Students filled Langdon Hall's seats and floor to learn facts and end the myths about the food they eat at the "Feed Me... the truth about my food" event on Monday from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
The event was hosted by College of Agricultue and is a part of their annual "Ag Week."
The seminar, which lasted for approximately an hour and a half, included a presentation from Dr. Bill Moar, corn insect resistant management lead at Monsanto, covering topics about the company's current and future work to improve production in crops such as corn and soybeans.
"I don't really know that much about plants because I am a meat science major, so it was really cool at the beginning to see the research that they are doing to make plants better because ultimately that is what you are going to needs to feed the billions of people that we are going to have by 2050," said Kourtney Keck, junior in meat science who attended the event.
In addition to the keynote speaker, a panel made up of eight Auburn University agriculture professors addressed questions and concerns students have about food and modern agriculture, while eating the complimentary Bluebell ice cream provided for attendees.
"I hope people were able to grasp some of the information that was presented from Monsanto about how we are using science to make sure we can increase our food production and feed the world," said Dr. Lisa Kriese-Anderson, associate professor in the Department of Animal Sciences.
In addition to Anderson, the panel included Dr. Wallace Berry, associate professor in the Department of Poultry Sciences; Dr. Christy Bratcher, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences; Dr. David Weaver, associate professor in the Department of Agronomy and Soils; Dr. Henry Fadamiro, professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology; Dr. Leonard Bell, professor in the Department of Poultry Sciences; Dr. Jay Spiers, assistant professor in the Horticulture Department and Dr. Robert Nelson, professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology.
Students asked questions covering popular topics such as the benefits of organics food compared to non-organic food.
Fadamiro informed the audience that there is not enough long-term or overwhelming evidence to say one way or another whether organic food is better for you, but that some research has shown that it is more nutritious.
"Meat is meat," Bratcher said. "You can't change the makeup with an organic system. Meat will still be made up of proteins and vitamins. You can spend the extra money on it if you want to, but from my stand point, there are a lot of other things you could spend your money on."
Other popular topics discussed were genetically-modified foods, the purpose of gluten-free foods and antibiotic resistance in humans among many other subjects.
"The vast majority of American farmers just want to do what's right and put a really good product on the super market shelves," Anderson said.
Moar said that genetically-modified crops are much more scrutinized by the United States government than normally bred plants.Weaver discussed the importance of increasing our food production to try and avoid the food famine that could occur from population of 9 billion that is expected by 2050.
Bratcher said the reason humans are becoming resistant to antibiotics is because of the medicines humans are starting and not finishing along with other reason, but not because of the foods they are eating.
Students from different majors presented the panel with these type questions and more for the final hour of the event.
"Nothing surprised me, but I gained a deeper knowledge of stuff that has been talked about in classes at Auburn," said Sydney Corkran, senior in animal sciences, attended to gain a greater understanding of the plant basis and of corn and soybeans.
"It comes down to education," Berry said. "That's why we are excited to see a room full of people like this getting educated."
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