The Future of Food Is the Future of You

If you are what you eat, as the saying goes, then what you eat in the future is what you’re going to be.

Oh, hey, Little Herds – they're based in Austin!

That little aphorism is simple enough to follow, but it’s not always so easy keeping track of what’s going on with the world’s foodways as we hurl headlong, relentlessly, toward the years beyond our present time. Luckily, there’s a multipart program called The Future of Food that’s aiming to do just that: Inform you of what’s around the proverbial corner when it comes to acquiring nutrition from (and enjoying the flavors of) what we ingest.

This is a SXSW-based deal, yes, but hold on – you don’t need a SouthBy badge to access this stuff: It’s free and open to the public.

We mean, yeah, badge-wielding registrants get “exclusive premium experiences and content beyond the main stage,” yadda-yadda, because capitalism; but that main stage – online, this year, naturally – is where the most informative meat is.

[Note: “Meat,” we say. But that’s just a metaphor, so don’t freak out. Did you know that the future is increasingly vegan?]

Listen: These four days of info-dispersing panels and program reveals and product demos are presented by the Kroger Zero Hunger|Zero Waste Foundation and will focus on building a better food system with agriculture, technology, and CPG. (That’s Consumer Packaged Goods, citizen.) Notable speakers like Moby (musician and activist), Danielle Nierenberg (Food Tank), Joi Chevalier (The Cook’s Nook and Naturally Austin), Questlove (musician and author), Philip Behn (Imperfect Foods), Amy Bell (Whole Foods), and others will bring you up to speed on food justice, social impact, healthy soils and indoor farming, zero waste, slow food, insect protein, new food systems, and much more.

Again, these presentations and discussions are free to all – register here to watch and participate – and will be running from March 18 to March 21.

Extra: The Green Cart Pantry has curated up a Future of Food CPG box that includes 25 of the most innovative, emerging consumer packaged goods from Austin – it's $100 (for a $200 retail value) – and you can order one right here, so you can nom along at home.

Because, in the future, there’s going to be a lot more of us – and we’re still gonna need to eat.