In the first Liggins Institute public webinar, Professor Richard Mithen will consider the contrasting backstories of a few of New Zealand’s iconic foods, including kūtai (or greenshell mussels), kūmara and kiwi fruit. How might these everyday foods be helping our children to grow into healthy adults, and what role do they have in maintaining our cognitive health and mobility as we age?

And what about the foods that will make their way into our shopping trolleys in the future? Professor Mithen will consider what we might find as we attempt to adapt our agriculture to the changing climate and move towards a zero-carbon economy.

About the speaker

Richard Mithen is Professor of Nutrition at the Liggins Institute of the University of Auckland, and Chief Scientist for the New Zealand High Value Nutrition National Science Challenge. Following a PhD and several years working as a plant collector in south central Africa, Richard led research programmes in the UK in crop science, and food and health research, until he migrated to New Zealand in 2019.