Recap: Videos from the Future of Food Summit 2016

by Yulia Ivanova

On 21 June in London, we held the RE•WORK Future of Food Summit, bringing together food industry innovators, exciting FoodTech and AgTech startups and leading academics, for a day of discussions around how we will produce, distribute and consume food in the future.  The summit showcased technological advances that are disrupting agriculture; explored discussions on urban farming, hacking food waste & connecting farmers; and facilitated cross-sector, international networking sessions for the attendees.

VIEW THE SOCIAL MEDIA SUMMARY OF THE FUTURE OF FOOD SUMMIT HERE.

Can Computers Be Creative?
Florian Pinel, Lead Engineer, IBM Chef Watson

Meet Chef Watson. Aimed at adventurous cooks, Chef Watson is a cognitive computing application revolutionizing how people combine ingredients to create unique dishes with novel flavors. Even the best chefs build flavor profiles with only two or three ingredients at a time. After sifting through one quintillion ingredient combinations, Chef Watson considers thousands simultaneously. As a cognitive system, it learns from human expertise and extends what people can do on their own. Chef Watson read 10,000 recipes from the chefs at Bon Appétit to understand how ingredients are used in cuisines and dishes and, for example, what makes a soup different from a burrito. Then, it added an understanding of food chemistry and the psychology of people’s taste likes and dislikes. With as little as one user-selected ingredient, Chef Watson can suggest a totally unique flavor profile, measurements, and preparation steps for a dish.

Diary of a Cell Farmer
Abi Glencross, PhD Candidate in Cellular Agriculture, King’s College

Do we really know where our animal products come from? The mince in our meatballs? The lamb in our stew? Join cellular agriculture researcher Abi Aspen Glencross on a journey which will unearth the origins of animal agriculture and its impact on our world. Learn more about the cultured steak project and discover the true potential of creating food from cell culture, rather than animals, as we deconstruct meat and reconstruct it from scratch, one cell at a time.

Your Drinks With a Splash of Robotics
Alessandro Incisa, Project Manager, Makr Shakr

Since ancient human history, people have always urge to to experiment, innovate and create – technology was one of the product of such instinct. At Makr Shakr we aim at studying the way in which technology can change the way people interacts in every day’s life. Makr Shakr was conceived as a social experiment that looks at how people might embrace the new possibilities offered by digital manufacturing. We consider it like a research platform on the so-called third industrial revolution and its consequences: an example of how digital technologies are changing the interaction between people and products. The system explores the new dynamics of social creation and consumption - ‘design, make and enjoy’ - allowing users to design their own cocktail creations, while digitally controlled machines transform these designs into reality.View more videos from the Future of Food Summit on our playlist here. Testimonials: “Thank you so much for hosting the event, I really came away form it with a lot of new ideas and enthusiasm." - Tommy Clarke, Metropolitan School  “Thank you #reworkfood @teamrework for putting together a wonderful event on #foodtech innovations. Keep up the good work.” - Vijayender Nalla, Co-Founder & MD, RVJ Agribusiness Academy"Inspiring day at #reworkfood learning about how technology is transforming food agriculture diet & production." - Vicki Lockhart, Senior Specialist in Health & Wellbeing, Arup  Our next events taking place in London are the Deep Learning Summit with breakout sessions in FinTech and Chatbots, taking place on 22-23 September 2016. Discounted tickets end on Friday 29 July! Register now at an Early Bird price using the event website here.View all upcoming RE•WORK summits here.