SXSW Moments: The Future of Food
The Forrest Four-Cast: July 12, 2019
Did you miss something at SXSW 2019? Want to relive the magic? Look to this space over the coming weeks for links to video and audio replays of some of the most incredible experiences from this year’s event.
Move over, meatless burger: make room for fishless fish. Impossible Foods, the company responsible for the Impossible Whopper now available at Burger King, is just one of several companies developing seafood alternatives based on plants or grown from cells. And when it comes to changes in the food business, that’s just the tip of the dorsal fin. SXSW19 featured some fascinating panels on what the future holds for the way we eat and drink.
Launching a Food Company to Change the World
Hear from a panel of top plant-based future food companies on how this industry is evolving, along with top lessons when building a food product. Panelists include the co-founder of Fora, makers of Faba Butter, the CEO of Ocean Hugger Foods, makers of ahimi, the world’s first plant-based alternative to raw tuna, and the founder of the plant-based meat company, Abbot’s Butcher. Moderated by Andrew D. Ive, formerly of Food-X, now MD of Big Idea Ventures, a new fund focused on Plant Based Foods and New Protein.
How Transparency Will Shape the Food Industry
At a time when most of us likely and unknowingly buying our meat from one of the “big four” producers, how do we create a future that involves transparent relationships with our food and its producers? In this session, Crowd Cow CEO Joe Heitzeberg, “Speaking Broadly” host Dana Cowin, Shake Shack’s Jeffrey Amoscato and rancher Jeanie Alderson will touch on how they see the future of meat consumption, from each of their unique perspectives.
The Most Expensive Meal in the World
Where would you expect to find the world’s most expensive dish? Tokyo? Geneva? In a helicopter over Manhattan? The answer is South Sudan, shattered by war and one of the poorest nations on earth. Relative to income, the price of a simple plate of food there would be like an American paying $300. We’re not talking Michelin-star fancy stuff. Just some beans or lentils, a handful of rice or bread or corn, a dash of tomato sauce. We underestimate what it takes to secure affordable food: Peace. Mitigation of climate extremes. Functioning markets. This panel uses new optics to quantify disparities in access to food and examines ways to overcome them.
The Future of Food Delivery
With 80% of meals being eaten at home and millennials being three times more likely to order in than their parents, the $13 billion food delivery industry is continuing to evolve by the day. So, why delivery? And, how can we ensure that delivery doesn’t mean poor choices? Learn what the future of healthy, wholesome and delicious food being available at the tap of a button looks like, so you can spend more quality time eating, enjoying and sharing.
Food of the Dystopia: Beyond Bugs and Beans
Climate change, pollution, and overpopulation are making traditional food growth and harvesting difficult. Recent years have introduced meat and dairy alternatives, like lab-grown meat, insect protein, and nut milks, but eventually those will become inaccessible as resources become scarce. You can’t farm mealworms without grains to feed them, and you can’t get almond milk if the trees can’t grow. In the dystopia, food will have to be RECYCLED. With the right engineering, wastewater becomes beer, discarded grains become wheat, and human waste becomes nutritional goo. The future may not look promising, but these scientists and food innovators firmly believe we won’t starve.
Future Wine: Millennials, Tech and Change
The business of wine is estimated to be over $300 billion globally. Millennials now consume over 40% of wine in America and are poised to soon consume a majority. Brands and retailers are scrambling to understand the shift and not disappear into irrelevance. What are Millennials looking for? A diverse panel of creative thinkers on wine, generation evolution, and tech share unique insights that could apply to any industry. Panelists include Brit Campbell, founder and CEO of Brit’s Wines, Inc., Heather Watson, Behavioral Designer at The Center For Generational Kinetics LLC and Rob Wilder, co-founder (with José Andrés) of Think Food Group (TFG), founder of FoodTech Angels and co-founder of WineGame.
Tap Primal Instincts to Fuel Your Food Movement
Parents say eat your veggies but we still crave candy? Understand why what we do and what we actually want are often different, especially when it comes to food. Explore what drives food choices in different situations and why rational thinking alone can’t trump primal desires. This is a great discussion for marketers, researchers, consumer enthusiasts, food lovers, policy wonks and health nuts.
More Memories from SXSW 2019
AI, With Feeling
Future of AI
Why News Matters
Better Storytelling
Innovative Design
Addressing MeToo
AI for Business
Public Interest AI
Change is Coming
Urban Mobility
It’s Time for Sports!
Saving the Ocean
Military Matters
Women’s Health
Social Media Power
Telling New Media Stories
Motherhood
Marvel’s Magic
Future Health
May the Fourth
Women in Tech
Growing Unicorns
Thriving at Work
Making a Difference
Fighting Fake News
Disaster Response
Hacking Democracy
Pete Buttigieg
Kara Swisher
Arlan Hamilton
Do these audio recordings inspire you to get involved in a SXSW session next year? Enter your forward-thinking speaking proposal for March 2020 via the SXSW PanelPicker. Speaking proposals for next year’s event are accepted via this interface through July 19.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
