For more than 600.000 years man hunted and harvested,
he had no time for any other activity.
Only 10,000 years ago
the Neolithic Revolution gave the keys to preogress,
agriculture appeared and with it the separation of functions.
Food preservation technologies arised,
to have them in different periods of the year
and in different places.
Time goes by and the population grows.
There are famines and thinkers forosee a terrible future.
However innovation progress and new techniques appear.
New policies adopt the strategy
to help the devolpment of the agri-food industry.
Guaranteeing the availability of food
becomes a priority.
Napoleon promotes canning industries,
margarines, sugar beet.
Today,we’ll call them entrepeneures.
People who knew the problem
created service-focused companies.
Apper with the canning,
Liebbig brought meet from South America to Europe,
Borden got the stability of the milk with the condensed milk,
Nestlé focused on baby food.
Food is linked to culture, tradition
and the availability of the environmnet,
that evolves with the commerce development and globalization.
Science moves forward:
the relationship between health and food is unquestionable.
Food is a colective responsibility.
Administrations create control institutions,
based on the rigour of science,
to inspire confidence in society
and contribute to spread the principles of healthy food.
Evolution has driven us to a complex alimentary global system
made up with numerous actors and different activities:
agricultura, livestock industry, fishing, international trade.
Alimentaria is one of the food and drinks congress,
international referent to all professionals
linked to processed agri-food companies ,precessing,
distribution, catering, researchers, trainers.
Population keeps on increasing,
9,000 million people projected by 2050.
We have the challenge to feed them, how?
The resources of the planet are limited.
There are dysfunctions in the system
that provoques to many inequalities.
Society expects solutions through science,
innovation and policies.
Sustainable production
is that that aplies science and technology
to make that productive ways
don’t use up future generation’s resources.
In this environmnet agri-food companies
assume their responsibilities together with the administration,
invloved institutions and society,
knowledge plays a key role.
In 1992, FAO declared in Barcelona’s Alimentaria
Man Alimentary Rights.
With these worries about the future of the Food System
institutions such as the Triptolemos Fundation emerged
for the agri-food development,
that want to facilitate an appropiate articulation
of all the food system,
from the producer to the consumer and inspire their confidence.
To achieve this goal combines efforts with universities,
research centres, firms and social institutions.
With the European programmes help,
The UNED, through the Vicerrectorado de Investigación,
provides knowledge, investigation and training
as engines of this develpment.
Both institutions have obtained the UNESCO's confidence
to create the Science and Innovation
for the sustainable development Chair
in the global production of food and security.
The UNESCO Chairs apart from their university function,
have the specific goal of acting as the Think Tank core
or opinion leaders for society.