Nobel Conference 2010 crosses disciplinary boundaries, to consider the ways in which these various definitions of goodness intersect with, challenge, and are challenged by, each other. Is it possible to create a food system, “from ground to gut,” that preserves the goodness of food in all these senses—aesthetic and economic, ethical and physiological, cultural and ecological? What would such a system look like—for eaters, growers, processors? Does one of these senses of goodness trump all others? Can one sense incorporate and accommodate all the others?

Conference lecturers are specifically invited to “boundary cross” by considering their own work in conversation with any of the following topics of contemporary interest: the local foods movement (“locavores”); commodity agriculture (“Big Agra”); food crops versus fuel crops; urban agriculture and community gardening; food supply safety; bioterrorism; school lunches; whole foods versus “neutraceuticals”; genetic modification of food plants and animals; protecting genetic diversity of food plants and animals; terroir and authenticity; molecular gastronomy; “supertasters.”

In the area of water resources, Dr. Pachauri is quick to note the challenges posed by glacier melting in the Himalayas for India, China, and other proximate countries. The melting of these glaciers will cause water scarcity for up to 500 million people and could lead to migrations away from the rivers fed by these glaciers in the next two to three decades. He has advocated more efficient uses of water for agriculture in India, but acknowledges that efficiency alone will not address projected water shortages.

If you wish to learn more about Dr. Pachauri, he maintains a great web site which includes a blog.