Panel, Conference Presentation
Sustaining Food for the Future | Global Conference 2024
- Midon Market in Los Angeles is scheduled to open in the West Adams neighborhood later this year, utilizing a communal resource model for utilities, fire, and janitorial services to lower costs for small restaurants and serve as a replicable test for sustainable small business viability.
- Go There Wines plans to expand direct-to-consumer sales to 48 states and fund winemakers in Lebanon and Georgia through profit-sharing and upfront purchases to support experimental wines, with the long-term expectation of reaching major retail chains.
- Girl and Doug Farm intends to achieve an 80% reduction in water usage beyond current levels by utilizing three of six wells, powering greenhouses with existing solar capacity, and employing a hybrid fertilizer approach alongside a strategy to educate consumers on using "roadside weeds."
- Joanne Chang anticipates constructing a "learning kitchen" commissary in New Jersey and a new restaurant named Marmalade, while aiming to establish jobs offering full benefits and sufficient income to function as a career.
- Climate change is predicted to severely impact California's aquatic and agricultural sectors, including wild salmon propagation failures due to warming, oyster and mussel farm shutdowns from runoff, and the inability of small boat fishermen to operate due to wind conditions.
- Global statistics cited indicate that 88% to 96% of US farms are small, 30% to 40% of global food is wasted with 70% occurring post-farming, and 12.8% to 12.9% of American households face food insecurity.
- Strategic plans include mobilizing olive farmers in Lebanon for future oil production, tripling greenhouse operating size if desired, and utilizing 60-degree groundwater for active greenhouse ventilation to replace forced air or propane.
- Concerns regarding food industry sustainability include the potential collapse of wild fishing communities if wild fin fish are replaced by lab-grown alternatives, the rejection of artificial meat to preserve natural food systems, and the risks of traditional agricultural practices remaining unsustainable despite their longevity in developing regions.