The critical role of food science and technology innovation meeting the needs of a booming global population will be explored at a symposium celebrating 50 years of food technology education at Massey University on June 30.
Massey became New Zealand’s first university to offer a Bachelor of Food Technology in 1964, and will recognise the historic impact of those five decades of innovation, and look to the future, when alumni, lecturers and industry leaders gather on the Manawat? campus to hear presentations on the latest thinking and trends.
Head of Massey University’s Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health Professor Richard Archer will be speaking about a future where 3D printers could be commonplace in kitchens, and more ready-to-eat factory-prepared processed meals are shipped around the world.
“The single biggest driver in the future is population. There will be billions more people on the planet in a generation or two, and they will largely be living in cities so their food will need to preserved and transported to them -it will be processed,” says Professor Archer.
President of the Institute of Food Technologists, senior DuPont manager Janet Collins, will bring an international perspective on the challenges the world faces in feeding an expected world population of 9 billion in 2050, speaking on the past, present and future of food technology.
The United States-based Institute of Food Technologists is a scientific society with 22,000 members from more than 100 countries working in food science, food technology, government and academia. The institute exists “to advance the science of food and ensure a safe and abundant food supply contributing to healthier people everywhere.”
Massey University Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey will open the symposium and provide an update on the FoodHQ research collaboration that aims to boost New Zealand’s annual food exports to $60 billion by 2025. The ten members of the FoodHQ family are located within a one-kilometre radius around a super campus in Palmerston North, designed to offer global customers a one-door access to the best of New Zealand food innovation. Partners included Massey University, AgResearch, Fonterra, Palmerston North City Council, Plant & Food Research, the Bio Commerce Centre, Riddet Institute, Manawatu District Council, ESR and AsureQuality.
For more information and photos of of Massey University’s 50 years of food technology Visit: www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/colleges/college-of-health/institute-food-nutrition-human-health/food-technology-history/food-technology-history_home.cfm
Photo: Evaporator used to remove liquid from dairy food products at the Massey Food Pilot plant.
