Food & Ag Geeks Travel: Silicon Valley/SF
These were four different Food & Agriculture events scheduled between the dates of June 21-26. Ticket options included any combination of these events and a "Whole Week" option.Food & Agro Innovation Trip to Silicon ValleyOrganized visits to Silicon Valley technology and innovation companies with focus on how IT and Silicon Valley-type innovation can be applied to food and agriculture.Sunday, June 21:
Kick-off Dinner @ the Netherlands Consulate in San Francisco
Venture trends in Agriculture & Food industries
Will Rosenzweig, Managing Partner at Physic Ventures and Dean, The Food Business School
Rob Trice, Better Food Ventures
Monday, June 22:
Future Outlook: Seeds of Disruption, “How technology is remaking the future of Food
Devin Fidler, Research Director, Institute for the Future
Rajnish Khanna, Entrepreneur Plant Biology & Microbiology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford
Internet of Everything (IoE): IoE vision, trends, and how it will impact all industries. Deep-dive into IoE business implications in Logistics, Agriculture, and Food
Joel Barbier, Director, Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco
Company Visits:
IndieBio, Good Eggs, 6SensorLab
Panel and discussion on Silicon Valley Innovation mindset and collaborating with start-ups
San Francisco Food Dining Experience at SOMA Streetfood Park
Tuesday, June 23
Big Data, predictive analytics and the cloud, and their impact on Agriculture, smarter Food, and Disease
Simone Bianco, Department of Industrial and Applied Genomics, IBM Almaden Research Center
Panel and discussion on “”Role and impact of Social Media in food and agriculture”
Daniel Graf, ex VP Twitter
Jenna Zimmerman, Writer and culinary producer
Company Visits:
Mattson (independent developer of new products for food and beverage industries)
Impossible Foods (new generation of meats and cheeses made entirely from plants)
Private evening event: Start-up pitches and networking with Food & Agriculture investors
Food IT 2015: Macro to Micro Conference (Food IT)Wednesday, June 24The Mixing Bowl is a business-focused forum connecting innovators from the IT, Food & Agriculture sectors. In conjunction with Stanford’s FEED Collaborative, we are organizing our second annual Food IT conference at Stanford bringing together Food/Ag-focused start-ups, venture capitalists, IT innovators, and small/mid/large food and agricultural sector players. The purpose of FOOD IT is to FOCUS IN on the DOWN-TO-EARTH challenges in food, and UNDERSCORE those who are looking to RE-DO food through information technology and Silicon Valley-type innovation. Panels will focus on the MICRO steps being taking today to RE-DO food and agriculture to meet the MACRO challenges of tomorrow. Start-up pitching sessions will be held in parallel to the main conference.More information on FOOD IT: Macro to Micro Conference here.Food & Agro Geeks Travel to UC DavisThursday, June 25Following the Food IT conference on June 24th, the Mixing Bowl organized a Food Geeks Travel to UC Davis where we:
Toured Russell Ranch, the 100-Year Sustainable Agriculture Study
Heard overviews on the work of leading UC Davis scientists on a variety of food science topics:
Bio & Ag Engineering & Energy Efficiency by Chris Simmons
Microbiome, Food Science & Technology by Bruce German
Metabolmonics & Nutrition by Carolyn Slupsky
Hydrology by Jan Hopmans
Plant Genetics by Siobhan Brady
Food Safety by Bart Weimer
Roger Beachy, Director of the World Food Center
Toured the Mondavi Institute for Wine & Food Science to learn topics such as fermentation and dairy processing.
Learned about the newly launched Innovation Institute for Food & Health
Enjoyed a delicious lunch with local wine and olive oil tasting under the splendid Davis sunshine before returning to The Bay Area.
Design Lab WorkshopFriday, June 26Facilitated design workshop to reflect on and synthesize the inspirations and learning from the week. Build prototypes, stories, and action items to take home. Discuss and design collaborations and joint projects.