Isabelle Marquis is a nutritionist, food marketing and innovation expert. According to Isabelle, “Food is not just at the heart of my work; it’s a passion. Simply said, I’m very curious and love every aspect of food: what it’s made of, where it comes from, what it tastes like, what’s the story and history behind it, what we can do with it, who’s processing it and selling it, how and why. For me, each food product is like a little miracle. Health and sustainability are of particular interest for me these days.”
Climate changes being a great concern, I’m trying to learn and understand what got us to this point and what can we do about it, individually and collectively. The Carbon Almanac is a great reference to gain knowledge as well as tools and motivation to be part of the solution.
Another great book I just started is What your food ate. I have always believed that the way we grow food and raise animals influence their nutritional value. With the rise of health issues in populations all around the globe, scientists are digging into this more and more, and it seems like my intuition was right! I predict that the nutrition facts table we present on food packaging today will change in a few years to better reflect the reality.
One last pick, lighter this time: l’Encyclopédie du chocolat! I LOVE chocolate, real top-quality chocolate. I have a bunch of books about chocolate and this is one of them. When I have time to spare, I grab one of my books and read a couple pages about the history, the techniques, or a recipe. All this, of course, while enjoying a piece or two!
What are you listening to?
Most of what I listen to is in French (my mother tongue). The podcast On s’appelle et on déjeune, hosted by my colleagues and friends Catherine Lefebvre and Bernard Lavallée, is always fun to listen to. It’s a 30-minute relaxed yet very thoughtful conversation between two friends that reflect on anything related to food.
When I’m in my car, if I don’t listen to music, I like to listen to Moteur de recherche, a radio show that tackles all sorts of questions about consumption, technology, science, environment and health. I love when questions come from kids and teenagers. They are so clever and curious at that age!
Music is by far what I prefer to listen to. When I want to change my mind, relax, sing, or dance, I put on classics from the 1930s to the ‘60s.
I’ll be honest, I lack time to regularly follow people and companies. One organization that attracts my attention these days is Team for the planet. If groundbreaking, audacious innovations are your cup of tea, you want to follow these guys! And why not participate in one of their projects?
Because I watch my computer screen all day, I try not to spend too much time in front of a screen when my work is done. I prefer to watch the birds flying around in my backyard! We are lucky to have many species living in the area, and I find it funny and interesting to discover their habits or even their personality (yes, birds have a personality).
What are you posting about?
In the past year, I have mostly posted about the events I have participated in or the interviews on innovation I do for CFIN each month called Parlons d’innovation. (Note to myself: I should make time to post more often!)
When I have the time, I like to share a fresh look at a news or an interesting initiative, like that of the Dutch supermarket Jumbo, which dared to go against the grain by setting up "slow" checkout lanes.