Unlocking the Potential of Plant-Based Foods | Dr. Alissa Nolden

Name: Unlocking the Potential of Plant-Based Foods | Dr. Alissa Nolden
Start: 2024-12-04T18:30:00-05:00
Location: Abandoned Building Brewery

Schedule

Wed Dec 04 2024 at 06:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Abandoned Building Brewery | Easthampton, MA

A sensory scientist walks into a bar and orders a plant-based burger. After one bite, they say, "You know, this could change the world… if anyone actually enjoyed eating it." The bartender nods, "Yeah, they focused too much on being 'plant-based' and not enough on 'tasting good.'" The scientist grins, "That’s why we need sensory science—to make sustainable food something people actually want to eat!"
Unlocking the Potential of Plant-Based Foods
Wednesday, December 4
Doors open @ 6pm, presentation starts at 6:30pm
Abandoned Building Brewery
142 Pleasant Street, #103a, Easthampton, MA
- Are plant-based alternatives healthy?
- Are sustainable plant-based foods helping consumers reduce consumption of animal products?
- What are the barriers to adopting a sustainable diet?
- How important is taste when making sustainable food choices?
Professor Alissa Nolden is an Assistant Professor in the Food Science Department at UMass Amherst. Her lab's research focuses on chemosensory perception in humans. Specific areas of interest include individual differences in responses to foods and chemicals is associated with genetic variability, and how chemosensory perception changes as a result of dietary exposure, disease or therapeutic compounds. Understanding the pathways and mechanisms regulating this change in sensory response can better provide tools and strategies to patients and clinicians to help manage these changes. Long-term research plans include developing new approaches, including development of food products to enhance food enjoyment.
Bring a friend and join us as we enjoy lively conversations, prizes, and brilliant minds. Light refreshments will be available outside the presentation room, first come, first served.
ABB allows guests to bring outside food into the establishment: please feel free to bring food if you’d like to!
This is an inclusive, family-friendly event for people from all walks of life (ALL are very much welcome: kids, college students, your parents!). We promise, you'll learn something if you come. And hey, you might even win a prize! Remember... Admission is FREE!
Visit scitechcafe.org for all the info.