America’s Food – from Farm to Fork – and the Reality
of Sustainable Food Systems
Guy Crosby, Ph.D., CFS – Professor, Educator, Author, Scientist and Certified Foodie – to Speak in Wayland
Join the Walden Forum for a discussion with Guy Crosby, who has more than 40 years in the food business. As a scientist and student of food production, he is amply qualified to help us understand our American food system, from large-scale agribusiness to local grass roots sustainable farms. The forum will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 29, at the Wayland Middle School Auditorium, 201 Main St., Wayland, Mass. 01778. Advances in science and technology since the early part of the last century have propelled the productivity of American agriculture to an all-time high. As a result, America has developed the most productive, lowest-cost system of producing food in the world. Americans spend less of their income on food than any other country. Yet controversy rages over the use of water, energy, fertilizers, pesticides, genetically engineered crops and the effects on the environment created by big agriculture.
There are those who argue that a return to small, local sustainable farms is the answer. But is it? Can America continue to supply the abundance of food at the lowest affordable cost using this approach? Or is the answer to find a way of combining the two while addressing the environmental issues created by big agriculture, and the supply of enough low-cost food for lower income Americans by small farms? In addition, the problems of food waste and food access, the impact of the U.S. Farm Bill, and even organic farming will be included. Join the discussion!
Guy Crosby earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of New Hampshire, and a Ph. D. degree in organic chemistry from Brown University, followed by two years of postdoctoral study at Stanford University. Crosby combined his expertise in organic chemistry with food science working with companies ranging from startups in Silicon Valley to the FMC Corporation, initially in the Agricultural Products Division, and then as Director of R&D for the Food Ingredients Division, establishing a global network of laboratories in North America, Central America, Europe and Asia. He completed his business career as Vice President of R&D for Opta Food Ingredients, Inc., capping off more than thirty years in food-related research and development at the end of 2001.
Instead of retiring, he began teaching food science in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2003, and shortly thereafter with the Department of Chemistry and Food Science at Framingham State University, where he taught courses in chemistry and food science. He continues to teach as an adjunct associate professor at Harvard. Looking for new avenues to combine science with his enthusiasm for cooking, he now works with Cook’s Illustrated magazine as its science editor. Crosby has recorded a number of science segments for the magazine’s PBS television show, “America’s Test Kitchen (ATK),” as well as providing the science commentary for ATK’s new radio program on NPR. Crosby is a professional member of the American Chemical Society (46 years), Institute of Food Technologists and American Society for Nutrition. He is also an external advisor for the first of its kind EcoGastronomy program at the University of New Hampshire, and a member of the newly formed Food Task Force for Boston’s Museum of Science. In 2013 Crosby was approved as a Certified Food Scientist (CFS) by the Institute of Food Technologists. Crosby has published 44 scientific papers, is the inventor on 17 U.S. patents, and co-author of The Science of Good Cooking.
About the Walden Forum – The Walden Forum is a free public series that brings people together to talk, listen and learn from one another in a civil environment. It fosters discussion about important ethical, religious, political, scientific, social and other topics in a live-forum setting. Dynamic speakers challenge and expand our views about the world around us and offer the opportunity for an open discussion of these issues in a convenient, local setting. Featuring world-class speakers on great topics throughout the year, the Walden Forum is a non-religious community program supported by First Parish in Wayland and others. For more information go to www.waldenforum.org or write to info@waldenforum.org.
Walden Forum is a non-profit 501c3 and is fully tax deductible. We are currently supported in part by Waylandbusiness.org; Staples; UPS; Baldwin Insurance; Whole Foods/Wayland; the Cultural Councils of Wayland, Weston, Natick and Westborough; and Friends of the Forum.
