Windshields and rearview mirrors

You have probably heard the news by now that after nearly 20 years of service, the Journal of Food Science Education will be retired, with the final issue to be published in October 2021. In a nutshell, the end of JFSE is collateral damage due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Institute of Food Technologists. As articulated by Rich Hartel in his recent editorial (Journal of Food Science, 86(3), 639) on the topic, “Despite its clear value to the education community, IFT leadership has decided that JFSE as a stand-alone journal will no longer be published after 2021. This decision was taken, for the most part, due to the financial concerns during this pandemic, that the resources dedicated to managing it are needed elsewhere.”1 How I wish there was a way to keep JFSE going and growing in its present form! But after discussing a variety of possible ideas of “how to save JFSE” with Rich Hartel and a number of others, it seems that the time has come to look for a new way forward.

The idea of looking forward reminds me of the Habitude2 by Tim Elmore (2013) entitled “Windshields and Rearview Mirrors.” The message underlying this driving analogy habitude is that looking at what lies in front of us (through the windshield) is more important for our future than starring at what is behind us (in the rearview mirror). Now, I think we can all agree that a rearview mirror does have its purposes, but if we spend too much time looking at what is behind us, we will miss what is going on ahead of us. So, in the spirit of “Windshields and Rearview Mirrors,” let's take a quick glance back and a gaze forward.

I fondly remember the momentum in the early 1990's surrounding the creation of the IFT Education Division that Rich Hartel mentioned in his editorial. There was a buzz in the air as food science education was making a name and place for itself. The Education Division was given probationary status in 1995 and chapter status in 1997. Much thanks go to Faye Dong and Wayne Iwaoka, along with a number of others, who spearheaded the petition process for creating the new division.

The idea of creating a journal dedicated specifically to food science education bubbled up from the division around 1998, with the inaugural issue of the Journal of Food Science Education being published in 2002. I am exceedingly grateful to IFT for making the JFSE free of charge for nearly 20 years, putting food science education research strategies, best classroom practices, and engaging approaches of teaching science through food into the hands of educators at all levels.

One thing I know is true about the immediate future – if anything new is going to happen, it is going to require individuals who are willing to step out, step up, and take the lead. What do YOU envision is the future of sharing educational research and best classroom practices? How can we best serve the food science education community? How can we bring people together to make this a new vision a reality? Right now, I seem to have more questions than answers. But what I do have is faith: great faith that we will find a way to move forward together to create a new future for food science education – one that meets the needs of educators, students, and anyone else that wants to come along for the ride! Although a great vehicle for serving the food science education community is coming to an end, there is plenty of room for creating what's next.

Bob Dylan wrote a song entitled “The Times They are a Changin’” (Bob Dylan The Times They are a Changin' 1964, 2013). The song has connected with fresh meaning to more than one generation, perhaps because the song itself doesn't look to the past, but, rather, it's an anthem of hope for a future where change is always possible (Neary 2018). So, though the times are a-changin’, we can look through the windshield, motivated by the rearview mirror, and make a new future that best serves the food science education community of tomorrow. If you're interested in being involved, and I hope you are, please contact me ( [email protected] ) or Rich Hartel ( [email protected] ).