The future of food was the focal point of a two-day Creator Space TM jamming event held by BASF in Washington, D.C., which brought together 30 stakeholders representing the entire food value chain.
Everyone from farmers to academics and food manufacturers to logistic companies discussed long-term challenges and far-future trends that might impact the food value chain in the years to come.
Topics covered include affordability and access to food, personalized nutrition, transparency for consumers and food waste.
“The future of food is complex,” says Kyle Marinkovich, Cargill Specialty Seeds & Oils assistant vice president of marketing. “The themes that have come out here are inter-related and interdependent, and the complexities associated with them are major. The jamming session is an innovative way of identifying and creatively approaching the dialogue around these issues.”
All ideas were condensed into three future scenarios: Brazil without water, personal “food-print,” and meat as a luxury item. BASF reports that this approach opens up a new dimension in understanding the needs related to food. The scenarios will be further discussed and refined to help find lasting contributions to society.
“We’ve confirmed during this event that once we team up with partners and work together along the food value chain, we can better understand, develop and then deliver technologies and solutions for the upcoming challenges,” shares Juergen Oldeweme, BASF Crop Protection senior vice president of global product safety and regulatory affairs.
The event was jointly hosted by BASF’s Nutrition and Health division, the Crop Protection division and the Bioscience Research division.
As a next step, BASF will host a co-creation workshop in Chicago in June with the aim of turning the experts’ insights into new projects and initiatives to support the future of food.
