This month, we are excited to take some time to introduce our new Food Future Co program coordinator Ana Ojeda Osmena. Ana is an entrepreneur and Food Studies Master’s candidate at NYU. She tells us about the amazing farm and fast-casual restaurant projects she co-founded in the Philippines, as well as her work in the Food Studies program. I believe that immediate positive change can be made in the food system through innovation and entrepreneurship. Tell us about your background, and what you did prior to joining FoodFutureCo? I was born in New York, but I grew up in the Philippines until
Sarah Smith is a Research Director with the Institute for the Future’s Food Futures Lab, where she works with many of the world’s largest food, health, and CPG companies to challenge their assumptions and identify emerging trends and discontinuities that will transform the global marketplace and global food system. We chatted with her about how to envision the role of impact-focused food companies in the future, and what types of values should shape our growing and eating. Sarah Smith Research Director The Institute for the Future’s Food Futures Lab What is futures thinking and what
We sit down with Alicia Robb, a managing partner at Next Wave Impact, an early stage venture fund, to gain insights into the investor perspective on food start-ups. She is a Visiting Scholar with the University of Colorado at Boulder and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, as well as being the author of several books on investing in women-run and minority-run companies. We ask her what she looks for in a food entrepreneur, as well as her take on diversity in investing and the future of veganism. Alicia Robb Fund Manager + Angel Investor Next Wave Impact Rockies Venture Club, Social Venture
To kickoff our new mentor video series, we sat down with the illustrious founder of FoodFutureCo, Shen Tong, to give some insight into FFC’s vision for the future role of food businesses in shaping our food system, and the potential of accelerators to amplify that change. What does the future look like for food businesses? In the next 10-20 years, we will see “authentic” and ethical food becoming more mainstream trends for food businesses. Food and cooking will continue to rise in popularity among all demographics, providing more entry points and niche markets. But the major focus for future food
Through the coming decade, what we eat will be shaped by new tastes, new innovations, and primarily, by new concerns held by consumers. Food businesses will have to offer more personalized food products, more sustainable packaging, and more international tastes (Japanese snack boxes, anyone?) delivered to our doorstop. Younger generations will be a driving force of change in food ways, and food producers are tuning into their concerns and habits. Our culture has shifted from considering food as an energy and sensory pleasure source to an accessible way to relate to culture, to nature, and to friends and communities.
Cooking is often an expression of ourselves—our values, our lifestyles, and our cultural traditions. The holidays present an opportunity to express these values as we attempt to weave them into our daily lives, including conscious eating and sustainable living. It is a time to reevaluate our traditions, and take a stand on practices that don’t contribute to a robust, healthy food system. It is also a time to reinforce and celebrate traditions that we can feel good about, from sourcing our food in an ecologically responsible way, to making recipes that repurpose food waste into soups, stocks, and preserves. By being
We’ve heard that the microbiome in our gut is of unprecedented importance—we have overlooked a hidden (and massive) world of organisms crucial to our health. The result has been an influx of foods and supplements tailored to the human microbiome, as well as initiatives to map the genome of the microbes in our stomachs and ultimately apply those insights to the medical industry. We have found ourselves the residence for quite a host of microscopic species integral to human health. It’s not a surprise that the most fervor in discussing the microbiome has to do with the most personal application, our bodies themselves.
We look at which innovations in technology have the potential to change our food system, and which ones might be more about novelty than sustainability. The future of our food system will inescapably involve technology. We are surrounded by tech-driven innovations in how we grow, produce, and consume our food—from 3D-printed pizza to blockchain-enabled traceability to ever-more flamboyant artificial flavors and eating experiences. (Think rainbow bagels). With a swell of new technologies on the horizon, which will cultivate a sustainable and productive food system? Some may prove to be passing fads, while others will
It seems as though everyone is talking about sustainability, but what does it really mean when it comes to creating a better food system? Our founder, Shen Tong, discussed sustainability on the Solving for Sustainability panel produced by Seeds & Chips at the Summer Fancy Food Show. Moderated by Ayesha Vera-Yu of Advancement for Rural Kids, other panelists included Mary Cleaver of The Green Table | Cleaver Co, Steffen Schneider of Hawthorne Valley Farm, and Liz Vaknin of Our Name is Farm. On Making Sustainability Personal “To spread sustainability, we have to make it personal,” Shen says. “I became
Chaga Elixir by Four Sigmatic | Image courtesy of Four Sigmatic Meet the Mushroom Merchants Medicinal mushrooms like reishi, chaga, and cordyceps are taking the U.S. market by storm. While these fungi have long been central components of Chinese medicine and eastern traditions, the growing interest in wellness and preventative care among U.S. consumers is opening up opportunities for entrepreneurs to introduce these ancient ingredients to a new generation of health enthusiasts. A jar of reishi mushroom extract from Moon Juice promises that this “Nootropic Supershroom” (read: brain enhancing mushroom) is a “calming