FROM START TO FINISH: FRESNO STATE’S FOOD LAB

Among the acres of crops and the barns full of animals sits a small lab at the Fresno State Farm. Here, students are getting a hands-on approach to making some of the Valley’s favorite treats.

Instructional technician and Fresno State alum, Julia Gentry, is leading a group of students through the process of getting valley-grown ingredients to products that are sold at the Gibson Farm Market.  This semester students are working with just three ingredients: cranberries, orange juice and sugar, mixed to make cranberry sauce for the holiday season.

“We’re not going to be your average Smucker’s jar of jam, we’re making a higher quality of a product,” Gentry said.

With so many empty jars stacked in the lab, Gentry employs culinology students like Sammy Vang to get the job done. “My family, they’re not really ‘food’ people. So — I get to brag, ‘I made those in the market’,” she said.

The jars make a short trip up the road to the Gibson Farm Market where they’re showcased to the entire community. Farm Market Manager Jeremy Lewis is glad to have his student employees continue to play a role in the promotion of the many farm products that leave the lab.

“It’s a really great life cycle for these products and it’s great for the students to be able to see it happen from start to finish,” Lewis said.