Communication Practices in Engineering, Manufacturing, and Research for Food and Water Safety

DAVID WRIGHT is an Associate Professor of Technical Communication in the Department of English and Technical Communication at Missouri University of Science and Technology, USA. Dr. Wright is a member of the IEEE Professional Communication Society and the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. He earned his PhD in Philosophy, Technical Communication, and MS in Higher Education Administration, at Oklahoma State University.

• A Note From the Series Editor ixPreface xiList of Contributors xiiiAcknowledgments xv1 Cowboys and Computers: Communicating National Animal Identification in the Beef Industry 1David Wright1.1 Industries Collide 11.1.1 Resistance to Technology in the Beef Industry 31.1.2 Having a Cow over Mad Cow Disease 31.1.3 Change Is Slow in the Beef Industry 61.1.4 Communication Breakdowns and Coffee Shop Policymaking 71.1.5 Can We All Just Get Along? 91.1.6 USDA Strategies for Communication 101.2 A New Approach to Studying Complex Communication Issues 111.2.1 Ethnography and Diffusion in the Beef Supply Chain 131.2.2 Communication Theory Linguistics and Diffusion in the Beef Supply Chain 161.2.3 Linguistic Textual Analysis 191.2.4 Diffusing Innovations in the Real World 231.2.5 Diffusion and Communication Networks 241.3 Results of My Investigation 251.3.1 Alice at the Auction 261.3.2 Backstage at the Sale Barn 271.3.3 Buying the NAIS 291.3.4 Down on the Farm 301.3.5 Interviews with Members of the Beef Industry 321.3.6 Interviews with Livestock Market Owners 331.3.7 Rules from the Road 381.3.8 Communication Gaps and Communication Theory 401.3.9 Textual Analysis with Implicature and Pragmatics 481.4 Lessons of Beef and Bandwidth 491.4.1 No Pardon for Jargon 511.4.2 Alice Is Not in Wonderland 521.4.3 The Telephone Game Still Happens 531.4.4 It All Comes Down to Doin’ Business 541.4.5 What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate 561.4.6 Culture Is King 581.4.7 The Situation Now 59References 602 Children Communicating Food Safety/Teaching Technical Communication to Children: Opportunities Gleaned from the FIRST ® LEGO ® League 2011 Food Factor Challenge 63Edward A. Malone and Havva Tezcan-Malone2.1 Enhancing the Visibility and Recognition of Technical Communication 632.2 Literature Review: Teaching Technical Communication Engineering and Food Safety to Children 652.3 Background: The League the Challenge and the Team 672.3.1 First Lego League 672.3.2 The Food Factor Challenge 692.3.3 The Team: Global Dreamers 702.4 Examples of Technical Communication Activities in FLL Projects 712.4.1 Branding (Creating a Name and Logo) 722.4.2 Conducting Primary and Secondary Research 722.4.3 Giving Presentations and Demonstrations 742.4.4 Designing a Document 772.5 The Food Factor Challenge as a Model of Food-Safety Education 772.5.1 Fostering Food-Safety Habits in Children 782.5.2 Promoting Dialogue Rather Than Monologue 792.5.3 Generating Interest in Food-Safety Careers 792.6 Conclusion 80Acknowledgments 81References 813 The Role of Public (Mis)perceptions in the Acceptance of New Food Technologies: Implications for Food Nanotechnology Applications 89Mary L. Nucci and William K. Hallman3.1 Accepting New Foods: Consumers Technology and Media 893.1.1 Food Technology Acceptance 903.1.2 The Role of the Media in Public Perceptions of Food Technologies 923.2 Nanotechnology: Unseen Unknown 953.2.1 Nanotechnology in the Media 963.2.2 Public Perceptions of Nanotechnology 963.2.3 Perceptions and Acceptance of Nanotechnology 973.3 Discussing New Food Technologies 101Acknowledgments 103References 1034 The New Limeco Story: How One Produce Company Used Third-Party Food Safety Audit Scores to Improve Its Operation 119Roy E. Costa4.1 Food Safety in Modern Food Supply Operations 1194.2 Safety Audits Cause Some Level of Controversy 1224.3 New Limeco’s Journey to Safety 1224.3.1 Implementing Changes 1244.3.2 Sanitation Issues 1254.3.3 Gradual Safety Improvement 125References 1265 Communication Practices by Way of Permits and Policy: Do Environmental Regulations Promote Sustainability in the Real World? 129Becca Cammack5.1 Communication in the Modern Environmental Movement 1295.2 Background 1305.2.1 Who Is on the Receiving End of Environmental Regulation? 1315.2.2 What Are the Effects of Construction and Storm Water on the Environment? 1315.3 Studying Groundwater Regulation 1335.3.1 Textual Analysis 1335.3.2 Case Study 1345.4 Results of My Investigation 1345.4.1 The CGP Fact Sheet Background Section 1355.4.2 The CGP Rationale Section 1365.4.3 Construction General Permit (CGP) 1365.4.4 A Targeted Case Study of CGP 1375.5 Discussion of Study Results 142References 1446 Influences of Technical Documentation and Its Translation on Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction 145Elena Sperandio6.1 Considering Technical Documentation 1456.1.1 The Problem with Integrating Systems 1466.1.2 Enterprise Resource Planning Systems 1476.1.3 Production Information Management Systems 1486.1.4 Document Management Systems/Content Management Systems 1486.1.5 Translation Memory Systems/Computer-Aided Translation 1496.2 Data Management in Technical Communication 1506.2.1 Development and Diffusion of Data Management Tools 1506.3 Technical Communication in Small Companies 1536.3.1 Workflow Advantages in Small Companies 1536.3.2 Workflow Disadvantages in Small Companies 1546.4 Technical Communication in Medium-Sized Companies 1546.4.1 Workflow Advantages in Medium-Sized Companies 1556.4.2 Workflow Disadvantages in Medium-Sized Companies 1566.5 Technical Communication in Large Companies 1566.5.1 Workflow Advantages in Large Companies 1586.5.2 Workflow Disadvantages in Large Companies 1596.6 Translation of Technical Information 1596.6.1 Translations in Small Companies 1606.6.2 Translations in Medium-Sized Companies 1626.6.3 Translations in Large Companies 1636.7 Consequences for Technical Communication 1656.8 Assumptions About Technical Communication 1666.9 Outlook 168References 1697 Communicating Food Through Muckraking: Ethics Food Engineering and Culinary Realism 171Kathryn C. Dolan7.1 Muckraking and Promoting Food Safety 1727.2 Culinary Realism and Food Safety 1737.2.1 Tubercular Beef in The Jungle 1747.3 High Fructose Corn Syrup in The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food 1797.4 Literature as a Watchdog in Food Safety 1847.5 The Effects of Literature on Everyday Practices 186References 186Index 189