Industry Leaders From Across U.S.A. Will Help Award $30,000 to Food System Innovators
AUSTIN, Texas — As Showcase Day approaches on February 14, 2015, The Food Lab at The University of Texas at Austin announces an all-star lineup of judges who will decide which teams take away $30,000 in cash awards at the first-time Food Challenge Prize. A panel of 14 judges, representing a wide range of industries from technology, venture capital, culinary education, start-up incubation, marketing and social entrepreneurism, have signed on to review the 21 finalist teams narrowed down from a pool of more than 120 entrants last summer. The Food Lab Challenge was launched in 2014 to encourage innovation at all primary touch points of the global food system including agriculture, distribution, packaging and consumption.
The Food Lab’s advisory team recruited leaders and innovators from throughout the United States such as Steve Wanta, global program director for Whole Planet Foundation; David Palmer, president and CEO of PreMark Health Science; Caleb Harper, director of development of MIT’s CityFARM group and Elise Golan, director for Sustainable Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Austin leaders of note include Claire England, the new executive director of Central Texas Angel Network; Molly Bray, a professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin and Aimee Olson, executive chef with Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. For full list of judges, click here.
“I’m honored to be part of this exciting new program on the future of food and inspired by the entrepreneurs devoted to their ideas. The innovation we’re seeing here could surface game-changing solutions for improving our food system,” said Marissa Duswalt, a judge and registered dietitian from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
Twenty-one teams from Texas, Massachusetts, California and Georgia, including one student team, have been working with select industry mentors since November in preparation for Showcase Day.
Prizes will be awarded in four food system categories: 1) Healthy Eating; 2) Inputs and Production; 3) Processing, Packaging and Safety; and 4) Storage and Distribution, along with one Grand Prize winner.
Showcase Day for the Food Lab Challenge is free and open to the public on Saturday, February 14th, 10:30am – 4:00pm. The Norman Hackerman Building is at 100 E. 24th Street; map, parking information, RSVP, etc. via link here. Local food entrepreneurs such as Third Coast Coffee, Noble Pig, East Side King, Austin Beerworks and Honest Teas will provide food and beverage samplings throughout the day; live music from Bonfire Choir will take place later in the afternoon.
For more information on the Food Lab Challenge Prize, please visit the website.
