Cooking, culturing, and generally preparing our foods makes them more digestible. Some researchers even suggest that processing our food this way may have been a driving factor in human evolution. So why are we hearing so much about the dangers of “ultra-processed” foods? Why are some forms of processing associated with health and others considered unhealthy? And what even is ultra-processed? We’ll explore the foods we eat and what our modification of them does to us with a panel of experts.
Panelists:
- Dr. Tracey Deutsch | Associate Professor, History, College of Liberal Arts
- Dr. Douglas Mashek | Professor, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, College of Biological Sciences, and University of Minnesota Medical School Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism
- Dr. Johan Ubbink | Professor and Head, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences
Note: Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Program starts at 6:15 p.m.
Petri Dish panel discussions explore how biology affects our lives and what it means for our future. No PowerPoints. Just lively, curiosity-driven conversations on timely topics with University of Minnesota experts.
Organized by the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences in collaboration with the Bell Museum.
Event details
- October 15, 2025
- 6-8 p.m.
- Urban Growler Brewing Co. | 2325 Endicott Street Saint Paul, MN 55114