Keynote & Plenary Speakers
Harry Balzer
Vice President The NPD Group
There are not many people in the United States that have followed the actual eating patterns of Americans as long as Harry Balzer, vice president of The NPD Group, a leading market research company. A national expert on food and diet trends, Balzer and The NPD Group have been tracking the eating and drinking patterns of Americans for nearly 30 years. He is the author of The NPD Group’s Annual Report on Eating Patterns in America, which is in its 22nd year. That’s why more than 90 percent of the nation’s food and beverage manufacturers and restaurant operators rely on Harry and NPD data. Balzer is widely known within the industry as a consistent source for information on actual consumer eating habits … not just what they say they are doing … but what they really do!
Balzer received recognition from Self Magazine for being one of 25 people in the United States who has changed the way the nation eats, cooks and thinks about food. His television appearances include Today, Good Morning America, NBC Nightly News, CNN, and CNBC. Balzer has been extensively quoted in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, Time, Newsweek and a host of other business and trade publications. In addition, Balzer speaks about the latest food-related trends at several prestigious food industry events. He also speaks regularly at prominent universities including Northwestern University, Cornell University and the University of Pittsburgh.
Adam Drewnowski
Dr. Adam Drewnowski is the Director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition (CPHN) and of the UW Center for Obesity Research (UW-COR), both at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is Professor of Epidemiology; Adjunct Professor of Medicine, and Joint Member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Drewnowski received his BA and MA degrees (Biochemistry) from Balliol College, Oxford and his PhD degree (Psychology) from The Rockefeller University in New York. His research deals with social and economic disparities in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes among children and adults in relation to food prices and diet costs. Additional studies in spatial informatics have helped map the geographic distribution of obesity and poverty. His most recent work examines the likely impact of rising food prices on the global obesity epidemic. Dr. Drewnowski has developed a new nutrient profiling method to classify foods by their nutrient content that has implications for nutrition surveillance and the regulation of nutrition and health claims. Dr. Drewnowski is a member of the Institute of Medicine Standing Committee to Prevent Childhood Obesity; works closely with international regulatory agencies and expert panels, and has testified before US Congress on obesity related issues. He is the author of over 200 research papers, reviews and book chapters and a frequent participant at national and international meetings. Dr. Drewnowski was awarded the 2008 Astor Lectureship at Oxford University. He received the 2005 Esprit Alimentaire Award from the French food industry.
Susan L Roberts integrates food, agriculture, health and the law in developing policies and strategies for safer, sustainable, just food systems which in turn catalyze greater health and prosperity among individuals, communities, and environments.
Ms Roberts has worked as a medical researcher, government administrator, entrepreneurial business owner, and food policy consultant. She is the principal in Roberts Law Firm, PLC and Sue Roberts Health Concepts.
Ms. Roberts received her BS in Dietetics, Food and Nutrition from Iowa State University, her MS in Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health from the University of Iowa College of Medicine, and her Juris Doctorate of Law from Drake University School of Law with special certificates in Food & Agricultural Law and Legislative Practice.
Ms Roberts was recently awarded the 2008 Medallion Award from the American Dietetic Association.