A visit to Café Scientifique
At a recent Café Scientifique, presented by Life Science Zurich, WFSC Executive Director Dr. Martijn Sonnevelt spoke about “Feeding the world in 2050.”
A Café Scientifique is a forum, where for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, anyone can participate in the discussion of current scientific issues in the relaxing, informal setup of a café. At the first Café Scientifique presented by the external page Life Science Zurich, WFSC Executive Director Dr. Martijn Sonnevelt spoke about the topic “Feeding the world in 2050.”
Talk synopsis: The question of how to feed the world in a way that ensures human health, environmental sustainability and social wellbeing is one of the defining and most complex global challenges of our time. In the coming decades, our food system will face unprecedented challenges in its ability to feed and nourish the world. Today, there are over 815 million hungry people on the planet and billions more suffering from a phenomenon called ‘hidden hunger,’ which results from a chronic lack of access to sufficient nutrients and vitamins. At the same time, the rates of overweight and obese people are increasing leading to severe consequences for human health. The environmental basis for food and agricultural production is facing unprecedented strain from phenomena such as climate change, resource constraints, emerging pests and pathogens, and deterioration of soil quality. In his talk, Dr. Martijn Sonnevelt will provide some insights on the interrelations of one of the most pressing, complex, and defining challenges of our time.
At the forum on 02 October, Martijn introduced the question of how to feed the world in a way that ensures human health, environmental sustainability, and social well-being as one of the defining and most complex global challenges of our time. He highlighted the importance of looking at the challenges from a systems perspective; there is no single challenge and so neither is there a single, simple solution.
Martijn found the format provided a nice experience to discuss the issue in a friendly, informal setting and to have the opportunity to chat about different aspects.
The WFSC thanks the Life Science Zurich for the invitation!
More about the series: external page https://www.lifescience-zurichevents.uzh.ch/en/activities/Cafe-Scientifique.html
