Sweet Corn Day Attracts Record Number of Visitors

Family fun at the Sweet Corn Day

Every year as Lebanese farmers eagerly await their annual harvest, the AUB community looks forward to the tasty, tender, and delectable arrival of sweet corn, one of Lebanon's most popular vegetables. More than fifty years ago, corn was inedible in Lebanon, because of its hard texture and sour flavor; it was only used to feed animals, and sweet corn was not introduced to Lebanon until 1955.

But now, every August hundreds of AUBites and their families visit AUB's Agricultural Research and Education Center (AREC) in the Beka'a Valley to spend the day savoring the sweet corn and enjoying an afternoon loaded with activities. This year on August 24, in a Sweet Corn Day organized by the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences (FAFS) in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture Alumni Chapter, AUB President Peter F. Dorman and his wife Kathryn made the trip and were given a tour of the farm by FAFS Dean Nahla Hwalla and Professor Rami Zurayk.

"Sweet Corn Day is an annual event that FAFS organizes to provide its alumni and the AUB community at large with an environment that is fun for families, and is a good place to meet old friends and make new ones. This event is also an opportunity for our alumni to network professionally." said Hwalla.

After having markuk bread on saj for breakfast, the visitors took trips of the AREC facilities on trucks, while the children enjoyed camel and horse rides. Tanmia, one of the main sponsors of the event, distributed lunch boxes of chicken and potatoes produced at AREC. There were cakes for desert, as well as a bountiful supply of corn, apples, salads, and drinks. Booths selling AREC produce were open all day for the sale of organic vegetables, honey, poultry, and creamery produce.

Kassem Jouni, an AUB graduate student specializing in irrigation, enjoyed attending and helping out at the event in many ways. "It was important for me to meet agriculture graduates and students with whom we could share work and career experiences. Thanks to this venue, I connected with many FAFS graduates with whom I discussed numerous job possibilities," said Jouni.

AREC, whose manager currently is Nicolas Haddad, is located at Haush-Sneid in the Beka'a Valley, 80 km away from Beirut, 25 km northeast of Zahle and 14 km southwest of Baalbeck. It includes a research farm, an agricultural library, a clinic, several staff resident houses, student dormitories, classrooms, laboratories, a weather station, and recreational and sport facilities.