What is Agrifood Nanotechnology?
The "What is Agrifood Nanotechnology" conference has been restructured to a focused workshop rather than a large-scale public conference. Although the workshop will occur at the same time and place as the originally advertised conference, its duration is being shortened to a full day on Monday, April 2nd and a half-day on Tuesday, April 3rd.

The new "Agrifood Nanotechnology Workshop" will retain the themes of the earlier conference (i.e., Applications, Participation, and Governance). The workshop will specifically address the following questions:

    • What is novel about nanotechnologies applied in the agrifood supply chain?
    • How are new resources (personnel, time, money) being allocated? 
    • What research is underway with what likely outcomes? 
    • How does this novelty affect regulation and governance?
    • Are new governance systems needed? 
    • Are different forms of governance necessary in order to both protect health and safety as well as to permit investment? 
    • How are different nations approaching these issues? 
    • What international harmonization is needed?
    • What are the potential implications for public, private, national, and international standards regimes both within the agrifood sector and between it and other sectors of economic activity?
    • What are the consequences of not considering these issues now?

     

    One outcome of the workshop will be an edited book on these issues, to which participants are encouraged to contribute chapters. Additional outcomes are open for consideration, and might include, for example, a written policy brief to be presented to and disseminated among agrifood nanotechnology stakeholder groups including government research institutes, regulatory agencies, and policy groups; non-governmental organizations; private industry and trade associations; and labor groups; standards-setting and facilitation bodies; and academic institutions, with a particular emphasis on land-grant universities.