NCIFT MEETING MINUTES

Meeting Minutes December 14, 2021

Date: December 14, 2021
Time: 5- 6 pm
Location: Zoom

Attendees:
Parastoo Yaghmaee – President
Gabriela Swamy – Secretary
Terri Amerio-Bell-Treasurer
Xi Feng-Dir. At Large
WanChim Lim- Dir. At Large
John Frelka- Dir. At Large
Victor Hong- Dir. At Large
Mathew Poon- Dir. At Large
Christopher Ham- Dir. At Large
Jeff Sheasley- Dir. At Large
Ashwini Wagh – Education Chair
Jamie Lawrence- HornBlower Editor
Craig Rothe-Past President
Bruce Ferree-Symposium Chair
Martin Potnick – Sierra Region
Erin Evers-Membership & New Prof.

5:02 PM Called to Order, Meeting called to end 6:02 PM (PST)

NCIFT Holiday party: Feedback
Erin reported that the event was a great success, and the speaker was fantastic. She also
appreciated the slides he shared.
Wanchin suggested that for the next dinner meeting, self-introduction at the tables would be
great and that would foster interaction. She also found the speaker knowledgeable and
suggested it would be great if the event status was communicated to National IFT.

Finance committee
Parastoo: NCIFT by-law talks about finance committee who can advise the board on fianance
related matters when is needed. Parastoo proposed to form the committee and have it
functional. She said there is always question regarding reimbursement, bank accout, and other
finance related matter that requires decision. Having an active finance committee would be
very helpful.
Terri: Love the idea as it supports the treasurer. It is preferable to have a member with some
income tax filing background, who would be able to provide advice, point out the warning signs
related to the tax return of a non profit organization.
Martin – Form for reimbursement is not in detail. Can the form be revised? Terri explained that
the previous form had too many sections and there were a lot of questions from people filling
the form. The new form created to make it more clear.
Bruce asked whether the by-law states finance committee? Terri has been the only point of
reference so far for all financial questions. The answer was yes, the by-law section 8.2.
Parastoo asked if everybody agrees, a finance committee will be formed. Nobody objected.

Scams
Terri: There are scams to collect money. Please be aware of it. Please call and confirm any
finance related information to the responsible person. Please look out for other members as
well.
Ashwini: Parastoo, has the issue been sorted out?
Parastoo: Yes. We have checked the e-mail system and the scam e-mail had an external source.
As a safety measure, I have changed the e-mail address.
Martin – Member only information would be a good idea to solve the problem.

Upcoming confirmed events (Parastoo)

• Alternative meats 101 with Prime Roots virtual (Jan 4,2022)
• Food Front in Woodland Incubator (Jan 19,2022)
  Gathering in Woodland. Ellis and Matthew will be finalizing the event. A tour would
  be arranged
  Erin – Finalizing plans and should be sent out the end of this week
• Educational Webinars 1: Rheology (Clorox) Feb 2,2022
  Ashwini: Daniella Flater will be the speaker. Rheology in food will be focused
  Practice run would be done by Ellis. Ashwini will be working on the logistics for the
  event
• NCIFT luncheon, Olgika Bakajin (Porifera) Feb 15,2022
  Food Processing Expo Sacramento Feb 15-16, 2022
  Posted on FLP website
• Educational Webinars 3: Labeling of food containing bio engineered ingredients,
  Jennifer Allen (ZW) April 6,2022
  Ashwini: Bruce’s contact. Labelling is her forte and she would be excellent
• Golf tournament May 9,2022
• Supplier’s night May 10,2022
  • Poster Competition update
    Martin: Golf – Time to network
    Bruce: Please advertise it to friends. 9th of May Monday. Tuesday is Supplier’s Night.
    Expo starts at 3pm.
    Symposium: Future of Food – Hybrid event
    In person event is also planned

    Poster: No abstract has been received yet. Abstracts will be reviewed. Selected
    abstracts will be given an opportunity to present their poster in person.
    Martin: Operational education sessions might attract more people. Please consider
    For future educational programs

    Upcoming in progress events

• Melibio (Feb 2022), in person in San Francisco
  Ellis is working on it. More information will be sent in Jan 2022
• Educational Webinars 2: TBD (March 2022)
• Central Valley (April 2022)
• Chico University event (April 2022)
  In contact with Maria. Will have in-person meeting
• UC Davis Food Science and Technology show case (April 2022)
• Northern Nevada activities
  Erin: No event planned yet
  Martin – Volunteers have reached out to discuss next year event.
• Science Fair related activities (Spring 2022)
  • Santa Clara (March 9-10, 2022), Alameda, Monterey, San Francisco,
    Sacramento Science Fairs

Scholarship committee update
Had 9 applications UC Davis and SJSU. Emails will go out to start judging the process by the end
of this week

Nomination Committee update
John: By law suggests 4-6 Dir at large. Search for 2 Dir of large. Matthew will be out by the end
of 2022. Need a candidate for President Elect.

Hornblower
Jaime: Email sent – request for articles
Please share articles in advance for future publications
Parastoo will email the article related to 80th anniversary collected memories to Jaime

Next board meeting will be held in person in Sacramento, on Feb 15,2022 at 1:30 pm in
Magnolia Ballroom in Sheraton Hotel.

Discount codes will be sent to leadership team for registration.

Meeting ended: 6:02 pm