Professor Guy Poppy to speak at ‘Nestlé 150 Years’ Gala Dinner

Guy Poppy, professor of ecology and also the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser to the Food Standards Agency, will be giving a keynote address at the ‘Nestlé 150 Years’ Gala Dinner taking place on 21 June 2016 at the Residence Palace in Brussels.

Professor Poppy is one of only four speakers at the high-profile event, which celebrates 150 years of Nestlé, including a keynote speech by EU Commissioner Phil Hogan.

In his speech, Professor Poppy will address the issue that even though the last century has seen marked growth in food production, more than one in seven people today still do not have access to sufficient protein and energy, and even more suffer from micronutrient deficiency. He will discuss how we can achieve food security not simply by producing more food but addressing big challenges such as climate change, energy, water and conflict.

Professor Poppy said: “Food security is the greatest challenge of the 21^st Century as it links to most of the other challenges we are facing. It is time that we start to focus more on access to safe and nutritious food across the globe, and collaboration between academia, government and food businesses are essential in this ambition.”

The University is part of the EpiGen Consortium, an international partnership with Nestlé and scientists from both the public and private sectors to improve human health through the application of epigenetic tools and technologies. Epigenetics is the biology of understanding how gene function is regulated by environmental factors, such as maternal nutrition, during the very early stages of development.