Food Technology editors got to chat with lots of influential members of the food community during IFT FIRST. Click through to read the highlights of our conversations with the following food system thought leaders: 

Caree Jackson Cotwright, director of nutrition security and health equity, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service

Kevin Hall, senior investigator, National Institutes of Health

Julie Hess, research nutritionist, Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service

Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for Human Foods, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Nora Khaldi, founder and CEO, Nuritas

Sarah Reisinger, chief science & research officer, dsm-firmenich

Katie Stebbins, executive director, Food & Nutrition Innovation Institute, Tufts University

Also, listen to the Omnivore podcast for Food Technology's conversation with IFT FIRST keynote panelist Justin Honaman, head, Worldwide Retail & Consumer Goods Go-to-Market, Amazon/Amazon Web Services.ft