4-6 FB Food Econ.

 Northwest food processing businesses hold their own during recession.

 THE NORTHWEST'S FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY weathered the worst of the recent recession in better shape than many industry sectors, according to Barry Swanson, Regence Professor in the School of Food

Science operated jointly by the University of Idaho and Washington State University.“The food industry is holding its own. There’s no recession with respect to the food industry, I don’t believe. To what do you attribute that success, that everybody has to eat? I think everybody has to eat and the quality of the industry and the production quality of the food that is being made in the Northwest is beyond expectations. It’s meeting the expectations of the consumers and so there is a continual amount of what should we say, sales of products produced in the Pacific Northwest.”

 The recession also helped underscore the importance of a strong agriculture and food industry in both states. “It's huge. Idaho, in particular, is focusing back on some of its core businesses, which include agriculture and food processing,” Smith said.

 There are a combined faculty of 25 scientists. The UI-WSU food science program ranks among the nation's Top 10, and nearly all graduates have found good jobs in recent years.