When it comes to agri-food leadership in Ontario, Niagara College Culinary Innovation professor, Amy Proulx, PhD, is the cream of the crop.
Proulx (of Fenwick, Ontario) was awarded an Honorable Mention in Education Excellence at the 2024 Excellence in Agriculture Awards. The event, held on November 2 at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, recognized 13 winners and 16 honorable mentions in agriculture excellence across 11 diverse categories.
“Through her work at Niagara College, Dr. Proulx is inspiring our next generation of agri-food leaders and supporting the development and commercialization of new food products,” said Rob Flack, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. “It was a pleasure to recognize her many accomplishments through the Excellence in Agriculture Awards program. Leaders like Dr. Proulx are a critical driving force behind our nearly $51 billion agri-food sector.
Proulx is a Professor and Program Coordinator for NC’s Culinary Innovation and Food Technology (Co-op) program. She also brings her food science expertise to the College’s Research & Innovation division, as a Technical Research Leader for the Food & Beverage Innovation Centre.
“I’m delighted to be recognized by Minister Flack for my work in agrifood systems education in Ontario and around the world,” said Proulx. “Careers in agriculture and food manufacturing are essential for Ontario’s success as an agrifood industry powerhouse, and essential to all countries for their sustainable development.”
Since joining NC more than 13 years ago, Proulx has been an active advocate for agrifood education. In addition to her work at the College, she has been a progressive voice for almost a decade on Food Processing Skills Canada’s board of directors and has been involved with on a number of national-scale agrifood education projects.
“When I joined Niagara College, I made a public commitment to advocate for skills development and capacity building through high quality programming both within our college programs, as well as through our strong partnerships,” said Proulx. “I’ve been very fortunate to be supported wholeheartedly by Niagara College in this work because of our community vision for a successful and sustainable agrifood system. It’s been a privilege to travel the world developing pathways of learning success for our youth in agrifood careers.”
Maija Saari, Associate Dean of NC’s School of Culinary Arts, who supported Proulx’s nomination, applauded the news of her recognition at the Excellence in Agriculture Awards.
“Amy’s dedication to food science education globally is well-deserving of this prestigious provincial honour. While I know her counsel and contributions are highly valued within her professional field, I count myself very fortunate to have her on our NC faculty team,” said Saari. “Amy’s creative thinking, collaborative approach and boundless energy is deeply valued as a key contributor as we collectively strive to better integrate principles of science and safety within all of our food and beverage programs.”
Proulx has been involved with global food industry development through NC’s Global Education and Training projects in Jamaica and Vietnam. She has been an advocate for improved education and training for youth through her volunteer work with 4-H Canada, the Canadian Institute of Food Science and Technology, the UN World Food Forum, and FoodGrads.
She was also recognized her tireless advocacy for small business in food and beverage, her award-winning Focus on Food Safety column for Food in Canada magazine, and her contributions to a recruitment and retention program with CareersNow! for workers in the food and beverage manufacturing sector.
View the Government of Ontario’s 2024 Excellence in Agriculture Awards news release here.
Niagara College has a full-time enrolment of more than 10,000 students from over 95 countries, who study in 130 diploma, certificate and bachelor degree programs at specialized campuses in Welland and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Niagara College is also involved in educational projects and partnerships around the world and is consistently ranked among Canada’s top 10 colleges for research funding. Learn more at niagaracollege.ca.
Photo:
Amy Proulx is recognized with an Honorable Mention in Education Excellence by Minister of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness Rob Flack (right), and Member of Provincial Parliament for Lanark – Frontenac – Kingston, and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of OMAFA, John Jordan (left).
NC faculty bio at niagaracollege.ca/culinaryarts/staff/.
