Panelists call on consumers to ask the right questions about where their food comes from and the impact of agricultural practices on future generations.
Food Tank
“Whether You Produce Food or Not, Food Waste Is Still Your Problem,” Says Niyeti Shah
At the Future of Food @ SXSW, panelists discussed the different types of innovation required to end food waste.
Andrew Zimmern: “I Don’t Understand How Any Politician Can Be Against Feeding Hungry Children”
At the Future of Food @ SXSW Andrew Zimmern discusses the future of the restaurant industry, the need for greater collaboration, and why the best metaphor for the food system is a Mobius strip.
“Companies Have an Essential Role to Play, but Every Lever Has to Be Moving,” Julie Kunen Says
“The market moves things,” says Julie Kunen, and leveraging its potential has the power drive change in the food system. But the private sector can’t do it alone.
“We Have to Organize and There’s Really No Shortcut to That,” Says Jim Hightower
“Whatever talent you have, put that to work,” says Jim Hightower while discussing organizing for a better food system and combating corporate consolidation.
“Resilience Is Rebuilding These Local Communities and Relocalizing Food,” Says Jacob Pechenik
Jacob Pechenik discusses community resilience, finding optimism in gardening, and ensuring that all kids are exposed to growing their own food.
“More Data, Better Transparency Means Less Waste,” Vishaal Bhuyan Says
At the Future of Food @ SXSW Vishaal Bhuyan explains how Aanika Biosciences is working to use microbial tags to improve traceability and transparency in the food system.
“We Have to Move Away From this Notion that Agriculture Is Unskilled Labor,” Says Jenet DeCosta
During a conversation about farm workers and immigration policy, speakers emphasize that “we can’t forget the individuals that provide us with our food.”
“Stand in Your Authority. And the Only Way You Can Do That Is to Know What You Know,” Says Toni Tipton-Martin
Toni Tipton-Martin discusses the contributions of historical Black culinary professionals, her latest cookbook, and importance of rigor and discipline to becoming who you are.
The Role of Agaves in Presilience at the Food/Water/Energy Nexus
Arid cities in the U.S./Mexico borderlands are using succulent crops in regenerative perennial food systems to reverse and halt climate change.
Faith and Food Justice Conference Highlights Root Causes of Unfair Food Systems
Farmers, faith leaders, and activists came together to advocate for economically, racially, and ecologically equitable farm communities.
Transformative change cannot be done alone, says filmmaker Raj Patel
“Collectively, we have to get with the idea that we’re living on the same planet as everybody else, and we can’t go around trashing it,” says Patel.
“Without the Farm Worker This Business Doesn’t Get to Exist,” Says Soren Bjorn
Following a watch party for the “The Last Harvest” at SXSW, speakers discussed immigration policy, the essential status of farm workers, and the intersection of food and technology.
Program Supports Next Generation of Food System Leaders
A new fellowship is designed to drive personal transformation and support scaleable solutions in the food system.
“Agriculture is where nature and culture meet,” says pioneering artist and chef Jim Denevan
Denevan’s creations are a practice in the ever-changing, temporal nature of life, as well as the interconnection of all eaters. Both his art and dinners emphasize the need for collaboration between eaters and the environment.
A-dae Romero-Briones: “We have to recognize that we are all living, breathing stories”
Filmmakers need to have experience in philanthropy and an established network to tell these types of stories, says Director Sanjay Rawal, and this means that “the right people to tell the stories usually aren’t the ones telling the stories.”
“To help the planet and the Earth, it’s all about connection,” says Adrian Grenier
Grenier’s new documentary series Earth Speed aims to show how both personal development and environmental innovations can contribute to a better world by connecting viewers to stories of the land.
Good for plate and planet: “The future has to be delicious”
According to Kamine, “if one out of every five pieces of chicken that we all ate was a Do Good Chicken, we’d solve food waste in the next five years.”
Starbucks employees forming a union: Working conditions are “putting all of us in danger”
Some of the Memphis 7 members’ grandparents marched with Martin Luther King, Jr., during the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike. “Now, it’s picking up where they left off.”
Vital Farms: “We’re aligned around something much bigger than selling eggs”
At the Future of Food @ SXSW, Jennifer Gregg says companies need to ask what crew members need and rally behind it, rather than telling them what they need.
