الدكتور Morrine Omolo
Understanding the intersection between food safety regulations and the impact on local food production, as well as the human aspects of food safety practice
Dr. Morrine Omolo is a Food Safety Extension Specialist in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, and a member of Dr. Johan Ubbink’s research team. She’s a Zawadi Africa Education Fund Scholar from Kenya, and a former Schlumberger Faculty for the Future Fellow.
Morrine obtained her Ph.D. in Food Science from the same department in 2020. Her doctoral research focused on characterizing small scale food producers in Minnesota, to better understand the private and public value of Extension food safety education. She focused on food safety regulations applicable to cottage food producers, food protection managers and fresh produce farmers (MN Cottage Food Law, MN Food Code and FSMA Produce Safety Rule respectively). Prior to that, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University (Teaneck NJ), in 2012 and a Master’s of Science in Food Science from UMN in 2015.
Dr. Omolo seeks to apply the concepts of systems thinking and cross-cultural perspectives to further the research around local food systems, and then apply that situation-based knowledge to global narratives around food safety and security. She believes that science wins when communities welcome, adopt and embrace knowledge that furthers their priorities, while retaining their dignity and sense of identity.
Outside of work, Morrine enjoys spending time with family/friends, nature walks/runs, building jigsaw puzzles and travelling. Her last puzzle was 3000 pieces. She has visited 40 of the 50 US states, the Czech Republic, France, Germany and Japan.
الدكتور Morrine Omolo
My experience in working with small scale producers tells me that scientists struggle no learn from and communicate with non-scientists, even in an area as universal as food and ag. This is true in many instances, and COVID taught us that all too well. But more specifically, beyond the science, key stakeholders in the local food system are driven by many factors. The local food movement in the US for example, resulted from consumers wanting to "know the person producing their food". Also, conversations around innovations such as GMOs and CRISPR technologies tend to be high level and ill-designed for the average consumer to understand. People become skeptical about scientists and what we do in the "lab", and how this impacts our global food supply.
I have benefited a lot from hanging my lab coat and investing time in trying to understand the undercurrents that are propelling the growing consumer desire for local, sustainably produced food. I spend time learning from farmers and cottage food producers (manufactures using home kitchens to prepare food for direct consumer sales). Many of them feel that we in the academy don't listen to them and are more interested in furthering the publish or perish agenda, than we are about helping then effectively and safely produce food.
I also get the sense that we in the academy do not get proper training in working with community partners and government agencies, beyond seeking for funding and reporting research progress. This is an important skill set, and it takes humility to enter into spaces as learners rather than the experts. For academicians and regulatory staff to benefit from community knowledge, we MUST be willing to change the way we've always doen things. We have to be willing to make the time and invest the resources necessary to be invited into the spaces where food systems are discussed in practice, rather than designing studies that require food procuers to come to us in our offices.