IFT First to feature opening debate titled: “Should we eat more processed foods?”

Photo © iStockphoto.com/monkeybusinessimages

IFT First, whose theme is “Hacking the Food Supply: Can We Synthesize a More Sustainable Future,” will kick off the event with a debate on the controversial topic of processed food. Many consumers avoid processed food because of health and environmental reasons, but processed foods are relied on by some communities because of their affordability and shelf life. The debate, moderated by the ABC correspondent John Donvan, will include a number of panelists arguing about the merits or lack thereof of processed food and whether or not consumers should eat more of it. Panelists include:

• Marion Nestle - Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Emerita at New York University
  • Marion is a professor and award-winning author publishing several books including The Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat. She is also a James Beard award-winner.
• Dr. Carlos Augusto Monteiro - Professor of Nutrition and Public Health at University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • In addition to publishing numerous books and more than 100 articles in scientific journals, Dr. Monteiro is most notably known for creating the NOVA classification system which groups foods based on their level of processing from when they were separated from nature. He is a current member of the WHO Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group and the scientific advisory committee of the International Obesity Task Force.
• Amy Webb - CEO of Future Today Institute and Author of "The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology"
  • Amy is a professor and best-selling author, regularly contributing to publications such as Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, New York Times, Wired, Fortune, and others. She was honored as one of the BBC’s 100 Women of 2020 and is ranked on the Thinkers50 list of the 50 most influential management thinkers globally.

IFT First is taking place July 10-13 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. More information on the debate and IFT First can be found here.