October 1, 2024 • 18 mins
In this episode of Cultivating Curiosity, Kaitlyn Casulli, assistant professor and UGA Cooperative Extension process specialist in the CAES Department of Food Science and Technology, shares her journey into food science and her fascinating work with food safety, thermal processing and her efforts to support the craft beverage industry in rural Georgia. She also introduces the new Value-addition Institute for Business Expansion (VIBE) initiative, helping Georgia's growers increase profits through value-added products. Plus, don't miss a surprising discussion about edible insects!
Resources:
- CAES Department of Food Science and Technology
- Value-added Institute for Business Expansion (VIBE)
- Food Product Innovation and Commercialization Center (FoodPIC)
- UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS)
Content from CAES:
- Georgia agricultural innovation center to bring farmers from fresh to value-added markets (news story)
- UGA Extension food scientist hosts new brewing workshop (news story)
- From jellyfish to pomegranates: Revolutionizing food processing in Georgia (podcast)
- Healthy holidays: Food safety tips for gifts and gatherings (podcast)
- Sip, savor, succeed: Inside the Flavor of Georgia food contest (podcast)
- Add a little crunch to your diet with cicadas: How to harvest, store and prepare food from Brood XIX emergence in Georgia (blog post)
---
Produced by Jordan Powers and Emily Cabrera
Edited by Jordan Powers
Music and sound effects by Mason McClintock, an Athens-based singer, songwriter and storyteller who creates in
Almanac is an annual publication that provides a window into the work being done at CAES to make the world increasingly healthy, equitable and sustainable. We are pleased to announce that the 2024 edition is now available online. Explore stories of science in service of humanity and the environment.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sound Effect (00:00):
[music]
Jordan Powers (00:00):
Welcome to Cultivating Curiosity, where we
get down and dirty with theexperts on all the ways science
and agriculture touch our lives,from what we eat to how we live.
I'm Jordan Powers.
Emily Cabrera (00:12):
And I'm Emily Cabrera. We're from the
University of Georgia's Collegeof Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
Sound Effect (00:18):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (00:20):
We are here with Kaitlyn Casulli, assistant
professor in the Department ofFood Science and Technology and
UGA Cooperative Extensionprocess specialist. Kaitlyn,
thanks for coming by today.
Kaitlyn Casulli (00:29):
Absolutely, happy to be here.
Jordan Powers (00:31):
As we get started. What is your story? How
did you get to where you aretoday? And how did you join UGA?
Kaitlyn Casulli (00:36):
I found out about food science when I was in
high school. So, I participatedin Science Olympiad, and they
had an event called FoodScience. And I thought, "Hey,
you know food, science, I likeboth of those. Let's give it a
try." And ended up doing reallywell. So kept pursuing it and
studying it in high school. Andthen when I was getting ready to
go to college, I was betweenmeteorology and food science.
(00:59):
And meteorology was always aninterest of mine. Again, Science
Olympiad getting into thatinterest. But food science, to
me, was much more interesting interms of being able to see what
you do on the shelf and how itimpacts people every day. I was
initially interested in doingengineering, you know, maybe
protein chemistry, engineering,things like that, but I got into
(01:19):
a food engineering lab, whichwas more focused on heat and
mass transfer and processingtechniques. I really just
thrived in that environment. SoI decided when I wanted to go to
grad school, instead of doingfood science, I wanted to go
more into engineering. And sowith that, I decided to pursue
graduate school at MichiganState University. I was able to
work with processing,specifically with pistachios and
(01:43):
peanuts. For my PhD, I did thepeanuts, and that really led me
to the job at UGA. So when I wasin graduate school, I was doing
a lot of networking. I met somefaculty members at UGA, and it
turned out that they had aposition that they were opening
up right as I was finishing atMichigan State. So I was able to
really kind of transition rightaway from graduate school into
(02:03):
my faculty position here at UGA,and I've been here now for two
and a half years.
Emily Cabrera (02:08):
So that is really fascinating. And you mentioned
that you work with heating andcooling. Is that part of your
processing process?
Kaitlyn Casulli (02:16):
Absolutely. So, part of what I do as an
Extension specialist is helpingcompanies all around Georgia.
And as much as I like to thinkabout non-thermal processing and
not applying heat to foods tomake them microbially safe, I
realize that heating is reallyinherently a part of food
processing as a whole. So amajority of our foods still get
(02:37):
heated to achieve a food safetyoutcome. So having that
knowledge of the heat transferhelps me integrate it with the
microbial inactivation to helplower the risk of people getting
sick.
Emily Cabrera (02:48):
Does that impact nutritional value?
Kaitlyn Casulli (02:50):
It can.
Sometimes you can get reductionin things like antioxidants or
other beneficial compounds infoods. We're trying to steer
people away from heating. Butagain, this non-thermal
processing is very expensive.
It's equipment intensive, so alot of people, especially
smaller processors, don't havethe tools that they need to be
able to purchase that equipmentand then validate it for the
(03:11):
food safety outcome. So it'sstill very up and coming area
for a lot of processors.
Jordan Powers (03:16):
So it's definitely something where I'm
hearing all of these words ofthermal and transfer and all of
these things I frequently tellour scientists, "Talk to me like
you're talking to your aunt atThanksgiving."
Kaitlyn Casulli (03:25):
Yeah, yeah.
Jordan Powers (03:25):
Really break this down. But it sounds like it's
really a balance of making surethe nutrition stays as high as
it can while keeping theconsumer safe.
Kaitlyn Casulli (03:34):
Absolutely.
Yeah. So we have what's calledkinetics. So kinetics are just a
way of describing the rate ofhow things degrade over time
during a process. We havemicrobial kinetics and we have
chemical kinetics. Microbialkinetics, obviously, we want
them to go down to a certainlevel where we can say the risk
is low enough so someone couldeat this and not get sick. But
we also want to balance thatwith the chemical kinetics,
(03:56):
because those chemical compoundsare also going down with the
microbial compounds. So how dowe really balance those two
things and find the idealprocess for getting these to be
microbial-safe andchemically-nutritive for people?
It's playing that balance game,and one of the ways that we can
do this is with rapid heating.
So instead of a very slowheating process where it's
(04:18):
taking a really long time,you're getting more of that
microbial kinetic destruction,but you're also getting a lot,
lot more. So think of a cannedfood. Looks kind of gross, the
color's kind of bad, doesn'ttaste really great, versus a
fresh, cooked green bean orsomething like that. Tastes a
lot better, color's better,nutrient retention is better. So
how do we optimize that processto get safe, quality food?
Jordan Powers (04:40):
That is fascinating. And I know that I
am a broken record, but it neverceases to amaze me how much
being in this environmentchanges the way that you think
about food. I mean, green beansare the perfect example. My mom
always bought frozen because thecanned green beans just make you
kind of sad.
Kaitlyn Casulli (04:54):
Yep, yep.
Jordan Powers (04:55):
But, never really thinking that there are
scientists behind that. Makingthose things happen, which is
just incredible. And one of thethings you just touched on was
helping those producers, andespecially those smaller
producers across the state. Weknow that you are involved with
the newly launchedValue-addition Institute for
Business Expansion, or VIBE.
What is this initiative and howwill it benefit growers in
(05:15):
Georgia?
Kaitlyn Casulli (05:17):
VIBE is our effort of bringing farmers into
value added markets. So insteadof selling their produce as
fresh, how can they convert thatinto a food product that's
preserved and can be on theshelf for sale for consumers? We
see that value-added productionis as much capital and labor
intensive it can be sometimes,it's much, much more profitable
(05:38):
than just fresh sale. The otheradvantage is you can use product
that wouldn't be intended forfresh sale and make that into a
value-added process. So thinkabout a pickle, a cucumber that
might not be pretty enough,maybe it has bad coloring, or
it's shaped in a way that peopledon't want to buy off the store
shelf. You can chop it up, makeit into relish, and then you can
sell that as relish at much,much higher price than it would
(06:00):
be as a cucumber. So reallyhelping these processors
navigate, what can they use? Howcan they use it? Helping them
with the product and processdevelopment part of it, and then
really linking them up withother Georgia resources to fill
in the gaps where we don't knowwhat we're doing, quite frankly.
So I am not an expert on writinga business plan, so I'm going to
send them to somebody who knowshow to write business plans. I
(06:22):
don't know anything aboutfinances. I'm not going to claim
to do anyone's finances. So wehave people that can help
farmers with that aspect of itas well. So really creating
those opportunities for them tothink about going into
value-added processing and thenbringing in every piece that we
have in Georgia to support thateffort.
Emily Cabrera (06:39):
It sounds like there's a lot of room for
increasing your owncollaboration across campus. And
we also know that FoodPIC, theFood Product Innovation and
Commercialization Center, isdown in Griffin, and we can link
in the show notes to FoodPIC. Doyou work with faculty and staff
in FoodPIC in connecting growersdown there?
Kaitlyn Casulli (07:00):
So we're really in the beginning stages of the
VIBE grant, but we eventuallysee that if processors have
product that they want to makeand they really want to scale up
very quickly, then that would besomething that FoodPIC would
handle for them. FoodPIC has alot of capabilities. They can do
canned foods. They can do fluidfoods, going through aseptic
processing, which is again, highheat, but very quickly heating
(07:21):
up, so you retain the quality alittle bit better than just
regular pasteurization process,where it's heating a little bit
slower. So they really have thehands on ability to bring in
some of these advancedtechnologies and the greater
processing capacity for smallerprocessors looking to take that
next step.
Jordan Powers (07:37):
That is incredible. And we did an
episode with Kevin Mis Solval,who is part of FoodPIC, as well
as the VIBE initiative. So wewill be sure to link to that
episode in the show notes,because he talks a lot about
that value-add andrevolutionizing food products,
which is, it's just fascinatingand an amazing opportunity for
Georgia's growers to increasetheir revenue and kind of
diversify what they're able tooffer, and then at the end of
(07:58):
the day for consumers, change upwhat we get to see on store
shelves, which is reallyexciting.
Kaitlyn Casulli (08:02):
I'll also throw out there that Dr. Carla Schwan,
which you mentioned she didanother interview. She's also
part of the VIBE grant. She'sgoing to help us out a lot with
connecting with the FACS side ofthings.
Sound Effect (08:12):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (08:14):
When Kaitlyn says the "FACS side of things," she's
referring to the University ofGeorgia College of Family and
Consumer Sciences, or FACS. FACSpromotes wellbeing through
science-based programs infinancial planning, housing and
consumer economics, humandevelopment and family science,
nutritional sciences and more.
Many faculty within FACS alsohave appointments within UGA
Cooperative Extension to providetraining, disseminate
(08:37):
research-based publications andlink individuals, families,
businesses and communities inGeorgia to university faculty
and resources. We'll add a linkin the show notes.
Sound Effect (08:47):
[chime]
Kaitlyn Casulli (08:49):
Where people are producing at home, and maybe
they want to take that homebased product or cottage food
and move it into manufacturedfoods and look into program
assessment and things like thatfor VIBE, so, another valuable
part of our team.
Jordan Powers (09:01):
Absolutely, look at us go. We've got the whole
VIBE inititative right here onthe podcast. I love it.
Emily Cabrera (09:08):
You mentioned processors, and it occurred to
me that a lot of times when wetalk about, like food to table,
or we talk about some productbeing grown in the field, we
kind of jump straight to theconsumer. But you've mentioned
processors. There's that middleground. There's that middle
person that takes that rawmaterial, does something with
it, and really takes a lot ofinput from the growers and from
(09:31):
the consumers to make itsomething. Can you talk a little
bit about your collaborationwith processors as well?
Kaitlyn Casulli (09:36):
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you've just defined food
science right there. It's thescience of taking the things
that we grow and getting theminto a form that the consumers
want, and a lot of times,processing is a lot of little
steps along the way. So youmight have say, wheat coming in
from the field, someone turns itinto flour, someone purchases
that flour, makes it into bread,and then maybe someone buys that
(09:57):
bread and makes sandwiches for aretail outlet, or something like
that. So processors come in allshapes and sizes, all steps
along the supply chain, but alot of the work that I've done
with processors has beenthinking about their processing
techniques. So the thermalprocess, someone gets in a bunch
of produce they want to makesalsa or barbecue sauce, how
(10:17):
long and how hot do they need toheat that up to get it to be
shelf stable? You know, not onlyin terms of does it look good
and taste good, but is it safefor consumption?
Emily Cabrera (10:27):
Well, switching from your research program in
food science to your Extensionefforts in beverages, we know
that you also focus on brewingscience. How does this tie into
your overall Extension program?
Kaitlyn Casulli (10:39):
I travel a lot around the state, and one of the
things that I like to do whenI'm traveling around is see what
breweries are around in thearea. Especially in rural
Georgia, there are not a lot ofbreweries around. Surprisingly,
some areas that I think mighthave a brewery, don't. So I
really want to try and push thiscraft beverage industry. Not
only brewing, but, you know,winemaking, kombucha, mead,
(11:01):
coffee, whatever it is, helpprocessors get into those
businesses, because craftbeverages are booming. I think
brewing is kind of a little biton the flat line, and we've seen
a lot of breweries closerecently, but there's still
people out there that want tostart breweries. So I host a
workshop each year specificallytargeting these people that want
to start a brewery, and we bringthem in for three days, and we
(11:25):
have classroom sessions, youknow, panel discussions about
taproom culture, how to selectand scale your equipment, how to
design your brew house. Reallykind of all the step by step
stuff you need, not so much onthe brewing science, more on
designing and running yourbrewing operation. And then in
the evenings, we rent out somevans and we drive people around
(11:45):
and we offer them brewery tours.
So it's really just a lot offun.
Emily Cabrera (11:48):
That is so much fun!
Kaitlyn Casulli (11:49):
Last year it was, it was just really cool
last year. We start out the dayand everybody's really quiet and
they don't want to talk to eachother, but by the time the van's
going back to the hotel, it's aparty in there. Everybody's
really bustling and networkingand enjoying each other's
company. It was just reallyrewarding to see all that. And
you know, help grow the brewingnetwork here in Georgia.
Jordan Powers (12:09):
That's incredible. Changing tunes a
little bit, earlier this year,during the double cicada
emergence, which I don't thinkany of us will soon forget, you
wrote a blog post on how toharvest, store and prepare
cicadas for eating. Which I haveto say, I was fascinated by the
emergence, not so much with theconsumption. We will link to
that blog post in the shownotes, but tell us how you got
(12:31):
interested in edible insects.
Kaitlyn Casulli (12:33):
The last cicada emergence, it was either in 2020
or 2021, and I was in Michiganat the time and driving down to
visit my parents in NorthCarolina, and I went through
West Virginia, and I campedovernight. I just remembered the
next morning walking out andseeing all these cicadas
everywhere. It was just like themost unreal thing I've ever
(12:54):
seen. I think at that point, Ihad heard of the idea of eating
insects and the cicada emergencethat was forthcoming at the
time. And one of my advisors,Don Schaffner, at Rutgers
University, had a student fromPrinceton High School in his lab
over the summer, and he wasdoing things with edible insects
as well. So I was like, "Oh,this is really cool. Let's
(13:14):
collaborate. Let's talk aboutthis." I never really got the
research program off the groundthat I wanted to do, you know,
more science around the foodsafety aspects of edible
insects, but I thought that thisdouble emergence seemed like the
perfect opportunity to spreadsome of the knowledge, some of
the literature review and someof the experiments that this
high school student had done,now an undergrad at Cornell,
just to spread that knowledge toGeorgia and really kind of catch
(13:37):
people's eye and make them thinkabout protein in a different
way. Insects contain a lot ofgreat protein, and the cicadas
were all over the place. So it'salmost like getting a free
steak, but maybe not quite,depending on how you think about
it.
Jordan Powers (13:50):
[laughter] Okay, so have you eaten cicadas?
Kaitlyn Casulli (13:53):
I have not eaten cicadas, but I did eat a
cricket granola bar one time.
Once you get past why it's socrunchy, it's it's not so bad,
like the flavor is okay. I thinkthat a lot of research and
development still needs to gointo how can we use these
insects? You know, maybe it'snot grinding them up and putting
them directly in the granolabar. Maybe it's extracting the
protein and then using thatprotein to develop new products.
Jordan Powers (14:17):
That makes sense.
I have also had a cricketprotein bar. I've also consumed
an ant lemon pound cake, whichshameless plug for Insectival,
we can link to that in the shownotes, but some of our experts
are at that amazing annual eventand the Botanical Garden, and
there's an array of differentinsect snacks you can try. And I
have to say, if I didn't lookdown and see the ants, I would
think I was eating a lemon poppyseed something. And then you
(14:37):
look down and there's legs, andyou have to look away quickly.
But it's a lot of fun.
Emily Cabrera (14:43):
So is there such a thing as a typical day for
you, and what does that looklike?
Kaitlyn Casulli (14:48):
First of all, no [laughter]. A lot of things
that I do on a day-to-day basisare these process approvals,
where I was talking abouthelping the processor figure out
how long and how hot, and thenissuing a letter to them,
describing their process andhelping them understand which
regulations they have to complywith. Food processing in
general, is a lot ofregulations. That's a lot of
(15:08):
what I deal with. But anotherday could look like sitting at
my desk writing a manuscript,writing a proposal, kind of the
boring stuff, but really what Ilove is going out and meeting
people. Being in the industry.
You know, last week, I went outand met with a farmer down in
LaGrange area, and that was justa lot of fun, you know, going to
see his property, see thefacility that he wants to use
for producing food, and justmaking that personal connection
(15:31):
and having a conversation.
Jordan Powers (15:34):
It all just goes back to being such an incredible
resource for the growers and theprocessors in the state. We also
know that you're involved in theFlavor of Georgia food product
competition. We did a wonderfulepisode with Laurel Dunn on
that, so we will link to that inthe show notes as well. So I
think it was fascinating to hearthat your interest in food
science kicked off in highschool. I don't think many
people can say that they'redoing what they wanted to do
(15:56):
when they were a kid, but hereyou are doing it. So for those
people who may be in high schoolor may be even in undergrad,
saying, "What do I want to bewhen I grow up?" Why should
somebody study food science andtechnology?
Kaitlyn Casulli (16:07):
Kind of the reason I got into it is it's
very hands on. You get to seewhat you're doing. So my journey
in food science started out in afood micro lab where I was
doing, like, a lot of DNAextraction and stuff like that.
It just really did not spark myinterest because I couldn't see
DNA, you know, you can't seewhat's going on, so you really
don't know whether it'ssuccessful or not. But if you're
making a food product, if you'remaking it on a large scale, and
(16:29):
you're processing it, you cansee what it looks like going in,
and then you see what it lookslike coming out. And that, to
me, is just very rewarding and acool thing to see. I'll also
say, you know, try a bunch ofthings. Find out where maybe
your interest would lie, but thefood industry is a great place
to be, no matter what you do, ifyou want to go into chemistry,
processing, microbiology, oreven sales, marketing,
(16:53):
communications, all of thesethings come together to make the
food industry. So no matter whatyour interest is, you can find a
place in the food industry.
Emily Cabrera (17:02):
Yeah, it's something that touches all of
our lives every day, all day.
Kaitlyn Casulli (17:05):
Yeah. And you can't just make a good food
product and expect it to besuccessful. You have to have
someone marketing it. You haveto have someone creating the ads
and the commercials to push itout there into the world. So
yes, it's just endlessopportunity.
Jordan Powers (17:18):
That's inspiring.
Well, Kaitlyn, thank you fortaking the time to come in
today. We know that your daysvary immensely, whether you're
in the office, in the lab, outwith a grower or a processor,
but we appreciate you carving alittle bit of time out to come
on the podcast today. So thanksso much.
Kaitlyn Casulli (17:33):
It was a pleasure to be here. I'm happy
to share my experiences, andjust glad to be in food science
and have the opportunity to dothe things that I always wanted
to do.
Jordan Powers (17:43):
It's inspiring for sure.
Sound Effect (17:45):
[music]
Jordan Powers (17:46):
Thanks for listening to Cultivating
Curiosity, a podcast produced bythe UGA College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences. Aspecial thanks to Mason
McClintock for our music andsound effects. Find more
episodes wherever you get yourpodcasts.
[music]
Jordan Powers (00:00):
Welcome to Cultivating Curiosity, where we
get down and dirty with theexperts on all the ways science
and agriculture touch our lives,from what we eat to how we live.
I'm Jordan Powers.
Emily Cabrera (00:12):
And I'm Emily Cabrera. We're from the
University of Georgia's Collegeof Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences.
Sound Effect (00:18):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (00:20):
We are here with Kaitlyn Casulli, assistant
professor in the Department ofFood Science and Technology and
UGA Cooperative Extensionprocess specialist. Kaitlyn,
thanks for coming by today.
Kaitlyn Casulli (00:29):
Absolutely, happy to be here.
Jordan Powers (00:31):
As we get started. What is your story? How
did you get to where you aretoday? And how did you join UGA?
Kaitlyn Casulli (00:36):
I found out about food science when I was in
high school. So, I participatedin Science Olympiad, and they
had an event called FoodScience. And I thought, "Hey,
you know food, science, I likeboth of those. Let's give it a
try." And ended up doing reallywell. So kept pursuing it and
studying it in high school. Andthen when I was getting ready to
go to college, I was betweenmeteorology and food science.
(00:59):
And meteorology was always aninterest of mine. Again, Science
Olympiad getting into thatinterest. But food science, to
me, was much more interesting interms of being able to see what
you do on the shelf and how itimpacts people every day. I was
initially interested in doingengineering, you know, maybe
protein chemistry, engineering,things like that, but I got into
(01:19):
a food engineering lab, whichwas more focused on heat and
mass transfer and processingtechniques. I really just
thrived in that environment. SoI decided when I wanted to go to
grad school, instead of doingfood science, I wanted to go
more into engineering. And sowith that, I decided to pursue
graduate school at MichiganState University. I was able to
work with processing,specifically with pistachios and
(01:43):
peanuts. For my PhD, I did thepeanuts, and that really led me
to the job at UGA. So when I wasin graduate school, I was doing
a lot of networking. I met somefaculty members at UGA, and it
turned out that they had aposition that they were opening
up right as I was finishing atMichigan State. So I was able to
really kind of transition rightaway from graduate school into
(02:03):
my faculty position here at UGA,and I've been here now for two
and a half years.
Emily Cabrera (02:08):
So that is really fascinating. And you mentioned
that you work with heating andcooling. Is that part of your
processing process?
Kaitlyn Casulli (02:16):
Absolutely. So, part of what I do as an
Extension specialist is helpingcompanies all around Georgia.
And as much as I like to thinkabout non-thermal processing and
not applying heat to foods tomake them microbially safe, I
realize that heating is reallyinherently a part of food
processing as a whole. So amajority of our foods still get
(02:37):
heated to achieve a food safetyoutcome. So having that
knowledge of the heat transferhelps me integrate it with the
microbial inactivation to helplower the risk of people getting
sick.
Emily Cabrera (02:48):
Does that impact nutritional value?
Kaitlyn Casulli (02:50):
It can.
Sometimes you can get reductionin things like antioxidants or
other beneficial compounds infoods. We're trying to steer
people away from heating. Butagain, this non-thermal
processing is very expensive.
It's equipment intensive, so alot of people, especially
smaller processors, don't havethe tools that they need to be
able to purchase that equipmentand then validate it for the
(03:11):
food safety outcome. So it'sstill very up and coming area
for a lot of processors.
Jordan Powers (03:16):
So it's definitely something where I'm
hearing all of these words ofthermal and transfer and all of
these things I frequently tellour scientists, "Talk to me like
you're talking to your aunt atThanksgiving."
Kaitlyn Casulli (03:25):
Yeah, yeah.
Jordan Powers (03:25):
Really break this down. But it sounds like it's
really a balance of making surethe nutrition stays as high as
it can while keeping theconsumer safe.
Kaitlyn Casulli (03:34):
Absolutely.
Yeah. So we have what's calledkinetics. So kinetics are just a
way of describing the rate ofhow things degrade over time
during a process. We havemicrobial kinetics and we have
chemical kinetics. Microbialkinetics, obviously, we want
them to go down to a certainlevel where we can say the risk
is low enough so someone couldeat this and not get sick. But
we also want to balance thatwith the chemical kinetics,
(03:56):
because those chemical compoundsare also going down with the
microbial compounds. So how dowe really balance those two
things and find the idealprocess for getting these to be
microbial-safe andchemically-nutritive for people?
It's playing that balance game,and one of the ways that we can
do this is with rapid heating.
So instead of a very slowheating process where it's
(04:18):
taking a really long time,you're getting more of that
microbial kinetic destruction,but you're also getting a lot,
lot more. So think of a cannedfood. Looks kind of gross, the
color's kind of bad, doesn'ttaste really great, versus a
fresh, cooked green bean orsomething like that. Tastes a
lot better, color's better,nutrient retention is better. So
how do we optimize that processto get safe, quality food?
Jordan Powers (04:40):
That is fascinating. And I know that I
am a broken record, but it neverceases to amaze me how much
being in this environmentchanges the way that you think
about food. I mean, green beansare the perfect example. My mom
always bought frozen because thecanned green beans just make you
kind of sad.
Kaitlyn Casulli (04:54):
Yep, yep.
Jordan Powers (04:55):
But, never really thinking that there are
scientists behind that. Makingthose things happen, which is
just incredible. And one of thethings you just touched on was
helping those producers, andespecially those smaller
producers across the state. Weknow that you are involved with
the newly launchedValue-addition Institute for
Business Expansion, or VIBE.
What is this initiative and howwill it benefit growers in
(05:15):
Georgia?
Kaitlyn Casulli (05:17):
VIBE is our effort of bringing farmers into
value added markets. So insteadof selling their produce as
fresh, how can they convert thatinto a food product that's
preserved and can be on theshelf for sale for consumers? We
see that value-added productionis as much capital and labor
intensive it can be sometimes,it's much, much more profitable
(05:38):
than just fresh sale. The otheradvantage is you can use product
that wouldn't be intended forfresh sale and make that into a
value-added process. So thinkabout a pickle, a cucumber that
might not be pretty enough,maybe it has bad coloring, or
it's shaped in a way that peopledon't want to buy off the store
shelf. You can chop it up, makeit into relish, and then you can
sell that as relish at much,much higher price than it would
(06:00):
be as a cucumber. So reallyhelping these processors
navigate, what can they use? Howcan they use it? Helping them
with the product and processdevelopment part of it, and then
really linking them up withother Georgia resources to fill
in the gaps where we don't knowwhat we're doing, quite frankly.
So I am not an expert on writinga business plan, so I'm going to
send them to somebody who knowshow to write business plans. I
(06:22):
don't know anything aboutfinances. I'm not going to claim
to do anyone's finances. So wehave people that can help
farmers with that aspect of itas well. So really creating
those opportunities for them tothink about going into
value-added processing and thenbringing in every piece that we
have in Georgia to support thateffort.
Emily Cabrera (06:39):
It sounds like there's a lot of room for
increasing your owncollaboration across campus. And
we also know that FoodPIC, theFood Product Innovation and
Commercialization Center, isdown in Griffin, and we can link
in the show notes to FoodPIC. Doyou work with faculty and staff
in FoodPIC in connecting growersdown there?
Kaitlyn Casulli (07:00):
So we're really in the beginning stages of the
VIBE grant, but we eventuallysee that if processors have
product that they want to makeand they really want to scale up
very quickly, then that would besomething that FoodPIC would
handle for them. FoodPIC has alot of capabilities. They can do
canned foods. They can do fluidfoods, going through aseptic
processing, which is again, highheat, but very quickly heating
(07:21):
up, so you retain the quality alittle bit better than just
regular pasteurization process,where it's heating a little bit
slower. So they really have thehands on ability to bring in
some of these advancedtechnologies and the greater
processing capacity for smallerprocessors looking to take that
next step.
Jordan Powers (07:37):
That is incredible. And we did an
episode with Kevin Mis Solval,who is part of FoodPIC, as well
as the VIBE initiative. So wewill be sure to link to that
episode in the show notes,because he talks a lot about
that value-add andrevolutionizing food products,
which is, it's just fascinatingand an amazing opportunity for
Georgia's growers to increasetheir revenue and kind of
diversify what they're able tooffer, and then at the end of
(07:58):
the day for consumers, change upwhat we get to see on store
shelves, which is reallyexciting.
Kaitlyn Casulli (08:02):
I'll also throw out there that Dr. Carla Schwan,
which you mentioned she didanother interview. She's also
part of the VIBE grant. She'sgoing to help us out a lot with
connecting with the FACS side ofthings.
Sound Effect (08:12):
[chime]
Jordan Powers (08:14):
When Kaitlyn says the "FACS side of things," she's
referring to the University ofGeorgia College of Family and
Consumer Sciences, or FACS. FACSpromotes wellbeing through
science-based programs infinancial planning, housing and
consumer economics, humandevelopment and family science,
nutritional sciences and more.
Many faculty within FACS alsohave appointments within UGA
Cooperative Extension to providetraining, disseminate
(08:37):
research-based publications andlink individuals, families,
businesses and communities inGeorgia to university faculty
and resources. We'll add a linkin the show notes.
Sound Effect (08:47):
[chime]
Kaitlyn Casulli (08:49):
Where people are producing at home, and maybe
they want to take that homebased product or cottage food
and move it into manufacturedfoods and look into program
assessment and things like thatfor VIBE, so, another valuable
part of our team.
Jordan Powers (09:01):
Absolutely, look at us go. We've got the whole
VIBE inititative right here onthe podcast. I love it.
Emily Cabrera (09:08):
You mentioned processors, and it occurred to
me that a lot of times when wetalk about, like food to table,
or we talk about some productbeing grown in the field, we
kind of jump straight to theconsumer. But you've mentioned
processors. There's that middleground. There's that middle
person that takes that rawmaterial, does something with
it, and really takes a lot ofinput from the growers and from
(09:31):
the consumers to make itsomething. Can you talk a little
bit about your collaborationwith processors as well?
Kaitlyn Casulli (09:36):
Yeah, yeah. I mean, you've just defined food
science right there. It's thescience of taking the things
that we grow and getting theminto a form that the consumers
want, and a lot of times,processing is a lot of little
steps along the way. So youmight have say, wheat coming in
from the field, someone turns itinto flour, someone purchases
that flour, makes it into bread,and then maybe someone buys that
(09:57):
bread and makes sandwiches for aretail outlet, or something like
that. So processors come in allshapes and sizes, all steps
along the supply chain, but alot of the work that I've done
with processors has beenthinking about their processing
techniques. So the thermalprocess, someone gets in a bunch
of produce they want to makesalsa or barbecue sauce, how
(10:17):
long and how hot do they need toheat that up to get it to be
shelf stable? You know, not onlyin terms of does it look good
and taste good, but is it safefor consumption?
Emily Cabrera (10:27):
Well, switching from your research program in
food science to your Extensionefforts in beverages, we know
that you also focus on brewingscience. How does this tie into
your overall Extension program?
Kaitlyn Casulli (10:39):
I travel a lot around the state, and one of the
things that I like to do whenI'm traveling around is see what
breweries are around in thearea. Especially in rural
Georgia, there are not a lot ofbreweries around. Surprisingly,
some areas that I think mighthave a brewery, don't. So I
really want to try and push thiscraft beverage industry. Not
only brewing, but, you know,winemaking, kombucha, mead,
(11:01):
coffee, whatever it is, helpprocessors get into those
businesses, because craftbeverages are booming. I think
brewing is kind of a little biton the flat line, and we've seen
a lot of breweries closerecently, but there's still
people out there that want tostart breweries. So I host a
workshop each year specificallytargeting these people that want
to start a brewery, and we bringthem in for three days, and we
(11:25):
have classroom sessions, youknow, panel discussions about
taproom culture, how to selectand scale your equipment, how to
design your brew house. Reallykind of all the step by step
stuff you need, not so much onthe brewing science, more on
designing and running yourbrewing operation. And then in
the evenings, we rent out somevans and we drive people around
(11:45):
and we offer them brewery tours.
So it's really just a lot offun.
Emily Cabrera (11:48):
That is so much fun!
Kaitlyn Casulli (11:49):
Last year it was, it was just really cool
last year. We start out the dayand everybody's really quiet and
they don't want to talk to eachother, but by the time the van's
going back to the hotel, it's aparty in there. Everybody's
really bustling and networkingand enjoying each other's
company. It was just reallyrewarding to see all that. And
you know, help grow the brewingnetwork here in Georgia.
Jordan Powers (12:09):
That's incredible. Changing tunes a
little bit, earlier this year,during the double cicada
emergence, which I don't thinkany of us will soon forget, you
wrote a blog post on how toharvest, store and prepare
cicadas for eating. Which I haveto say, I was fascinated by the
emergence, not so much with theconsumption. We will link to
that blog post in the shownotes, but tell us how you got
(12:31):
interested in edible insects.
Kaitlyn Casulli (12:33):
The last cicada emergence, it was either in 2020
or 2021, and I was in Michiganat the time and driving down to
visit my parents in NorthCarolina, and I went through
West Virginia, and I campedovernight. I just remembered the
next morning walking out andseeing all these cicadas
everywhere. It was just like themost unreal thing I've ever
(12:54):
seen. I think at that point, Ihad heard of the idea of eating
insects and the cicada emergencethat was forthcoming at the
time. And one of my advisors,Don Schaffner, at Rutgers
University, had a student fromPrinceton High School in his lab
over the summer, and he wasdoing things with edible insects
as well. So I was like, "Oh,this is really cool. Let's
(13:14):
collaborate. Let's talk aboutthis." I never really got the
research program off the groundthat I wanted to do, you know,
more science around the foodsafety aspects of edible
insects, but I thought that thisdouble emergence seemed like the
perfect opportunity to spreadsome of the knowledge, some of
the literature review and someof the experiments that this
high school student had done,now an undergrad at Cornell,
just to spread that knowledge toGeorgia and really kind of catch
(13:37):
people's eye and make them thinkabout protein in a different
way. Insects contain a lot ofgreat protein, and the cicadas
were all over the place. So it'salmost like getting a free
steak, but maybe not quite,depending on how you think about
it.
Jordan Powers (13:50):
[laughter] Okay, so have you eaten cicadas?
Kaitlyn Casulli (13:53):
I have not eaten cicadas, but I did eat a
cricket granola bar one time.
Once you get past why it's socrunchy, it's it's not so bad,
like the flavor is okay. I thinkthat a lot of research and
development still needs to gointo how can we use these
insects? You know, maybe it'snot grinding them up and putting
them directly in the granolabar. Maybe it's extracting the
protein and then using thatprotein to develop new products.
Jordan Powers (14:17):
That makes sense.
I have also had a cricketprotein bar. I've also consumed
an ant lemon pound cake, whichshameless plug for Insectival,
we can link to that in the shownotes, but some of our experts
are at that amazing annual eventand the Botanical Garden, and
there's an array of differentinsect snacks you can try. And I
have to say, if I didn't lookdown and see the ants, I would
think I was eating a lemon poppyseed something. And then you
(14:37):
look down and there's legs, andyou have to look away quickly.
But it's a lot of fun.
Emily Cabrera (14:43):
So is there such a thing as a typical day for
you, and what does that looklike?
Kaitlyn Casulli (14:48):
First of all, no [laughter]. A lot of things
that I do on a day-to-day basisare these process approvals,
where I was talking abouthelping the processor figure out
how long and how hot, and thenissuing a letter to them,
describing their process andhelping them understand which
regulations they have to complywith. Food processing in
general, is a lot ofregulations. That's a lot of
(15:08):
what I deal with. But anotherday could look like sitting at
my desk writing a manuscript,writing a proposal, kind of the
boring stuff, but really what Ilove is going out and meeting
people. Being in the industry.
You know, last week, I went outand met with a farmer down in
LaGrange area, and that was justa lot of fun, you know, going to
see his property, see thefacility that he wants to use
for producing food, and justmaking that personal connection
(15:31):
and having a conversation.
Jordan Powers (15:34):
It all just goes back to being such an incredible
resource for the growers and theprocessors in the state. We also
know that you're involved in theFlavor of Georgia food product
competition. We did a wonderfulepisode with Laurel Dunn on
that, so we will link to that inthe show notes as well. So I
think it was fascinating to hearthat your interest in food
science kicked off in highschool. I don't think many
people can say that they'redoing what they wanted to do
(15:56):
when they were a kid, but hereyou are doing it. So for those
people who may be in high schoolor may be even in undergrad,
saying, "What do I want to bewhen I grow up?" Why should
somebody study food science andtechnology?
Kaitlyn Casulli (16:07):
Kind of the reason I got into it is it's
very hands on. You get to seewhat you're doing. So my journey
in food science started out in afood micro lab where I was
doing, like, a lot of DNAextraction and stuff like that.
It just really did not spark myinterest because I couldn't see
DNA, you know, you can't seewhat's going on, so you really
don't know whether it'ssuccessful or not. But if you're
making a food product, if you'remaking it on a large scale, and
(16:29):
you're processing it, you cansee what it looks like going in,
and then you see what it lookslike coming out. And that, to
me, is just very rewarding and acool thing to see. I'll also
say, you know, try a bunch ofthings. Find out where maybe
your interest would lie, but thefood industry is a great place
to be, no matter what you do, ifyou want to go into chemistry,
processing, microbiology, oreven sales, marketing,
(16:53):
communications, all of thesethings come together to make the
food industry. So no matter whatyour interest is, you can find a
place in the food industry.
Emily Cabrera (17:02):
Yeah, it's something that touches all of
our lives every day, all day.
Kaitlyn Casulli (17:05):
Yeah. And you can't just make a good food
product and expect it to besuccessful. You have to have
someone marketing it. You haveto have someone creating the ads
and the commercials to push itout there into the world. So
yes, it's just endlessopportunity.
Jordan Powers (17:18):
That's inspiring.
Well, Kaitlyn, thank you fortaking the time to come in
today. We know that your daysvary immensely, whether you're
in the office, in the lab, outwith a grower or a processor,
but we appreciate you carving alittle bit of time out to come
on the podcast today. So thanksso much.
Kaitlyn Casulli (17:33):
It was a pleasure to be here. I'm happy
to share my experiences, andjust glad to be in food science
and have the opportunity to dothe things that I always wanted
to do.
Jordan Powers (17:43):
It's inspiring for sure.
Sound Effect (17:45):
[music]
Jordan Powers (17:46):
Thanks for listening to Cultivating
Curiosity, a podcast produced bythe UGA College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences. Aspecial thanks to Mason
McClintock for our music andsound effects. Find more
episodes wherever you get yourpodcasts.
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