The Challenges of Food of the Future Guiding Today's Science at the School of Food Engineering, Unicamp

• Grant number: 24/15126-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Journalism
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: October 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Ana Augusta Odorissi Xavier
• Grantee: Letícia Rafaela Aristeu de Queiroz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL), Brazil

Abstract

Food is essential for human life, both for physiological and sociocultural reasons. It is a social right in Brazil and a topic that arouses great public interest. Currently, food science faces significant challenges such as food security, environmental sustainability and the relationship between health and nutrition. However, the new climate and demographic scenario expected for the coming decades requires rethinking food production, processing and consumption, considering global warming, water stress and population aging. The future of food must integrate new consumer needs with sustainable practices adapted to cultural and environmental changes. This challenging context has been directing the activities of the School of Food Engineering at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (FEA-Unicamp) towards developing new products, processes and technologies, studying consumer eating habits and preferences, and proposing public policies for food and nutrition. In order to maintain a channel of dialogue with the external community, especially as an institution capable of influencing the focus of discussions in the area of ¿¿food, the institution has been producing the Prato de Ciência podcast since 2021, which has proven to be a potential medium for sharing information about food and training science communicators. Therefore, the objective of this proposal is to produce audio reports focusing on the "Food of the Future", highlighting innovations and adaptations that have been studied by FEA-Unicamp to provide sustainability in food production and consumption and guarantee food security for the population. The produced material will be published as a season of the Prato de Ciência podcast.