Gustavus is holding its annual Nobel Conference this week, with over 5,000 people expected to come to campus from all over the world to participate. Held in the Lund Center, the Nobel Conference will take place Tuesday, Oct. 5 and Wednesday, Oct. 6. With more than 4,000 tickets sold, the world’s leading experts in ethical, agro-ecological, physiological, economic and aesthetic concepts will come together to discuss what makes food good.

“With the series of energy and water conferences from the previous years, the next logical topic to be discussed in the Nobel Conference would be food,” Director of the Nobel Conference and Professor of Physics Chuck Niederriter said. “Nutrition and food is fundamental and it’s definitely a huge concern in the world.”

This year’s topic, “Making Food Good” focuses on multiple points, including those of nutrition, taste, health, agricultural biodiversity and food security. The speakers will include Nutritionist Marion Nestle, Crop Diversity Conservator Cary Fowler, Obesity Researcher Jeffrey M. Friedman, Environmental Economist Bina Agarwal, Psychophysicist Linda Bartoshuk, Technology Philosopher Paul B. Thompson and Futurist and Author Frances Moore Lappé.

Presenter Marion Nestle  said that the theme of the conference “recognizes today’s enormous public interest in food and food systems.” Nestle, who will be presening on  Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 10:00 a.m., said, “It’s a pleasure to be coming to this conference,” and hat she is “happy to be on the program with such distinguished lecturers.”

“For students never having experienced the Nobel Conference,” Niederriter said, “the whole nature of the conference holds an academic atmosphere.  There’s music, art and individual conversations of how we grow and maintain crop diversity.” He emphasizes that there’s something there for everybody, and everyone will be able to get something out of the experience.

• See the schedule
• Watch the conference online