Media Contact:
Jan Smyth
Marketing Manager
845-451-1457
j_smyth@culinary.edu
St. Helena, CA – More than 350 executives, thought leaders, and innovators
in technology, behavior, design, and food gathered this past weekend at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in the Napa Valley for
the first edition of reThink Food. This
groundbreaking conference, co-presented by the CIA and the MIT Media Lab,
showcased insights into the future of food and the integration of technology in
that future, and imagined a new revolution in food and foodservice.
“We are at a pivotal moment when culinary, technology, and
behavioral experts must collaborate to address the challenges we all see for
our future,” said CIA President Tim Ryan.
“This convergence
can create a business landscape in which higher quality, more engaging
food experiences evolve through innovations in technology and
design, and move us on to the next big idea—producing value-based
strategies that
connect our industry to the needs and expectations of today’s
consumers. This
weekend, reThink Food became such a place of
convergence.”
Ryan shared the stage with Media Lab Director Joi Ito, who spoke about the way food brings together so
many different, seemingly disparate areas—art, science, and design—much the way
the MIT Media Lab does. "At the Lab we routinely
break down entrenched silos, and see a need to do the same for the food
sector," said Ito. "Today's consumers not only want to know more
about what they're eating, but also how it's produced, transported, and
packaged. Going forward, everyone from growers, to food technologists, to
chefs, will be taking on new, interconnected roles in reshaping how we think
about, prepare, and consume our food."
Keynote speaker Tom Standage,
journalist at The Economist and
author of books that track the culture of food (An Edible History of Humanity) and the rise of technology (Writing on the Wall), opened the conference
with an illuminating review of the key historical milestones in food and
technology that brought us to where we are today. Other presenters, including
Will Rosenzweig of Physic Ventures, Pulitzer Prize
winner Michael Moss, and Google’s Michiel Bakker,
discussed technology’s evolving role in food innovation as well as the
consumer’s changing response to technology when it comes to eating and cooking.
Breakthroughs in neuroscience also reveal what role our
brain plays in food choices. Scientists Lisa Mosconi of NYU School of Medicine, Ki Goosens of MIT’s
McGovern Institute, and Daphne Miller from UC San Francisco reviewed how a
better understanding of the relationship between body and environment could
inform innovation in product development and healthier eating habits. Other discussion
topics included how technology might change how we shop for food, our food
supply in local and global perspectives, and how the design of our food
environments affects what we eat.
Throughout the three days, eyes and ears were on the
future—what will our culinary future
look like and who will shape it across the next five, 10, or 20 years?
What we
consume, how we procure it, and the relationship between man and
machine in
that process are at the center of large-scale changes that we don’t
fully
understand. The CIA and the MIT Media Lab, through reThink Food,
gathered a community committed to uncovering these changes so we can
responsibly prepare for the future.
Additional information, including video from a live webcast
of the conference, can be found on the website, www.re-thinkfood.org.
Photo Captions and Hi-Res Images
Photo 1 (top photo): Keynote
speaker Tom Standage of The Economist addressed a
sell-out crowd of executives, thought leaders, and innovators at the
first reThink Food conference, co-presented by The Culinary
Institute of America and the MIT Media Lab. (Photo credit: CIA/Kristen Loken)
View hi-res image >
Photo 2: Among
the three dozen presenters at reThink Food were
(pictured left to right) Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Moss of The New York Times,
Michiel Bakker of Google, and Will Rosenzweig of Physic
Ventures. During the conference, it was announced that Rosenzweig
would be the associate dean of The Food Business School, a new offering
from
The Culinary Institute of America for executive and graduate studies
in
innovation and entrepreneurship for the food industry. (Photo credit: CIA/Kristen Loken)
View hi-res image >
Photo 3: Joe
Brown of Wired magazine questioned
the Media Lab Director Joi Ito and CIA President Tim
Ryan about the future of food during a session entitled “Food and
Technology in Collusiion, Collusion” during the recent reThink Food
conference held at the CIA’s campus in Napa
Valley. (Photo credit: CIA/Kristen Loken)
View hi-res image >
About The Culinary Institute of America
Founded in 1946, The Culinary Institute of America is an independent,
not-for-profit college offering associate and bachelor's degrees with majors in
culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, and culinary science, as well as
certificate programs in culinary arts and wine and beverage studies. As the
world's premier culinary college, the CIA provides thought leadership in the
areas of health & wellness, sustainability, and world cuisines &
cultures through research and conferences. The CIA has a network of 46,000
alumni that includes industry leaders and innovators. The CIA also offers
courses for professionals and enthusiasts, as well as consulting services in
support of innovation for the foodservice and hospitality industry. The college
has campuses in Hyde Park, NY; St. Helena, CA; San Antonio, TX; and Singapore.
About the MIT Media Lab
Actively promoting a unique, antidisciplinary culture, the MIT Media Lab goes beyond known boundaries and disciplines,
encouraging the most unconventional mixing and matching of seemingly disparate
research areas. It creates disruptive technologies that happen at the edges,
pioneering such areas as wearable computing, tangible interfaces, and affective
computing. Today, faculty members, research staff, and students at the Lab work
in more than 25 research groups on more than 350 projects, from digital
approaches for treating neurological disorders, to a stackable, electric car
for sustainable cities, to advanced imaging technologies that can “see around a
corner.” The Lab is committed to looking beyond the obvious to ask the
questions not yet asked whose answers could radically improve the way people
live, learn, express themselves, work, and play.
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