Tag Archives: sustainability

France Agri-tech

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I follow the U.S. “Farm to Table” movement closely and have posted several times about Dan Barber one of the movement’s leading advocates. Recently out of curiosity, I thought I research what is happening with agriculture here in France a food centric society. A brief update.

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The plan: France’s current agricultural transformation is going to be funded as part of the country’s government 2030 Plan; €2.3 billion divided between farmers aid and innovative technology solutions (Agri-tech funding). The long-term plan is to make France a global leader exporting their farming technology worldwide. The plan has met its fair share of opposition given the economic uncertainty there are sufficient funds to support going global. Note: The French have a different method of lobbying when it comes to opposing government policy – farmers protested by dumping manure in front of government buildings.

The adaption of robotics has been driving France’s Agri-tech innovation. It is estimated wine producers are utilizing 250 robots to offset labor shortages (e.g., weeding). Currently three-quarters of regular farmers are using or sharing a robotized tool. Will France drive the global agricultural robot market currently projected at $14billion and lead a “robot to table” movement?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

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Dan Barber – Trail Blazer

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Last night, I went into the archives of Chef’s Table Netflix and rewatched an old segment featuring Dan Barber, “Farm to Table” visionary. Timely, plus extremely relevant given all the recent buzz about regenerative agriculture.

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I have been following Dan’s achievements for years now. I first posted about Dan back in June 2017 (second paragraph) regarding a TedTalk he conducted How I fell in love with a fish.  He spoke about a fish farm in Spain with a sustainable ecosystem detailing how we need a radically new agribusiness model; create conditions where every community will feed itself. In Netflix’s recent Chef’s Table series, he touched on the science of soil and its importance to the “Farm to Table” movement. To me Dan is a true visionary always ahead of the curve.

In laypersons’ terms, regenerative agriculture is the conservation practices which nurtures food and farming production systems. It combines a variety of agriculture techniques. One major area of focus is strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil. I first learned about the sustainable agriculture techniques of soil health back in 1997 working with the state of Oregon on a sustainable certification project. The agricultural process farmers utilized was known as tillage and crop rotation. As a result, the soil became more resilient growing season to growing season, nutrient dense, and harbored less pests/pathogens. Back then at the beginning of the “Farm to Table” movement, Dan was publicizing the science of soil. I think it is impressive he is still advocating the value of sustainable soil management nearly two decades later. Dan Barber is a true trail blazer!                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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To Mitigate or Not to Mitigate

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I have been following several COP28 attendees (a.k.a. climate champions) posting their take-aways from the desert conference. The same old tune as previous conferences; the need for more capital, policy/regulations, and leadership to mitigate our climate crisis. Everyone is waiting for less rhetoric, more action. The elephant is not waiting!  

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When I last checked COP28 online Saturday, I wanted to find out the progress being made resolving the main issue at this year’s conference in the fight against climate change: the massive reduction of fossils fuels. Several articles indicated world leaders, climate activists, and lobbyists were busy working the halls in Dubai trying to agree on the wording on an agreement to reduce the exploitation of oil, gas, and coal. Currently they were splitting hairs about greenwashing terminology which would still technically enable fossil industries to continue their polluting activities.         

Recently I engaged with a renown EU circular economy advocate about the need to educate the average Joe to change their consumer purchasing behavior and adapt to a more sustainable lifestyle to help humanity mitigate climate change. To paraphrase their response: “My strong belief is that it is the responsibility of policy makers to regulate in according to science to change the behaviour and actions of both businesses and consumers. This is why I focus more and more on educating the politicians about what they should be focusing on.” I respect the individual’s POV. Policy makers are needed to help, a baby step, in the process of climate change mitigation. However, as a food marketer, I believe a giant step is for humanity to change its consumption behavior. Consequently, I have researched and am afraid the utilization of generative AI as a marketing tool to further influence consumer purchasing behavior will be an offset to climate change mitigation.

Back in September I first posted my concern generative AI long-term was potentially the elephant in the room in regards to planet earth’s environment and will offset our progress mitigating climate change. For starters, let me briefly summarize how smart marketers are gearing up to use it as a tool to drive sales which will drive/fuel consumerism:

  1. Enhance data analytics of consumer behavior which will power hyperpersonalization and automate processes related to consumer insight//targeting.
  2. Marketing movements which normally took months of content development will be turned around in weeks or even days, plus leverage targeted social campaigns.
  3. Improve product development (R&D) innovation where marketers can consistently deliver value on the goods and services consumers want or need.
  4. Boost direct customer interactions/engagement.

On the surface it sounds exciting. Generative AI is powering the transformation of consumer marketing. As I shared back in September research revealed 73% of U.S. marketers (source: Statista) indicated their organizations have used generative AI tools. It is estimated the percentage of AI usage will escalate to 90% in two years. Below the surface I am alarmed Gen AI will adversely impact the environment:

  1. Complex AI models involve intensive computing power from semiconductors requiring significant amounts of electricity which generate considerable levels of heat. Water from AI facilities’ cooling towers, as well as water usage at the source of electricity generation is utilized to maintain optimal operating conditions/temperatures. Water and climate change are complexly linked.
  2. Generative AI, the elephant in the room utilized as a marketing tool will influence consumer purchasing behavior. The byproduct is it drives the overall consumption of material-based products which might be manufactured by numerous companies outside the sustainable guidelines needed for a healthier plant earth. In addition, these material-based products might be produced in far-off places where labor and resources are exploited, plus transportation requiring fossil fuels will be needed to get product from point A to point B. Note: Most of the transportation utilized in global logistics (e.g., freighters made with steel) were built with a large amount of fossil fuels.

Time to put closure to my rant. My concern is unless humanity changes its consumer behavior to buy responsibly only what it needs versus buying what it wants, marketers will have a field day with Gen AI, thus it will be difficult to mitigate climate change.

Ubuntu!