Description: Traditional dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean Diet, rich in foods of plant origin have been associated with improved health and eventually longer life expectancy. Prices, storage and natural conditions that were the main barriers to vegetable consumption have been overcome by new technologies and the political union within Europe.  Although vegetables consumption is recommended by EU authorities due to its health benefits, vegetables consumption remains below the recommendations since they constitute one of the most difficult food groups to introduce in the diet or to remain preferred by consumers.
Many healthy eating campaigns in Europe have not yielded the expected result of increased vegetable consumption at population level. Therefore, there is a challenge to discover new ways and paths to facilitate healthier food choices, particularly foods of plant origin, by the population in general.
Dietary habits and food choices are the result of decision and actions that are based on both, reflective and automatic routines, and thus the challenge is to identify how to help people in making the healthy choices, the default ones.
This course will henceforth focus on the advantages of a diet rich in foods of plant origin (the perspective of the Mediterranean Diet), the challenges of introduction of such products in the diets and formulation of dishes, and the research options based on the FoodScape Lab installed in the Copenhagen Campus.
Preliminary program
Day 1
08:30 – 09:00 am     Breakfast and registration
09:00 – 09:30 am     Welcome and general introduction to the course & the participants (A. Perez-Cueto)
09:30 – 10:45 am     Introduction to current issues and challenges in vegetable consumption  (A. Perez-Cueto)
10:45 – 11:00 am     Coffee break
11:00 – 12:00 am     The Mediterranean Diet (A. Naska)
12:00 – 02:00 pm     Lunch break
02:00 – 03:00 pm     Current issues in vegetable consumption in children: knowledge, representations and the sensory preferences (D. Morizet)
03:00 – 03:45 pm     Planning data collection for choice architecture research (L. Skov)
03:45 – 04:00 pm     Tea break
Day 2
08:00 – 08:30 am     Breakfast
08:30 – 09:10 am     Culture and religion in vegetable consumption (A Perez Cueto)
09:10 – 10:00 am     Sapere method to introduce vegetable consumption in pre-school children, methodological issues (M. V. Mikkelsen)
10:00 – 10:45 am     Monitoring vegetable consumption in Europe (A. Naska)
10:45 – 11:00 am     Coffee break
11:00 – 12:00 am     Hands on data collection at FSL (with study group)
12:00 – 02:00 pm     Lunch break
02:00 – 03:00 pm     Data analysis and coding in the FSL facilities
03:00 – 03:45 pm     Vegetable preferences and consumption in the elderly  (D. Morizet)
03:45 – 04:00 pm     Tea break
( Dinner in Copenhagen )
Day 3
08:45 – 09:00 am     Light breakfast
09:00 – 09:30 am     European challenges in healthy eating (A. Naska)
09:30 – 11:00 am     Panel discussion Data collection issues in behavioural nutrition (L. Skov, Moderator)
11:00 – 11:45 am     Panel discussion : The challenges for the Vegetable Industry in Europe (A. Naska, Moderator)
11:45 – 12:00 am     Closure
12:00 – 02:00 pm     Lunch

Organizer: Assoc. Prof. F.J. Armando Perez-Cueto

Lecturers: Prof. Androniki Naska, Dr. David Morizet, Dr. Mette Vang Mikkelsen & Drs. Laurits Skov

ECTS: 3

Time: 14-16 April, 2014

Place: Aalborg University, Campus Copenhagen, AC Meyers Vænge, room ACM 15, 2.1.005

Zip code: 2450

City: Copenhagen

Number of seats: 20

Deadline: 24 March, 2014