The Scholar: Tyler Yunes
The Project: You Are What You Eat: A Comforting Solution to Food Insecurity
The Essential Question: “My project focuses on creating shelf-stable, highly nutritional packaged meals, akin to a MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). Beyond identifying and calculating important nutrients within a meal, my project emphasized the cuisine of the packaged meal, aiming to create regionally tailored meals that are both nutritional and comforting. To make the project more feasible, I narrowed my area of research to the island nation of Haiti. After conducting a case study on the country, and creating a menu that balanced nutrition, shelf-stability, low price points, and Haitian cuisine, I formed the theoretical company that would distribute these packages of food: Firefly Kitchen.“
Surprising Discovery: “One surprising discovery I made was the lack of information on preserving retort pouches (the flexible bags that MREs are stored in). While looking through medical journals and research papers, I found shockingly little information, only finding that pressure canning was the preferred method. But the proper times and temperatures were nowhere to be found.“
Biggest Challenge: “The biggest challenge during my research arose due to the lack of information on pressure canning retort pouches: determining the correct time and temperature. Although a few research papers offered vague suggestions on what pressure would be the best, I ultimately resorted to using the Canadian Health Guidelines on Botulism for help (botulism comes from a bacteria in vacuumed sealed foods, resulting in muscle paralysis when eaten). I used the suggested time and pressure to kill the botulinum bacteria within the guidelines, although I cannot be one hundred percent certain all of the bacteria has been killed off. So, the next biggest challenge would be testing for botulinum.“
Tip for future scholars: “If you can, research a topic that is not offered at Williston already. Scholars is an amazing opportunity to investigate different or niche topics that are otherwise inaccessible through regular Williston classes. If you are lucky, just like I was, scholars will help you determine what you may like to study in college. Science Scholars gave me a chance to study food science, my now intended major that I had been unable to formally research before taking the class. When deciding your topic and essential question, don’t stick to an area that is easy or familiar; branch out and try something new. Who knows, you may end up discovering a subject you love so much that you want to major in it, just like I did.“
