Food may be the one thing that truly connects all people. The interdependence of humans on food and its production is the basic premise behind a spring lecture series hosted by the University of Massachusetts’s Environmental Institute. Four researchers are scheduled to hold lectures discussing different ways that the food system interacts with the global environment.
A political science professor, an economist, a food microbiologist and an agricultural scientist will each bring a depth of knowledge from their own fields to this topic. Each lecture plans to provide students with an opportunity to see how what they are studying can impact a more diverse field of study.
Kicking off the spring series today at 3:30 p.m. in the Cape Cod Lounge, Molly Anderson, director of the graduate degree program at Tufts for Agriculture, Food and Environment, plans to deliver a talk titled “The Future of Food Systems: Global to Local.” Her lecture is slated to focus on the connections between society and the environment and how both interact to impact the ability to produce food in a sustainable manner. She is also active with the Community Food Security Coalition and the New England Earthcare Ministry Committee. She will be followed on Mar. 13 by Robert L. Paarlberg. Professor Paarlberg, from Wellesley College, will be giving a lecture entitled, “Why Environmentalists Should Like Genetically Engineered Agricultural Crops.” Paarlberg will explore the history of genetically modified crops and discuss their potential environmental benefits. His work will no doubt be informed by his 2001 book “The Politics of Precaution: Policies towards GM Crops in the Developing World.” Lectures three and four will be given by Emeritus Professor Frank F. Busta and Assistant Professor Parke E. Wilde respectively. Busta, who teaches at the University of Minnesota, will be exploring the hazards of food in his April 3 lecture, “Terrorism and the Defense of the Food System.” Wilde, also from Tufts University, plans to deliver a lecture titled “‘Got Milk?’ Nutrition and Environmental Impacts of Federal Food Advertising,” and will be given May 1. Despite each lecture’s connections to both the environment, and, more specifically, food’s place in the world, these speakers propose to address these topicsfrom a wide variety of angles.
All events are planned to be held in the Cape Cod Lounge at 3:30 p.m. on their respective dates. A reception will follow each lecture and will be free and open to the public.
