As we all know, each March our city is taken over for 10 days by a vibrant and inspiring energy. An energy from tech leaders, entrepreneurs, movie stars, musicians, film makers and fans. It arrives not just from across our country but across the globe as well. All to one dot in the middle of Texas and it is known as South By SouthWest.
This year the Driskill was a hub for daily food panels and it was nothing short of phenomenal. Topics ranged from craft beer and urban wineries, to food waste and sustainability to technology changing how we eat and our relationship with food- the panels added to that innovative SX energy.
Perhaps one of the most inspiring panels for me was the “Disrupting Global Hunger: Moonshots for Humanity. The World Food Programme has a goal to end world hunger by 2030. This means providing nutrition for the 800 million people- 1 in 9- who are hungry. Children are not getting the nutrients they need to develop mentally and physically which leads to stunted growth that can be irreparable. What was most uplifting about this grim statistic was hearing about the innovative ways to help achieve this moonshot such as putting the furthest behind first and helping those in rural areas have access to their local market by paving the road from farm to market. To find out more about helping visit: www1.wfp.org/zero-hunger
Other noteworthy panels:
The Smart Kitchen: Cooking with Better Technology
How AI/Machine Learning Will Change the Way We Eat
Think Outside the Trash Can: Fight Food Waste Now