43: Can the industry and academia work together to plug the food skills shortage?

<div> <br> In the past few weeks, the resilience and agility of the food and drink industry has touched people everywhere. Those working across the industry around the globe are rightly recognised as the ‘hidden heroes’ in the battle against COVID-19.  At the same time, the connections between health, nutrition and diet are rarely out of the media spotlight currently with public health voices joining industry providing advice on nutrition, key vitamins and the role of supplements in maintaining general health and immunity during these unprecedented times.</div> <div> <br> The food and nutrition sectors are key to a sustainable future but they are also facing a significant skills shortage with an estimated 140,000 new recruits needed in food manufacturing alone by 2024 according to the UK Food and Drink Federation. What can be done to help fill this skills gap, and how can academia and the industry work together to help make a difference?</div> <div><br> </div> <div><strong>About our panel</strong></div> <div><br> </div> <div><strong>Moira Stalker, Skills Manager, Food and Drink Federation Scotland</strong></div> <div> <br> Moira manages FDF Scotland’s skills initiative – A Future in Food – which is funded by Scottish Government through Scotland Food &amp; Drink. A Future in Food helps educators, students, careers influencers and parents better understand the wide variety of careers food and drink has to offer and the skills required by employers. To achieve this Moira work with schools, colleges, universities, industry and a very wide range of other stakeholder organisations to develop and deliver innovative activities. These help participants understand where their food comes from and how it gets to their plate.</div> <div> <br> Moira is passionate about raising the profile the food and drink industry and making it a career destination of choice for a new generation of recruits. Prior to joining FDF Scotland, Moira worked with Scottish Enterprise’s food and drink team. She also spent a number of years working as