The IFST Eastern Branch were invited to join in the Ely Cathedral inaugural Ely Science Festival in May 2017. This was agreed to be a good platform for the branch educational ‘reach out’ strategy. The activities took place over two very well attended ‘night at the Cathedral’ events in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
The branch enthusiasm was more than matched by the many visitors, with hands on fun and discussion on subjects which included ‘future foods’ and ‘food rheology’ as the main themes. Applying the science of non-Newtonian slime, and tasting of edible insect proved particularly engaging. IFST members on the base (Steve Timms, Julian Cooper and Conan Fryer) were particularly keen to report the enthusiastic numbers of young people taking part, showing great interest in hands on food science and technology. There were also large number of school teachers at the events who took away IFST experiment cards and contact information. A great, fun and messy time, and a probable repeat event for the diary.
Conan Fryer