Just the thought makes your mouth water. But is there more to Mexican food than the typical Mexican food served
in America?
According to a select group of Oklahoma State University faculty and 10 nontraditional students from Durango, Mexico, there is definitely more to Mexican food than what most Americans first visualize.
“There is no such thing as Mexican food because of the cultural differences within Mexico,” said Derrell Peel, professor of agricultural economics. “Mexico has a tremendous diversity of food with a tremendous amount of untapped potential of new food and new cuisine Americans have yet to discover.”
The students from Durango were at OSU to learn about American manufacturing and refining processes, as well
as to learn about America’s food industry and culture. The ultimate goal is for the state of Durango to build a facility closely modeled after OSU’s Food and Agricultural Products Research and Technology Center, said David Henneberry, assistant dean of CASNR’s Agricultural International Programs.
“The state of Durango hasn’t received the funding to break ground yet, but it did have students at OSU learning how to staff the facility.”
A problem for Mexico is that its processed food industry is not as developed as it is in the United States or other countries. Because of this, Mexico has to import large quantities of processed food.
“The United States floods the Mexican market with American products,” said Henneberry. “This has caused much concern in Mexico, as the government is concerned that Mexican companies will not be able to compete.”
The students were on campus to learn as much as possible about America’s food industry and specifications to allow them to export Mexican products that meet American standards.
Henneberry said Durango’s Gov. Lic Angel Sergio Guerrero Mier feels that if they had their own food and agricultural products research and technology center, they could produce a better product and export to the United States and other countries.
According to the Food and Agricultural Products Research and Technology Center, or FAPC, Web site, OSU is one of 12 land-grant university food science/food processing center resources in the southern region.
OSU’s FAPC is unique as it is the only food research and technology center in the nation.
OSU was chosen by Durango because of what it had to offer, but it also wanted to establish a working relationship with a state other than Texas, said Henneberry.
Another reason the Durango Department of Agriculture chose OSU is because Durango’s secretary of agriculture felt OSU offered the best program and model for what it wanted to accomplish in its state, said Jose Vidales, student in dairy cattle and dairy products.
Not only did faculty members serve as advisers to the 10 students, but they also involved the students in activities that would benefit them in their pursuit of knowledge during their brief stay in Oklahoma.
In addition to Henneberry and Peel, four other faculty served as advisers: Christina DeWitt, assistant professor of animal science; Kathleen Kelsey, assistant professor of agricultural education; Mike Schnelle, professor of horticulture and landscape architecture; and Shida Henneberry, professor of agricultural economics.
Students in CASNR helped the Mexican students in daily activities, ranging from grocery shopping to doing laundry.
The program was funded entirely by the state of Durango, and OSU was reimbursed for its participation. All the students are employees of Durango’s Department of Agriculture, which paid their living expenses, as well as the students’ salaries.
“As it is a new and relatively different program, the Durango government must sell the program politically,” said Peel. “This is hard for us to realize.”
In addition to Vidales, students of the program included Fransisco Meraz and Juan Cossio, beef cattle; Rene Cuevas, dairy cattle and dairy products; Rafael Martinez and Gregorio Aguirre, organic agriculture; Juan Garcia, horticulture; Miriam Velasco, food safety; Alma Perez, international trade; and Monica Galindo, agricultural communications.
The students from Mexico were viewed more as colleagues than students because their average age is 32.
“It is a professional relationship,” said Peel. “It is not just a one-way flow. OSU gets something back with professional relationships.”
The students were not enrolled in classes while at OSU.
“A unique aspect of the program is the students do not receive credit or a grade for any of the classes they attend,” said Peel. “They are here strictly for the knowledge and are auditing all of their classes.”
Peel was a natural candidate to serve as an adviser to two of the Mexican students. He has worked on
researching the Mexican beef industry for more than 10 years and recently returned from a year’s sabbatical
in Chihuahua.
“I was an ideal fit,” said Peel. “This gave me a chance to work closely and consistently with things I was already doing.”
The students from Mexico were at OSU for one academic year and were not officially admitted to OSU as students. Because they were not official students, they were not required to pass an English proficiency test.
“We are fighting that battle,” said Henneberry. “The program may have gone faster if they had better English.”
Because Peel is fluent in Spanish, his experience with his students has been smoother than some of the other faculty members.
“It is much easier for me in the training process because of my Spanish-speaking ability,” said Peel. “Their lack of English skills was not a hindrance in my process; it actually allowed me to use my Spanish more.”
This was the first year of the program, and it is still unknown if more students will come to OSU to learn or if faculty and staff from OSU will travel to Durango. The students arrived in August 2002 and returned to Mexico in May 2003.
“It is similar to an exchange program,” said Vidales. “We are here at OSU specifically to learn about marketing processes, specification processes and certification licensing to allow us to export products in the future. We are also here to gain general and technical knowledge, as well as to get experience and to learn new processing techniques.”
For Mexico to export products to the United States, it needs to meet the standards American companies also must follow.
The relationship between OSU and Durango will be a long-term agreement and is the first step to building a food and research technology center in Mexico.
“In the future, we plan to have more students come to OSU and have people from OSU come to Durango to observe and learn,” said Vidales.
Mexico represents the fastest growing food market in North America.
“The marketing of Mexican and American products can complement each other,” said Vidales. “We want to be able to export vegetables, meat products and processed food products in the future.”
According to Agriculture Law News, in 2002 Mexico surpassed Japan as the number one destination for U.S. meat exports of beef and beef variety meats.
“This is not about American agriculture competing with Mexican agriculture,” said Peel. “By working together with Mexico, we learn about each other and that will open more trade between our countries.”
Developing a Mexican equivalent of OSU’s Food and Agricultural Products Research and Technology Center will allow Durango to market internationally and nationally.
Mexico could then provide products that America cannot produce as well, said Peel.
Thanks to OSU, this goal may soon become a reality.
So the next time you picture authentic Mexican food, don’t just visualize enchiladas and fajitas. Instead, picture organic cantaloupes and avocados, frijoles, salsa and Mexican processed meats.