Our Dietary Past

Monday, March 2, 2020
3:30pm – 4:30pm

• NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (map)
• 8800 Greenbelt Rd
• Greenbelt, MD, 20771
• United States

• ✚ gCal
• ✚ iCal

GODDARD ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM, NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER

The technological link between nature, man and food

For the past 3.5 million years technology played a crucial role in the development of our diets and, in turn our species.  Comparing food processing technologies through time with hominin evolution reveals that the these ancient approaches to food resulted in diets that were safe, nutrient dense and bioavailable supporting our growing bodies, brains, and populations.  Today’s food processing technologies are instead focused on other goals often at the expense of the nutrition. This has resulted in a drastic decline in human health. Biologically, we are essentially the same as we have been since we first made an appearance as a species, so our nutritional needs have not drastically changed BUT our cultural needs have seismically shifted, and our expectations of taste, smell, texture and presentation have significantly impacted the way we think about food. Dr. Schindler believes that by fusing lessons from our dietary past with modern culinary techniques and by reconnecting people with food we can create a food system that is meaningful, accessible, relevant and delicious!  This presentation will offer a unique perspective on our dietary past and how it can inform our dietary future by drawing from Dr. Schindler’s experiences as an experimental and prehistoric archaeologist, food anthropologist, and chef.  

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