19 May 2010, Posted in Wellness. Tagged event, future of food, Prometheus Springs
The Future of Food
This past Sunday hundreds of luminous thinkers gathered at MIT’s prestigious Kirsch Auditorium to do what TEDx does best.. spread Ideas. The title of the conference was “How do you eat?” And its focus was the future of our food. Right off the bat I appreciated the title being phrased in the form of a question, as I also believe the only truths are in questions.The lineup of speakers included a filmmaker passionate about reforming school lunch. He professed that options aren’t nearly enough because and that reform must come from the top if we want to see any real change. A thought that runs a parallel to the lines of how we probably wouldn’t wear seat belts if we didn’t have that incessant beeping in new cars law. There was a food activist who believes knowledge is power, and how we take if for granted that we have the right to know what’s in our food, but the reality is, we know very little. There was logistics expert who shed light on why green is not always local and how many people often make uninformed assumptions based on the marketing of certain natural foods. There neuroscientist who revealed the origins of taste, a behavioral economist who showed us why when it comes to food, we are predictably irrational and many more. The event went on all day and with my company being one of the sponsors I made sure nearly everyone had a bottle of Prometheus Springs in hand. I had a lot of amazing feed back on the drink, which is now providing me a lot great synergy now that we also recently landed every Whole Foods account in New England.
As the day progressed it become apparent to me that food is so much more than something to simply satiate hunger and that it’s one of the few thing’s in our lives to hit all of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. From the physiological aspects of food that resonates with survival, all the way up to the apex of creativity, where food can be a chef’s magnum opus. Food is commonality to every single human on this planet and for better or worse food is an industry. Some people choose to be informed about food, some chose to ignore and some live in ignorance but the irrefutable fact is that food is medicine. That’s why I’d consider “food is medicine” to be the overlying mantra to the day and the collective goal was that it’s imperative we generate awareness of such topics to ensure the future or our health. I was shocked to learn that the last nutritional summit our country was held at the White House back in 1969 and as a result of it, the meals on wheels program was born. I’d say it’s high time we change that.
