The story of food: past and future practices

For the science café of February 19^th, the story of food will be presented, going from the Romans to what is current practice, and what is needed for a sustainable future. Two experts will share their insights with us.

Guido Sala’s talk, will cover the most important changes in approaches to food and food production over the past two millennia. The main emphasis will be on the role of knowledge and science in what our ancestors produced and ate. Today’s challenges will also be discussed, and some ‘philosophical’ reflections for our daily lives will not be missing: to what extent are we free in our food choices?

Karin Schroën will focus on what is needed for a more sustainable food future. She will start an overview of the impacts that food production has on the world we live in. She will touch upon water and energy usage, protein efficiency, and prevention of food waste. The main focus will be on the protein transition. Is it really as easy as it sounds, replacing animal based proteins with alternative ones?

You have to come and listen in if you want to hear the answers to these question. We are expecting you from 20:00 onward in Loburg, for good talks, music, and discussions.

Guido Sala obtained a PhD in 2007 from the chair of Physical Chemistry and Colloid Science of Wageningen University and one in 2023 from the Institute for History of Leiden University. He has worked in food industry and research institutes. Since 2010 he is a lecturer at Physics and Physical Chemistry of Foods of Wageningen University, where he specialises in characterization and engineering of the texture of food products.

Karin Schroën obtained her PhD degree at the food process engineering group of Wageningen University. She is a professor in food microtechnology, and addresses both functional properties of food ingredients, and innovative separation methods to obtain these ingredients at low energy usage. Besides, she works on novel packaging materials. She also represents Wageningen in the National Council for Technical Sciences.