Alie de Boer shows you why you need to look critically at food at TEDxVenlo

“Why does the front of a carton of orange juice imply that it is really healthy when it is not mentioned on the actual orange itself? You know that the fruit is healthier for you!” Alie de Boer, assistant professor in the field of food law and nutrition, will clarify things for you on November 7th. “It’s time that people start becoming more critical about food.”

Food = passion
Besides playing sports and music, nutrition and food law, are Alie’s big passions in life. There is a lot of room for improvement in her craft. Like the things that are being told about food. “ I think there are many things about nutrition that are not or not entirely true.”

Use your common sense
With her TEDx Talk, Alie wants to do something about misconceptions about food and give valuable insights into nutrition and food law. “It's important that people are aware of what they eat, what diets do to them and what food can be used for. “Use your common sense, don’t follow the hype.” That is still happening too much, she thinks.

Provide clarity
But, she counters, you cannot blame anyone. “There is a lot we don’t know about food.” The people who try to find answers are food scientists, like Alie. “But somehow we are not clear in our explanation. It is time to provide clarity.”

What do you say?
To give that clarity it means we have to talk about the same thing. “Everybody is talking past and over each other.” The toxicologist and the lawyer who accompanied me during my promotion were speaking a different language from each other, so to speak. If we want to make a progress we need to speak one universal language.”

Effect of law at food
TEDx is the stage the enthusiastic music lover choose to tell people about what they need to know to make a well thought out decision about nutrition. Why? “During TEDx people talk about their passion. I love what I do and think it is important to tell people about nutrition and food law. How does law effect new food concepts? And what can you legally say about what food does to us? That’s what my talk is about.”

Reach her goal
She is nervous but thrilled to stand on the big stage; willing to step out of her comfort zone to reach her goal. “At the end of my talk I hope you will be able to find the right information on a carton, and to understand why it is there. Furthermore, I hope I will also open people’s minds to think critical about food.”

Curious? Register now for TEDxVenlo 2017!