We have 2 announcements in this exciting news article- Nancy Gushing Corporate Lab Manager of Bochoco- OK Foods is this year’s AAFP President Elect and this year’s AAFP Conference is going to be a joint conference with Oklahoma.
AAFP President Elect Announcement
We are pleased to announce that Nancy Gushing is this year’s AAFP President Elect. Nancy will support this year’s President Dr. Kristen Gibson and move up into the President role next year.
Nancy’s Bio
I started my career over 30 years ago working for Keith Day at George’s Poultry. I learned the poultry process from the feed mill to the processing plant, which taught me the cause and effect along the process. I worked in Dr. Amy Waldrop’s poultry research laboratory at the University of Arkansas as a laboratory technician that supported grad students with projects. Dr. Waldrop’s laboratory conducted research trials on novel pathogen testing platforms used in current commercial test kits, antimicrobial applications, and verification of rapid analysis agars and plates. In 1996, I started working in the corporate laboratory of Bachoco-OK Foods and eventually became the Corporate Lab Manager. Food Safety education is a key component of my position at Bachoco, and being able to support my company, team and customers with science is my passion.
To this day, I still visit our plants and support our team members on the floor, so that I always know our current situation, culture, stress, anything else that can lead to continuous improvement. My past experience has given me a unique background to the farm to fork aspect of food safety to understand the floor of the plant as well as the food safety challenges of our team members. During my time I have researched, written, and implemented several programs across all the plants, conducted plant trials, participated in beta site collaborations, participated in farm trials, and numerous projects with customers and USDA. I couldn’t have achieved this level of my career at Bachoco without people like Keith Day at George’s, Dr. Amy Waldrop and her lab at the University of Arkansas.
My support of the Arkansas Association for Food Protection and IAFP runs deep because of the continuous training and scientific support that has helped my career. I have been involved in AAFP since 2014, as past vice president, president, affiliate delegate, and board member. I have a passion to give back and pay it forward through my work at AAFP, so that the next “Nancy” starting her career also has a Keith or Amy that sets them up for success. I am honored to serve as President Elect for 2024
Arkansas and Oklahoma Joint Conference
The Arkansas and Oklahoma chapters of the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) are honored to announce that we are collaborating for another joint conference. Arkansas Association for Food Protection (AAFP) and Oklahoma Association for Food Protection (OAFP) have earned IAFP’s Best Conference Award the last time we held a joint conference. The AAFP + OAFP Conference will be held on Tues-Thurs September 24-26, 2024 at the Fayetteville Town Center on the beautiful Square in Fayetteville.
The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) represents a broad range of members with a singular focus — protecting the global food supply. The influence of Arkansas and Oklahoma food safety entities reaches far beyond the region with products and decisions made by global entities headquartered in our 2 states. Arkansas alone had almost 200 Food Safety Professionals and scientists at last October’s AAFP Annual Conference, so we expect even more this year as we join forces with Oklahoma. Please click here to register. Conferences - 2024 — Arkansas Association for Food Protection (arkafp.org) We will release some of the agenda as it develops, but you can click here to see the national level quality of last year’s agenda.