Thinking about Nutrition and combating misinformation – a tribute to the memory of Emílio Peres
The Porto School of Nutrition has inherited its own way of thinking. We consider nutrition without ever forgetting the food and the people who produce it, and we also think a lot about those who would like to eat better but do not have access to quality food. This is due to a lack of economic means, time, or knowledge.
This ability to think about the world through food is central to the thinking of the nutritionists at FCNAUP and a legacy from our founding fathers who, in 1976, had the audacity and skill to create the first modern School of Nutrition in Portugal, where the most profound technical knowledge has always been combined with the social and ethical sensitivity now enshrined in the university's third mission.
Therefore, when we decided to create the first website of a nutrition faculty dedicated exclusively to reflecting on the state of nutrition and food in Portugal, we could not fail to pay homage to one of our professors who, throughout his academic and professional life, based his actions on the dissemination and popularization of nutritional sciences.
Currently, this goal is increasingly necessary , even more so than in the past. If in the recent past, during the early days of FCNAUP (Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto), most of the population had a huge lack of scientific information about what to eat, today, information is excessive, although it remains, in general, of very poor quality, causing misinformation to grow and important information to remain poorly visible and difficult to access.
Times change, but the need to disseminate science in an accessible way, which the internet now allows, remains. However, beyond the advent of the internet and social media, another challenge arises. Today there are more than 4,000 nutritionists and many thousands of health professionals and others interested in the subject and communicating daily about nutrition, spreading these concepts to the entire population. These health professionals, journalists, and interested parties also need independent and up-to-date sources to think and reflect on nutrition .
The task we propose to undertake, through our faculty, researchers, and alumni who constitute a unique critical mass network at an international level, validated by an Editorial and Scientific Board that will oversee the production of our texts.
In this way, a purpose of the University is fulfilled, as a space of culture, health and humanity. Thank you to all the academics involved and readers who, from today onwards, constitute this vibrant community of critical thinking that we will try to keep alive in “Thinking Nutrition”.