Imagine it…
The recent Hort Connections Conference held in Adelaide this year was a cracking event with a big thumbs up to both the organisers and sponsors.
Over 1,000 growers were in attendance along with hundreds of engaging trade exhibits and thought-provoking presentations. Two captured the imagination and challenged the sector to think differently about food, embracing new technologies, feeding the world in 2050, and our role in it all.
Firstly, if you ever get the chance to listen to Milo-Wilkinson, jump at it! Milo is an international award-winning Behavioural Scientist who specialises in the brain, behavioural patterns, crisis leadership and analysing human behaviour in order to predict outcomes. A big job!
Milo got us thinking about our brains and how much pressure they are under every day. All growers can relate to having mental overload however Milo pointed out that due to now having more information than ever before at our fingertips, we are capable of having more than 50,000 thoughts every day. The problem here is that although we are having more thoughts, we still have the same hardware, our brain, to process it all. No wonder anxiety and mental illness is rife.
Milo’s top tips for a healthy brain:
Stay curious… lean into true discomfort, as that is when great change happens.
Drink 2L water per day for full brain power as our brains are 75% water.
Spend 10 minutes each day imagining and visualising what you want to change as Milo said, “Where you put your mind, your body will follow.”
Train your brain 3 times per week for a minimum of ten minutes with brain games.
We were also blown away by Tony Hunter, of TECHXponentialTMO. Tony is a global thought leader, food futurist speaker and food scientist. He highlighted plant-based proteins are currently in the spotlight and growing their market share, but product development using cellular agriculture, fermentation, seaweed, algae, wood, and even air are catching up. He noted the rapid approach of alternative protein pricing and taste parity with conventional meat.
Tony challenged our thinking with this statement, “Gen Alpha will be the consumers of 2040, following the Gen Z’s who are already 75% accepting of technology to make their food.” He followed with a warning to growers about not keeping pace of change, “It is a danger to think in a straight line in an exponential world.” Referring to the current pace of change and scale of technological advancements, and the challenge that presents for consumers.
So, what does the consumers of the future want? Tony shared that the next generation will:
Want functional foods more than tasty fuels.
Not conform to the breakfast, lunch, and routine.
Want bioactives/ bioactive ingredients, upcycled foods and alternative proteins.
From all accounts it appears technology is rapidly changing and will be much more prevalent in our food discussion moving forward. Science fiction may be fast becoming science fact. I knew the Jetsons were onto something!
