There are people who do not appear often in the public sphere, yet without whom the industry would not have the same structure. Mrs. Nastasia Belc, General Director of the Institute for Food Bioresources (IBA), is one of these professionals. The technical credibility and stability she has brought to food research have directly influenced the evolution of the Romanian agri-food sector.

In this edition of Meat.Milk., the discussion went beyond positions and institutional presentations. It was a return to the 1990s, a period when Romanian research was reorganising in the midst of a rapid transition, and professional survival depended almost entirely on passion and competence. Mrs. Belc began her career in the milling and baking industry, at a time when the “short supply chain” was not a concept but a functional reality. The experience she gained during those years became the foundation of a career in which technical rigour and loyalty to the field have remained constants.

In 2000, she took over the leadership of IBA, an institution that, under her coordination and the team she built, would become a national benchmark for applied research, food quality evaluation, and technology transfer to industry. “The most important capital is the human capital,” says Mrs. Belc. And this principle is visible in the way the institute operates: competitively won projects, stable teams, investments in equipment, solutions for both small and large producers, European collaborations, and the ability to turn research into concrete results.

One of the key moments of the broadcast focused on the European perception of the quality of Romanian products. In the European working groups she participated in, Romania ranked surprisingly high—sometimes “among the top four countries”—when the discussion was about quality, not image. This detail, rarely known to the public, raises a major question posed by Mrs. Belc: what could have been built if we had transformed this appreciation into a national brand for the agri-food sector?

Another important direction of the discussion addressed the role of food education and consumer responsibility. Mrs. Belc explains clearly that the market is shaped by people's daily choices. “Healthy choices create a healthy market” is not only a conclusion, but a strategic direction. The consumer influences technologies, product composition, and the way the industry adjusts its priorities.

The broadcast also offers an essential perspective on the future of the industry. The European “Sustainable Food System” strategy, to which Mrs. Belc contributed, sets clear directions up to 2034: the way we produce, process, govern, and consume food must change profoundly. Europe aims to remain the global leader in food quality, and Romania has the potential to be a relevant actor in this transformation.

For the industry, Mrs. Belc’s message is direct: investment in research, technology, and continuous professional training is not optional. For consumers, the message is even simpler: informed choice is the first step toward a cleaner, more responsible, and more stable market.

The Meat.Milk. edition dedicated to Mrs. Nastasia Belc is more than a professional encounter. It is the portrait of a person who has dedicated her life to a cause greater than her own career: the health of Romanian food.