Science and technology served on the table

The “Food for the Future” conference will discuss strategies and solutions to this challenge. The event takes place on Wednesday, 9, in Lisbon.

This Wednesday, the 9th Food in the Future conference brings together scientists and entrepreneurs at Aula Magna, Lisbon, to discuss strategies that ensure food for a rapidly growing world population. Experts say science and technology are already developing solutions to respond to the challenge.

Pedro Graca, Director of the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto, will address issues related to protein production and its importance to the human body. “We may, in the future, have a supply of protein that is not the one we traditionally consume,” he highlights, for example with insect-based flour already being produced in Portugal. It will be increasingly important to “reconcile food with the need to respond to climate change,” says the program’s scientific coordinator and professor at the Polytechnic Institute, Thiago Domingos. This reconciliation will force us to find more sustainable forms of agriculture, which is one of the topics highlighted at this event.

Reducing the negative impact on the environment will be the focus of the discussion “Producing Beef with a Lower Impact on the Environment: Green Beef”, moderated by DN Director Rosalia Amorim. The conversation will feature examples from Best Farmer, represented by José Fraga, and Terraprima, in the words of Nuno Rodrigues, to which will be added the academic perspective of Rui Bessa, of the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Pedro Graca predicts: “We will look for solutions without any fear, whether that means producing meat in a new way or that we have to replace meat.” The role of legumes in the food industry will also be the focus of the intervention of researcher Marta Vasconcelos, from the Higher School of Biotechnology, who will show how science is improving their production.

Adaptation, innovation and sustainability will be recurring words during the event, organized by the Jerónimo Martins Group, which will be telecast from 9:30 am. Registration is free and can be done at www.alimentacaonofuturo.pt.