One of the best ways to solidify the new strategies you learn is to apply them and teach them.

Basem Boutros is a CFSEC2017 scholarship student who explains how he applied his new learning from the conference to a story in his life and made his new learning permanent.

 Basem sent us his story:

The 2017 Consumer Food Safety Education Conference drew to my attention to several aspects that contribute to food safety behavior.  In this brief story, I see that I experienced a goal of food safety behavior change, self-regulation, without even realizing it!

Self-regulation refers to controlling oneself through self-monitoring.

In the past, I worked in a restaurant as prep cook/line cook and there were food safety standards in place that we all, as a back-of-the-house staff, were committed to.

Much of my job required the preparation and handling of raw chicken. One time, while I was preparing to put chicken wings in the mixing bowl to bread them, I checked the box and found that the wings were slimy and emitted an obnoxious smell.

I let the chef know and he recommended disposing of them. I felt like if it had not been for the pre-check I did, as a result of self-monitoring,  many people may have gotten sick!

That’s my learning story.

Go BAC Fighters!

Basem Boutros is specializing in food safety as a PhD student in Hospitality Management at Kansas State University.