Event

Is it sugar or is it the system?

Sugar or the system

Please join us for breakfast and to hear an important presentation and discussion on the Australian sugar system.

Much of the recent debate around sugar in Australia has focussed on health and polarised views around a sugar tax. In view of this, The George Institute for Global Health’s Thought Leadership program commissioned a new report to better understand the ways in which the sugar system is structured and its wider socioecological impacts. The report provides a foundation to stimulate discussion and prompt thoughtful conversations around the case for change and potential pathways for a sustainable transition.

The report’s author, Vanessa Clarkson (BSc Dietetics, MSc Food Policy), will discuss the main insights from the project which included extensive desk research, as well as interviews with 18 stakeholders from across the sugar system and sugar researchers. This will be followed by a Q&A facilitated by the George Institute’s Executive Director Professor Bruce Neal.

This is a ticketed event.

Cost - $25.00. The George Institute is a not-for-profit, independent medical research institute. This charge will help cover costs of catering for and convening this event.

We hope you can join us for this discussion. For catering purposes, please purchase a ticket by 14 February 2020. 

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Speakers

  • About The Speaker

    Vanessa Clarkson is a food system consultant, with well over a decade of experience working inside the food industry in senior leadership positions, both in the UK and Australia. Vanessa applies her industry experience to projects that are centred on delivering food system change. Her clients are predominantly public agencies, non-profit organisations and academic institutions. She has also provided her expertise in a pro bono capacity to the Federal Government through her roles on the Health Star Rating Advisory Committee and as Co-Chair of the Healthy Food Partnership Reformulation Working Group. Vanessa holds a BSc Dietetics (first class honours), a MSc Food Policy (with distinction), and is a Registered Nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition.

  • Q&A Facilitator:

    Bruce Neal is Executive Director at The George Institute for Global Health Australia and Professor of Medicine, UNSW Sydney. Dr Neal is a UK-trained physician who has 20 years research experience in the clinical, epidemiological, and public health fields with a focus on heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Bruce has a longstanding interest in the environmental determinants of high blood pressure and the potential for changes in the food supply to deliver health gains. His work has been characterised by its focus on collaboration, quantitation, translation and impact. He holds professorial appointments at UNSW Sydney, Imperial College London, Flinders University in South Australia, an honorary appointment at the University of Sydney.