Cometh the hour, cometh the food scientist
"It did our sector a lot of good and a lot of people feel that," said Dennis. "But we've got to do a lot more and go back and make sure our younger generations are reconnected to the food supply There is an underlying lack of understanding." However, at long last, he believes this message is beginning to get through to those in the corridors of power.
There are two particular things that Dennis will bring to the presidency of the IFST a position he will occupy for the next two years following his election in April. The first is a wealth of experience of food science. The second is an international perspective, being a man who travels widely and sits on the Board of the US Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).
So, it might come as a surprise to some that Dennis began his career as a botanist. Of course, he found his way into food; a sector in which he has excelled. He is convinced of the need for people in the sector who have been trained in the broader discipline of food science as well as those with more vertical expertise in areas such as chemical engineering.
When I met him at the Royal Society of Arts in London last month, he made it clear that, even after 21 years as director general of research body Campden BRI until 2009, he has no intention of retiring to a quiet life growing rare orchids. He is relishing the challenges raised by the voluntary and consultancy roles he has taken on, including being chairman of the English Food and Drink Alliance.
Renaissance in food science
Dennis earnestly believes that the role of the food scientist and technologist is about to witness a renaissance, given the huge global challenges facing the world today: most notably growing populations, pressure on limited resources and climate change.
It may come as no surprise to hear that he is optimistic about the future of food science and of the UK food manufacturing sector in general. However, he believes that now more than ever, the skills and expertise that are so ably demonstrated by those within the sector have the potential to help solve many intractable global problems from achieving food security to mitigating climate change.
Dennis's expressed wish is coincident with the Foresight report 'The Future of Food and Farming: Challenges and choices for global sustainability', published in January 2011, and he calls for "an available, accessible and affordable supply of safe, nutritious food for all in the decades to come". So, no small ambition there then even for a man who gained a CBE in 2009 for his services to the agri-food sector!
But he is nothing if not grounded in common sense and has far more humble ambitions for his tenure as president of the IFST.
One of his main priorities is to get a commitment from the food industry to a more systematic approach to continuing professional development and relate this to succession planning so as to address the impending skills crisis facing the sector as people retire. "As the professional institute we really have to raise our profile in that particular area," he said.
Collaboration is key
He also supports IFST chief executive Jon Poole's plans to collaborate more closely with other bodies, such as the Food and Drink Federation and sector skills council Improve, to ensure the sector receives the recognition it deserves and to increase the availability of information promoting careers in the sector.
As well as accrediting university food science courses, the IFST is also advising on the development of curriculum materials for use in schools, which make use of the latest technologies and practices currently in use by the industry, said Dennis.
His second priority is to encourage the involvement of more students in actively running the IFST, using similar approaches to those used by the IFT in the US.
Dennis recognises the scale of the task ahead: "There are some generic issues we all have to face up to and it's not just true of food scientists, it's true of any scientist: how do we get our messages over to the general public in a way that they can understand?"
However, he accepts that it is even more of an obstacle for food scientists to surmount in the current climate of suspicion following a decade or more of food scares and bungled attempts to introduce new technologies such as genetic modification (GM).
"But I don't think [the problems facing food scientists] are getting worse; it is getting more complicated," he notes. "The scientific community learnt a lot from the GM debate. I suspect the same mistakes won't be made again." He recognises that the introduction of nanotechnology may not be incident-free.
Openness with consumers
Openness is crucial, says Dennis, who advocates labelling ingredients such as GM required in the EU, but not in the US. "The consumer should know what is in [a product]."
While the IFST does not have the resources alone to take the message about the importance of food science to the public, it can "catalyse the debate" working with others, says Dennis. "We've got to encourage more positive debate about the sector."
Dennis would also like to see food and food science used more widely in Britain's educational system to illustrate principles in other disciplines from other science subjects to, economics, geography and history.
"I don't think food per se has ever been used in the education curriculum in the way it could be," he said. "Yes we've had cookery, yes we've had food technology, but we haven't maybe taught the principles of biology using food; we haven't taught the principles of chemistry or physics using food as an example and, to me, that is a great shame."
Dennis's last objective is to ensure that, when his period of office comes to an end in two years' time, the IFST has more members, a higher profile and greater recognition by the industry. "The IFST has probably never been in a better position to continue as an independent institute," says Dennis. "Because I don't think there has been a more important time for the food sector."
