Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering Spring 2019 Seminar: Transforming the Dairy Supply Chain in the Anthropocene with New Technologies that Reduce Carbon Footprint
Wednesday, March 6
Perlstein Hall 131 (Auditorium)
3:15–4:30 p.m.
Presented by Charles Sizer, former research professor at Illinois Institute of Technology
Abstract
The food supply chain has a limited time to significantly reduce its carbon footprint. It is estimated that 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are related to agriculture—the production, packaging, and distribution of food. In order to meet the goals of the Paris Accord, the food industry must quickly and dramatically change everything in order to reduce the carbon footprint while at the same time meeting the nutritional needs of a burgeoning population.
The dairy industry has a very profound opportunity to reduce its carbon footprint while at the same time meeting the nutritional needs of the global population. Integrated, farm-based production of shelf-stable milk concentrates enables optimized production to reduce the carbon footprint while allowing for global distribution of nature’s perfect food.
Biography
Chuck Sizer has had a distinguished and recognized food science career with a particular interest and experience in beverages and beverage packaging systems. He is recognized both internationally and nationally. He has managed the North American technical activities for the global food processing and packaging giant, Tetra Pak. Sizer is also a former director of the National Center for Food Safety and Technology at Illinois Tech.
He completed his master’s and Ph.D. degrees in food science and nutrition at Colorado State University, and has then worked for his entire career in the food industry. The knowledge of food science is his passion. He has been published more than 110 times and was given numerous awards, including, most recently, a Director’s Special Citation Award from the United States Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. He currently holds 14 patents in food science-related areas.