A Time is Now for a Sustainable Food Revolution! Marc Buckley

TEDx TUM October 24, 2015

I love food!

Actually, I love it so much, I just had some not too long ago

Joke aside, its a safe bet that you all love food.And not just that, we depend on it.It is the very basic of human needs.With all its importance, in my belief the industry, for the most, is doing a terrible job in producing healthy food.Especially doing it in a sustainable way

Within the next few minutes, I will show you what I mean and what my vision is for food and beverage production.

Its a wicked problem with many facets that only by working together we can solve.

I live in Germany now, but I used to live in the US and loved to go with my kids to amusement parks.

As you can see here

Back then, I was a lot biggerNo, I am not Buzz Lightyear but the one with the white hatI told you, I love food and as you can see it loved me back.

The difference between now and then is now, I just love healthy food.

Anyway, in March of this year, my wife, Anja and I went on a trip through California in conjunction with our attendance of the Natural Products Expo West looking for healthy and sustainable food. We were both extremely excited and could not wait to see what was new and how the industry was developing.

My main takeaway from this trip turned out to be much different from what I had hoped.

A lot of the products at the Expo had sugars, sweeteners, fillers, flavoring, preservatives and were not sustainable or in recyclable packaging. I left the Expo with good ideas of what the world needs and a few great partners who also share this vision.

I am a big advocate of keeping the body hydrated which comes with many benefits along with the need to visit the restroom with more frequency. This is when I noticed something different from prior years, when I used to visit with my children. All the public restrooms now have RED SHARPS containers.

Sharps containers are for syringes and medical waste. Normally found in Clinics or Hospitals, but there is a reason why they are showing up in frequently visited locations.

347 million people in the World are diabetic

500 million people suffer from obesity-related disorders

235 million people have asthma

We have a simultaneous epidemic of obesity and starvation, explain that one.

We are sick and suffering. Our health, agriculture and industry are as well.

We left Los Angeles and continued our trip through the Central Valley along Interstate 5 to San Francisco a 311 mile stretch of highway. The central valley is filled with farmland and natural crops that feed a large portion of the US and provide specialty goods throughout the world.

This time, the drive was different there was a noticeable change. Billboards and advertising along I-5 are not allowed, but this is what we saw

Drought and issue awareness have been going on extensively since at least 2006. Yet, farmers have dug deeper wells and continued to use water resources, but the issue has still not been solved.

It is absurd to see the drought and environment collapsing in the central valley. How farmers, people, and crops are suffering, but mostly how it is impacting our climate.

A little more than halfway through the central valley drive I was hit in the face with a wall of stench, pure manure that choked me up so much I thought I was going to vomit. About 3 minutes after the smell hit we passed this

The smell lingered in the car and my clothes for hours, but in my memory forever. As soon as I came to my senses I Google to find out what this was. So many people have driven by this feedlot that they have tagged it Cowschwitz on Google maps and left their comments about the experience they had when passing through. This is an 800-acre feedlot licensed to hold 100,000 cattle a day. They produce 150 million pounds of beef per year. The smell that I experienced is like this every single day and is not just simply a smell, but dirty emissions that affect our health, air, water, and environment.

The imbalance of water and greenhouse gasses emitted during the production of food is out of balance and is damaging our health and the environment.

This slide is so you can have some idea of the water imbalance and ineffective use of this valuable resource. The amounts given are in gallons. To produce 1 pound of Beef it takes a minimum 2100 gallons of water or 8,000 liters of water.

One-third of all food produced in the world will never make it to a plate and is wasted.

This means an economic loss, but also that all of the natural resources used for growing, processing, packaging, transporting and marketing that food were also wasted.

The water that is wasted is enough to cover the entire worlds household water needs.

We cannot afford to throw our resources out with the garbage.

There are many Facets to food waste.Here are just a few of the Major Players:ProducersGroceryGastronomyPreparingProcessingand Prejudice consumers who do not buy Ugly Food

If you were to throw an apple core or a banana peel out into the woods it is not a big deal and would naturally decompose. Though this is not how we dispose of our waste.

If any of you have been to a landfill you may know that the smell is similar to my experience at Cowschwitz. The problem comes when all that waste is aggregated and it decomposes without air in a landfill covered with dirt. That anaerobic condition is what creates methane, which is a greenhouse gas thats more than 20 times as potent as CO2 at trapping heat.

Our problems have many facets as I have shown:HealthDroughtResource ImbalanceFood Waste

They are all connected to our climate and our future.

That being said I believe in Humanity In Human Kindness and Goodness. I believe we are experiencing an amazing time of exponential change and growth.This year the famous World Expo in Milan, Italy carried the Theme Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. Displaying food innovations and solutions for how we will feed 9 Billion people by the year 2050.

Also, this coming November COP#21 will meet in France and bring the world together for immediate action on climate change.

Food and Beverages are part of the basic needs of Humanity.

This need is tied closely to our health and wellbeing as well as the sustainability of our world.

We have a dream and vision that is now being realized and duplicated to build Green Production Facilities.

I guess you could compare this to the modern day Healthy Willy Wonka Factory

Of course without all the safety and environmental issues Without all the Sugars and Secrecy.

On second thought strike that What we want is to create an environment that is open and transparent showing our processes and technology.

So that other industries will follow our example and that the public can see how our processes work and their products are being made.

This will not be like the old school field trip to the bakery were you put on a white coat and hairnet. We want to keep the highest hygiene standards yet maintain the ability through glass and skywalks and other methods to provide daily tours, samples and collaboration with our community.

Feeding so many people is a big responsibility. We do not want to leave this in the hands of the current industry.

Lets turn current Industrial Production on its Head

Are current production facilities CO2 neutral?Is their Energy balance equal to net zero?Do they grow vegetables exclusively with rainwater?Do they recycle or use resources in balance with nature?

If they do not we should ask ourselves why we would trust them to produce our food?

By combining Technology, Innovation, Renewable Energy and the Recycling of Resources to a holistic system it is a truly green system. Sun, wind and rain are our primary energy sources along with TESLA PowerPacks as our back up. Our Energy balance is net Zero 365 Days a year.

These sustainable processes and technologies already exist they just need to be applied.

Our process will use a complete water cycle management system that resolves the unsustainable water imbalance currently used in the food and beverage industry.

Our energy needs will be supplied through renewable technologies.will recycle and use rainwater to 100% andaccess and protect natural groundwater sourceswill filter water with reverse osmosis equipment andrecycle 100% of all grey-water

Vertical farming using 100% organic filtered rainwater to grow a portion of our raw goods on onsite also give us the ability to harvest 365 days a year. Making efficient use of resources, energy, space and labor.

We will use building materials that are part of a well thought out technical circle. Using recycled or reclaimed materials. Materials that can be up-cycled or recycled when a better and more efficient model is released.

Most importantly building materials that are safe for people and products.

Our complete concept of an urban green production facility sets new standards worldwide by combining technology, innovation, renewable energy and the recycling of resources to a holistic system. Processes that are well thought out in a complete system for the creation of wholesome products without sugars, preservatives and aromas.

It is a truly green system.

Entrepreneurs, Inventors, engineers, businesses big and small join with me to usher in the next revolution of sustainable healthy food and beverage production.

Food is the basic of human needs therefore everyone has the influence and can do something no matter how big or small to take action. The most influential thing you can do is to place whatever means you have for food into companies and products that care about your health and our environment. Why would you continue to pay those that do dont care about you or your home?

Join the Circular Economies of the future. Take these ideas back with you to work and your private lives, convince the people around you that we can each make a difference.

A Time is Now for a Sustainable Food Revolution!