When the concept of the “Internet of Food” comes up, people often ask, “don’t we already have an internet?  And can’t you find food there?”  The answer is yes, and no.  Of course, the internet itself is jam-packed with food but the internet of food may also be thought of as “the database of food” and also how closely food and technology are linked in our ever-connected world.

Matthew Lange, PhD, from UC Davis is the mastermind behind the Internet of Food movement and, along with his partner Tarini Naravane, set up a dynamic, diverse and eye-opening event in varied locations throughout San Francisco March 22-25, 2019.  Along with technology-based concepts and in-depth conversations on ontology, the themes of sustainable nutrition, food-waste prevention, digitizing flavors and broader challenges in the food landscape.

Lange and Navarro also launched a very cool initiative aimed at preventing the knowledge loss we have from our ancestors around concepts like recipes, cooking techniques and the medicinal value of plants.   This initiative called 10KGPS (or the 10,000 grandparents project) will encourage tech-savvy millennials to use a video app to document, upload and share their family recipes.

Eat Well Global had the opportunity to support the conference by sharing how “fad diets” can hijack family recipes and adopting the “all foods fit” model can help embrace rich cultural heritage.  In addition, we added perspective to the further nutrition conversations focused on personalized nutrition and how stakeholders can support consumers in making their own health decisions.

Look forward to more out of the IC-Food Lab in years to come.