The real difficulty is having a good plan and keeping it
Fifty years after a handful of visionaries opened Portugal's first nutrition degree program in the turbulent spring of 1976, the Faculty of Nutrition Sciences at the University of Porto paused to measure what a single institution can accomplish when it treats food as a matter of public health and human dignity. What began as a revolutionary idea in a borrowed room has grown into the backbone of a national profession, its alumni now leading nutrition services from the Azores to the Algarve. The anniversary was less a celebration of the past than a reckoning with the present — a country where more than half of adults carry excess weight and a million live with diabetes — and a quiet declaration that the next fifty years will demand even more.
- Portugal's obesity and diabetes crisis gives the school's mission an urgent edge: the founders' idealism has become a public health emergency that their successors must now answer.
- After forty-four years of operating in borrowed spaces — a hospital ward, an engineering building — the faculty only recently secured a home of its own, a displacement that constrained its autonomy for nearly its entire first half-century.
- Enrollment has surged 118% since 2018 and nearly a quarter of students now come from abroad, but rapid growth brings pressure to preserve the close-knit culture that alumni say defined their formation.
- A roundtable surfaced a quiet tension: in a field where women make up the vast majority of students, cultural forces still steer them away from leadership, a contradiction the school has not yet fully resolved.
- Concrete next steps — a University Nutrition Clinic opening in September and a food laboratory cantina — signal that the institution intends to move from marking its past toward actively reshaping how Portugal eats.
On a Monday morning in early June, the auditorium at the University of Porto filled with faculty, students, and alumni gathered to mark fifty years since Portugal's first nutrition degree program opened its doors. Director Pedro Graça named the founders — Emílio Peres, Norberto Teixeira Santos, Manuel Pinheiro Hargreaves, Francisco Gonçalves Ferreira — and described them as men animated by a new way of thinking about food and health at a moment, in the 1970s, when that idea was genuinely revolutionary. The school they built had become the template for how nutrition science is practiced across Portugal: its alumni now lead nutrition services nationwide, hold teaching posts at other universities, and occupy leadership roles in the professional order.
The numbers were striking — enrollment up 118% since 2018, international students at 23%, a sixth-place national ranking in scientific output — but Graça's deeper emphasis fell on something harder to measure: a way of thinking that had marked everyone who passed through. He also spoke plainly about what lay ahead. A University Nutrition Clinic would open in September. A bar and cantina would serve as a working food laboratory. And the country, he said, needed to reckon with its relationship to food: more than half of Portugal's adults carry excess weight, and a million live with diabetes and hypertension.
Student association president Diana Fonseca offered a tribute drawn from the Mozambican writer Mia Couto — what matters is not the house where we live, but where the house lives in us — and praised Graça for bringing nutrition closer to ordinary people. Coordinator Sara Rodrigues drew a different parallel: for forty-four years the faculty had lived in borrowed spaces, its autonomy constrained, before finally securing a building of its own. The first fifty years, she said, were about construction. The next fifty would be defined by the school's capacity to keep innovating for a world in constant change.
A roundtable anchored by a quote from founder Teixeira Santos — "The real difficulty is having a good plan" — brought together former health director-general Graça Freitas, pediatrician António Guerra, and national healthy-eating program director Maria João Gregório. Freitas observed that real planning means choosing a good plan and holding to it over time. The conversation also surfaced a persistent challenge: in a field where most students are women, leadership remains harder to reach, and Freitas spoke directly about the cultural forces responsible.
The day closed with awards, tributes to long-serving faculty, and the unveiling of a sculpture by professor emeritus Olívia Pinho — busts of Peres and Teixeira Santos alongside ceramic pieces representing water, soil, roots, leaves, and wheat, the school's emblem. A documentary exhibition displayed fifty years of scientific output, and graduate students in gastronomy served traditional Porto dishes reimagined as healthier versions. The school marked its half-century not with nostalgia but with a clear-eyed look at what it had built — and what it still needed to do.
On a Monday morning in early June, the Norberto Teixeira Santos auditorium at the University of Porto filled with faculty, students, and alumni gathered to mark an unusual milestone: fifty years since Portugal's first nutrition degree program opened its doors. The Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Studies had been born on May 31, 1976—a moment that, in the telling of those who were there, felt revolutionary.
Pedro Graça, the faculty's director, stood before the crowd and spoke about what those founders had accomplished. He named them: Emílio Peres, Norberto Teixeira Santos, Manuel Pinheiro Hargreaves, Francisco Gonçalves Ferreira. These were men, Graça said, animated by a commitment to the common good and a new way of thinking about the relationship between food and health. In the 1970s, this was extraordinary—a break from how people understood nutrition's place in medicine and public life. The school that grew from their vision had become something larger than itself. Alumni now led nutrition services across the country, from the far north to the Algarve and the Azores. They filled teaching positions at other universities. They held leadership roles in the professional order. The school had become, in effect, the template for how nutrition science was practiced in Portugal.
The numbers told part of the story. Since 2018, total enrollment had grown by 118 percent. International students now made up 23 percent of the student body. The faculty ranked sixth nationally in scientific output. But Graça's real emphasis fell on something harder to quantify: a distinctive way of thinking and working that had marked everyone who passed through. The school had built not just a curriculum but a community of practitioners capable of leaving a mark on society.
Looking forward, Graça announced concrete plans. A University Nutrition Clinic would open in September. A bar and cantina would function as a working food laboratory, serving the campus community while modeling the principles the school taught. The future, he said, would be more digital, more interconnected, more international. But it would also be rooted in the same commitment that had animated the founders: understanding food as a determinant of health and longevity. He made a direct appeal to the country. More than half of Portugal's adult population carried excess weight. A million people lived with diabetes and hypertension. The nation needed to reckon with its relationship to food and to value the professionals who worked in this space.
Diana Fonseca, president of the student association, took the microphone and spoke about the thousands of stories, dreams, and achievements those fifty years contained. She quoted the Mozambican writer Mia Couto: what matters is not the house where we live, but where the house lives in us. She offered a tribute to Graça, saying he had done more than direct an institution—he had given voice to the importance of food and health in Portugal, bringing nutrition closer to ordinary people and showing that work done inside these walls could transform lives outside them.
Sara Rodrigues, who had coordinated the anniversary celebrations, offered a different kind of reflection. She drew a parallel between the school's history and a housing crisis. For forty-four years, the faculty had fought for its own building, living in borrowed spaces—the Hospital de São João, the engineering school—while its autonomy remained constrained. Only in middle age, she said, had the institution finally secured a home of its own. The first fifty years had been about construction and consolidation. The next fifty, she argued, would be defined by the school's capacity to continue innovating, serving society, and training new generations of nutritionists for a world in constant change.
The day included a roundtable discussion anchored by a quote from Norberto Teixeira Santos, one of the founders: "The real difficulty is having a good plan." Graça Freitas, former director general of health; António Guerra, a pediatrician and former faculty member; and Maria João Gregório, who directs the national program for healthy eating promotion, spoke about past, present, and future. Freitas noted that plans are often intentions that go nowhere—real planning means choosing a good plan and maintaining it over time. Guerra emphasized the strategic vision Teixeira Santos had brought to building the foundations of nutrition science. Gregório, herself an alumna and former teacher, celebrated the school's new home and stressed the need to maintain closeness as the institution grew. The conversation also surfaced a challenge: in a field where most students are women, leadership positions remain harder to reach. Freitas spoke plainly about the cultural forces that steer women away from positions of authority.
The day concluded with awards and tributes. Ana Beatriz Pacheco received the Norberto Teixeira Santos Prize for highest marks in the undergraduate nutrition program. Nuno Silva Martins received the Emílio Peres Prize for excellence in food and nutrition coursework. Student leaders and volunteers were honored. Faculty members who had given decades of service were recognized. And in a final symbolic moment, a sculpture by Olívia Pinho, a professor emeritus, was unveiled—busts of two founders, Peres and Teixeira Santos, alongside five ceramic pieces representing water, soil, roots, leaves, and wheat stalks, the school's emblem. A documentary exhibition opened, displaying fifty years of the school's scientific output: books, articles, patents. A themed lunch, prepared by graduate students in gastronomy, served traditional Porto dishes reimagined as healthier versions. The school had marked its half-century not with nostalgia but with a clear-eyed look at what it had built and what it still needed to do.
Citas Notables
The most important thing is not the house where we live, but where the house lives in us— Mia Couto, quoted by student association president Diana Fonseca
More than directing an institution, he has helped give voice to the importance of food and health in our country, bringing nutrition closer to people and showing that work done here can truly transform lives outside— Diana Fonseca, on director Pedro Graça
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does a nutrition school's anniversary matter enough to fill an auditorium?
Because this school didn't just train professionals—it created the entire field in Portugal. Before 1976, nutrition wasn't really a profession here. These founders invented it, and everyone who leads nutrition work in the country now traces back to them.
The numbers show growth, but what changed between 2018 and now that enrollment jumped 118 percent?
The country started taking nutrition seriously as a health crisis became visible. Obesity, diabetes, hypertension—these aren't abstract problems anymore. The school grew because the need became undeniable.
You mentioned the school spent forty-four years without its own building. How does that shape an institution?
It keeps you humble. You're always dependent, always grateful to your hosts. But it also means you're not insulated. You're embedded in hospitals, engineering schools, the real world. When you finally get your own space, you have to decide what you're actually about.
The director announced a nutrition clinic and a food lab disguised as a bar. That's unusual.
It's not a bar—it's a teaching kitchen that serves the community. The school is saying: we don't just study food in the abstract. We cook it, we serve it, we show people how to eat better. Theory meets practice.
There was talk about women in leadership. What's the actual problem?
In a field where most students are women, most leaders are still men. There's a cultural current that pushes women toward certain roles and away from others. It's not explicit, but it's real.
What does the school want to be in the next fifty years?
More connected to the world, more digital, but still rooted in the same principle: food is not separate from health. It's the foundation. They want to keep innovating while staying true to what the founders understood.