Clare Hasler, Robert Mondavi Institute, (530) 754-6349, cmhasler@ucdavis.edu.

Foods for Health -- M.R.C. Greenwood, director of the UC Davis Foods for Health Institute, is an expert in national science policy, obesity, diabetes and women’s health. She is currently interested in the role of government in the regulation of food and diet. Contact: M.R.C. Greenwood, Nutrition, (530) 754-4365, mrcgreenwood@ucdavis.edu. (Greenwood will be at UC Davis only through July 2009; after that contact Melanie Funes, executive associate director, Foods for Health Institute, 530-752-9211, mfunesduran@ucdavis.edu.)

Economics

Food Marketing Systems -- Shermain Hardesty, a specialist in cooperatives and food marketing systems in the UC Davis Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and director of the UC Davis-based UC Small Farm Program, recently published the article, "The Growing Role of Local Food Markets." She is currently researching factors that influence the structure, size and scope of local food product supply chains. Contact: Shermain Hardesty, UC Small Farm Center, (530) 752-7774, shermain@primal.ucdavis.edu.

Agricultural Economic Policy -- Daniel Sumner is the Frank H. Buck Jr. Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics and director of the UC Davis-based UC Agricultural Issues Center. He can discuss policies that impact the livestock and egg industries. He is an author of an Agricultural Issues Center report, “Economic Effects of Proposed Restrictions on Egg-laying Hen Housing in California,” which concluded that Proposition 2 would have the effect of shifting most, if not all, egg production in California outside the state. The study did not address issues of animal welfare. Sumner has also published research recently on the economics of food and nutrition issues and the economics of food safety and traceability. Contact: Dan Sumner, Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-1668, dasumner@ucdavis.edu.

Costs and Benefits of Cropping Systems -- Karen Klonsky, a UC Cooperative Extension economist, has examined the transition to sustainable production and the costs and benefits of selected practices in organic and conventional cropping systems. Her expertise includes farm management and production, sustainable agriculture, and organic agriculture. Contact: Karen Klonsky, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Davis, (530) 752-3563, klonsky@primal.ucdavis.edu.

About UC Davis

For 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 31,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $500 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges -- Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science -- and advanced degrees from six professional schools -- Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.