February 2012
17 posts
5 tags
Innovator Video: The Future of Grocery - An...
Increasing consumer demand for information about our food is certain to change the food shopping experience over the next 5 - 10 years.
In this senior thesis project, German interaction design students Benedikt Burgmaier and Fabian Kreuzer re-imagine the meat, cheese and fish counter to provide customers with detailed product, origin and recipe information for food items. A customer can...
5 tags
Food Rules for Startups: 8 Ways to Build Better...
At Thumbtack, we make food a priority. It’s amazing what eating does to bring people together. Our team feels like a big family, and this is in large part due to the fact that we share most of our meals: four days a week we eat lunch together around a big table in the center of the office, and once a week we all sit down for a big family-style dinner.
Often startups try to attract talented...
5 tags
Infographics of the Week: Water Footprint of...
A new report  from scientists at the University of Twente analyzes and maps global water use related to production and consumption from 1996 to 2005. According to the study, agriculture accounts for a staggering 92 percent of annual global freshwater consumption. Production of cereal grains accounts for 27 percent, meat for 22 percent, and dairy for 7 percent of this consumption.
The chart...
5 tags
BAMCO's Role in Making New Farm & Food Data...
Bon Appétit Management Company, which operates more than 400 cafés for companies including Twitter, Yahoo! and eBay, announced Tuesday the rollout of a comprehensive farm animal welfare policy that could make significantly more information about growing practices available. Bon Appétit plans to source 25 percent of its meat, poultry and egg purchases companywide from producers certified...
5 tags
James Beard's Mitchell Davis on What a Better Food...
One of my favorite talks from this years TEDxManhattan was that of James Beard Foundation Executive Vice President Mitchell Davis who asked,“What does a better food system taste like?”
Davis argued that “taste” has become as much a matter of power and social class as it is chemical reaction. If our food system was designed for taste, processed foods and barely ripe...
5 tags
Stop-Motion Animation of Michael Pollan's Food...
The complexities of our food are often difficult to digest. Few make them as easy to consume as Michael Pollan.
Now, Marija Jacimovic and Benoit Detalle have produced a beautiful stop-motion film that uses vegetables to visualize Pollan’s “Food Rules” talk, given at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts (RSA) in 2010. The animation does an excellent job of...
5 tags
Infographics of the Week: Nielsen Report on Global...
This week’s infographic is a series of charts and graphs with fascinating information culled from an online survey by Nielsen of more than 25,000 people from 56 countries.
The information was collected online - which means that the affluence of the respondents was likely quite high. But one of the most interesting findings was that a very large percentage of people on every continent feel...
5 tags
BrightFarms' Business Model: How Tech & Efficiency...
[Full disclosure: I worked at BrightFarm Systems, the predecessor to BrightFarms, before Paul Lightfoot became CEO.]
Entrepreneurship is all about turning problems into business opportunities. Food and agriculture in the United States are rife with challenges, so logic would dictate that there are also numerous opportunities.
Paul Lightfoot, Chief Executive Officer of BrightFarms, a company that...
5 tags
Surveys of Chefs and Consumers Find Technology...
Two interesting surveys about technology use in restaurants predict trends for 2012. But the specifics of those trends seem to be lacking, and to find out more, Food+Tech Connect has created a quick survey below.
The National Restaurant Association, in partnership with the American Culinary Federation, surveyed 1,800 chefs at the end of 2011. Chef’s Survey: What’s Hot In 2012 asked...
5 tags
Infographic of the Week: Chocolate
Americans will purchase 5 percent of the year’s chocolate this week for Valentine’s Day - 58 million pounds of it for a whopping $345 million in revenue. But where does that chocolate come from and how is it grown, picked, processed and shipped? Sadly the reality of growing and making chocolate is often far less romantic and positive - particularly for children - than the commercials...
5 tags
Eating Your Way Through Pinterest
It’s social, visual, viral, and easy to use, which are just some of the reasons why brands like Whole Foods, Food52, Chobani, Sustainable Table (GRACE Communications Foundation), Cabot Cheese, and now Food+Tech Connect are flocking to Pinterest. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that helps you organize and share interesting things you find on the web. TechCrunch broke the story Tuesday that...
5 tags
Innovator Video: The RFID Network
Despite the media’s fixation with the latest, greatest gadget, often times innovation takes place behind the scenes, using technology we don’t often hear about.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is one such technology.  Increasingly used in everything from cattle identification systems to the fashion industry  (and don’t forget, you can use it for spying!), RFID tags...
5 tags
'Chemical Cuisine' App Makes Understanding Food...
McDonalds recently announced it will no longer include âpink slimeâ (ammonium hydroxide) in its burgers. But what about all the other chemical additives weâve never heard of and canât pronounce? Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT) in fruit bars? Phytosterols and phytostanols in fruit juice?
Over the past few years several apps have popped up to help consumers figure out what is in their...
5 tags
Technology Accelerating Food's Transformation to...
For several months our team at Good Eggs has been researching the local food phenomenon around the country.  Weâre looking for ways in which technology can help grow and sustain local food systems worldwide, accelerating the changes that are already having major positive impact in the world.  Our premise, which is the shared premise of Food+Tech Connect and likely its readers, is that...
5 tags
Infographic of the Week: The Weight of the Union
Today’s infographic follows on the heels of last week’s amazingly popular Carbs are Killing You visual and the lively conversation, and wish list for health and nutrition apps, that followed.
Designed for Anytime Fitness and based on the fitness and nutritional habits of its 1.3 million members, the visual looks at the numbers behind obesity - how expensive it is to be overweight...
5 tags
Carbs Infographic Inspires Health & Nutrition Wish...
Last Friday, Food+Tech Connect posted âCarbs are Killing Youâ as the Infographic of the Week, and we received almost 70 comments on the visual.
The responses are interesting and express the varied perceptions and experiences people have with “healthy eating.” But the number and intensity got us thinking about the opportunities for entrepreneurship this level of engagement might...
5 tags
Ramen Data: Mouth to Anus
Processed food like ramen noodles and gummy bears are bad for you. Now, for the first time ever, you can see how for yourself.
Artist and provacateur Stefani Bardin’s newest project M2A™:The Fantastic Voyage offers a graphic look at how the gastrointestinal tract (GI) processes a meal of Top Ramen, Gummy Bears and Blue Gatorade versus a meal of hand made noodles, pomegranate/cherry juice...