USA Pavilion Kicks Off SXSW Biggest South Bites Symposium with Future of Food

AUSTIN, Texas, March 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Kicking off the popular South Bites symposium, the food talk portion of SXSW Interactive on March 14, the team behind the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 presented a panel on innovation and its role in feeding 9 billion people by 2050. Expert panelists—including Mitchell Davis, Chief Creative Officer at Friends of the USA Pavilion; Jeff Dunn, President Packaged Fresh, Campbell Soup Company, and Chief Carrot Officer of Bolthouse Farms; Max Mullen, co-founder of Instacart; and Kaitlin Yarnall, Deputy Creative Director of National Geographic—agreed that how we produce, distribute, sell, purchase, prepare, and consume food, as well as how we dispose of food waste, are increasingly impacted by innovation and technology in ways we are only just beginning to imagine. The panelists concluded that science, innovation and technology are required to address the critical pressures of climate change, water shortages, urbanization, and other forces acting on our food system.  

"We have some challenges here, but I'm hugely optimistic of what we're starting to see come out of the entrepreneurial community as solutions," said Jeff Dunn. In discussing shifting trends, Jeff later noted "It's about how we take fresh food and innovate around getting it to people in more convenient forms that means moving its natural, nutritional profile. And there's lots of different technologies and innovations coming – everything from distribution innovation on the last mile to better technology – things like high pressure pasteurization."

The overall theme of this year's world's fair in Milan is "Feeding the Planet: Energy for Life" and each of the 145 participating countries is addressing that challenge from their unique perspective. The USA Pavilion's theme is "American Food 2.0: United to Feed the Planet." Innovation and technology stories are woven throughout the exhibits in the pavilion and the programs that will welcome the more than 20 million visitors expected to attend the World Expo during the course of six months, from May 1 to October 31.

Supporting the USA Pavilion effort is a collection of sponsors and partners representing the most innovative companies across a diverse spectrum of industries, including energy, technology, consumer products, food, and transportation. The growing list of partners includes GE, Microsoft, DuPont, Boeing, illy, Research Frontiers, 3M, and Dow. In addition to underscoring the role these corporations will play in feeding the planet in the future, the USA Pavilion is assembling an Innovation Council to play a central role in the educational and programming aspects of the USA Pavilion construct.

The USA Pavilion's Innovation Council consists of a number of leaders across enterprise, government, and academia tasked with tapping into American ingenuity and harnessing that creative power toward the global challenge of feeding the future. In addition to Jeff Dunn (Bolthouse Farms) and Max Mullen (Instacart), both of whom participated on the SXSW panel, the USA Pavilion Innovation Council members include Danielle Gould (Food & Tech Connect), Mike Lee (Studio Industries), and Arthur Molella (Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian).

Food Systems Startup Accelerator

As part of the USA Pavilion's innovation programming, the Feeding the Accelerator project will offer up to twelve teams a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in a business accelerator in the context of the largest gathering of food system experts in history to incubate ground-breaking solutions to global food challenges. The program will also feature a combination of workshops, seminars, lectures, discussions and food-labs with guest lecturers, chefs and mentors from across the entire food system spectrum. 36-hour hackathons will provide teams with a unique chance to create innovative, network-based solutions to specific food and technology problems.

The application process will be announced later this month in Milan at Seeds & Chips, an event that brings together enthusiastic innovators, companies and investors who are eager to revolutionize the way food is produced, distributed, consumed and depicted. Feeding the Accelerator is produced by the USA Pavilion partner AtelierSlice and support comes from a growing list of partners that includes innovation-forward companies, such as Microsoft.

"The United States is a global leader in innovation and the Feeding the Accelerator program exemplifies how our country, and the USA Pavilion, strives to help answer the daunting challenge of feeding nine billion people on earth by 2050. We have assembled an impressive group of collaborative minds in private enterprise and academia to serve as a critical sounding board for some of our most promising food solutions —it makes me proud to see Americans leading the charge here," said Doug Hickey, Commissioner General of the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015.

American Innovation on Show at the USA Pavilion at Expo Milano

The spirit of innovation is a theme for the entire USA Pavilion, including the structure itself. The building was designed by architect James Biber to include technology that is being employed to create more sustainable, accessible food ecosystems. The pavilion features the largest vertical farm ever built, incorporating Bright Agrotech's ZipGrow Tower vertical farming technology and customized mechanization to maximize plant exposure to the sun, along with GE grow lights for plants in the greenhouse and inside the pavilion exhibits, hydroponic plant feeding and water capture technology. The roof terrace of the USA Pavilion is protected by the largest installation of SPD-SmartGlass CromaLite panels to control shading. The exhibits incorporate advanced sound and projection mapping technology. And the entire project is supported by a robust social and digital media program as this is the first world's fair fully connected to the global social media world.

USA Pavilion architect James Biber said, "The building is meant to demonstrate our commitment to our theme 'United to Feed the Planet,' as much as it is meant to educate those at Expo Milano about the tools we have at our disposal to get there."

Conferences and Events on Food System Challenges

In addition to featuring innovation and technology within the building, the USA Pavilion will host and participate in conferences and events in Milan during the six-month World Expo. Daily talks on innovation and inspiration will be held on its roof terrace. These programmatic activities will focus on providing a platform for dialogue and solutions to global food challenges that support the notion of American Food 2.0 and the overall Expo theme, "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life."

About Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015

The U.S. Department of State has selected the Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015 as its private sector partner to work with the U.S. government to develop and implement an official American presence at the Expo. The Friends of the USA Pavilion includes the James Beard Foundation (JBF) and the International Culinary Center (ICC), in association with the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy.

The Friends of the USA Pavilion is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission to conceive, design, fundraise for, and produce the USA Pavilion and programs at Expo Milano 2015. Through the leadership of Commissioner General Doug Hickey, the pavilion's management team consists of President Dorothy Hamilton (founder and CEO of ICC), Chief Executive Officer Charlie Faas, and Chief Creative Officer Mitchell Davis (EVP of JBF). Biber Architects has been selected to design the USA Pavilion, and Thinc Design is serving as USA Pavilion exhibition designer.

Current partners include GE, NUSSLI, Uvet, Brand USA, PepsiCo, Microsoft, DuPont, Boeing, illy, Research Frontiers, 3M, Dow, Uber, McKinsey & Company, FleishmanHillard, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, U.S. Sustainability Alliance, U.S. Soybean Export Council, U.S. Grains Council, American Hardwood Export Council, North American Export Grain Association, USA Rice Federation, USA Poultry & Egg Commission, Food Export USA-Northeast, Food Export Association of the Midwest USA, and U.S. Dairy Export Council.

For more information, visit: www.usapavilion2015.net and www.expo2015.org/en.

SOURCE Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015

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http://www.expo2015.org/en