By By Penny Randall / staff writer
Aug. 21, 2002
Evelyn Acklin knows food. The newest member of the Mississippi State University Extension Service in Meridian specializes in nutrition and food safety.
The MSU Extension Service recently reorganized its offices. In the process, Acklin, the former Extension Home Economist and 4-H youth agent of Clarke County, was reassigned.
Acklin will be based in Meridian and will work in Lauderdale, Clarke, Jones, Jasper, Kemper, Neshoba, Covington, Jefferson Davis and Wayne counties supervising and directing the expanded Foods and Nutrition Program.
Acklin has a bachelor's degree in home economics from Alcorn State University and a master's degree in agriculture and extension education from Mississippi State University.
She is a licensed dietitian and a former Women Infant and Children nutritionist.
One of Acklin's responsibilities will be to teach the ServSafe program. Since 1997, all restaurants in Mississippi have been required to have at least one person on staff who is ServSafe certified.
Acklin volunteers with United Way, the American Cancer Society and Habitat for Humanity. She is a member of the Optimist Club in Clarke County, the Mississippi Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Mississippi Association of Extension Home Economists, the National Association of Family and Consumer Science, the Meridian chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and the Partnership for a Healthy America in Clarke and Wayne counties.
Acklin lives in Toomsuba and has two children. She is a member of Little Hope Baptist Church, where she is director of the youth ministry.
DID YOU KNOW?
The next ServSafe Course is Sept. 5 and Sept. 13 at the MSU Extension Office at the Raymond P. Davis Courthouse Annex, 410 Constitution Ave. To get a ServSafe certificate, participants must complete 16 hours of training and pass a nationally standardized test. The certification belongs to the individual, not the restaurant, and is valid for five years. For information, call 482-9764.