Jerome Lyman, vice president of global quality systems for McDonalds, spoke to students in a public lecture today in the Lowder Business building.
The lecture was part of the E.T. York Lecture Series.
Lyman, a Chicago native, opened his lecture by thanking students for welcoming him to "SEC country."
Lyman said he was not here to talk about McDonalds, but to discuss how international corporations deal with the challenges in areas of food chains, agriculture, economics and consumer health.
Lyman discussed with students the effect that the human element has on natural resources.
"The American farmer is the greatest steward of the environment," Lyman said. "In fact, they're the first stewards of the environment, but they never get credit for it."
Lyman said it is important to be honest with consumers and to not give them "corporate talk" in an effort to answer their questions."
"Everyone has a right to know what is in their food and how it was made," Lyman said.
Lyman said it is important to put the "human story" into explanations to consumers.
Sara Rains, a junior majoring in nutrition and horticulture, said she sees big food corporations in a different way now.
"Now I understand how consumers are affecting corporations from an executive perspective," Rains said.
Paul Patterson, associate dean of instruction, said the faculty wanted students to get to hear how corporations view their consumers.
'We thought it would be great to learn Corporate America's views on our food systems," Patterson said.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
