This year Prof. dr. ir. Louise O. Fresco spoke at the 3rd Dick de Zeeuw lecture that took place on September the 5th.
Title: Food is a serious issue
Food is back on the agenda after years of neglect. Political leaders, industry and consumers all show concern. Declarations from the G8 and other bodies abound, as do national and city level food policies. Yet at the same time, consumers are ever more worried about food safety and large scale industrial production. We know that feeding nine billion inhabitants of the earth is possible if we apply our best scientific knowledge and the best socio-economic practices. Yet the support for evidence-based solutions is eroding, so far mostly in the rich countries, leading to inconsistent fragmented policies and confusion. Food is too serious an issue to leave in the hands of believers, ill-informed politicians or irresponsible business!
Louise O. Fresco
Louise Fresco’s exciting career has involved decades of fieldwork in tropical countries, a PhD cum laude in tropical agronomy (Wageningen), chairs and lectureships at prestigious universities such as Wageningen, Uppsala, Louvain and Stanford and the membership of four scientific academies. She held several leading positions within the FAO of the UN. The permanent theme of her life is a strong commitment to international development, agriculture and food. She also published nine books, of which three acclaimed novels. The last book was published in 2012 titled ‘Hamburgers in Paradise. Food in times of scarcity and abundance.’ On top of that, Louise Fresco published over one hundred scientific articles. Science Magazine recently published her editorial The GMO Stalemate in Europe. Currently, as a University Professor in Amsterdam, she writes a syndicated newspaper column, and is an advisor to the Dutch government on socio-economic policy, science and sustainability, including sea level rise.
