Silicon Valley Hackathon prototypes the future of meat
For 48 hours on June 21-23, over 250 food industry leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists and creatives convened at Hack//Meat Silicon Valley, a hackathon to develop hardware and software solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing sustainable meat production and consumption. The three-day event was held at the Institute of Design at Stanford, and was organized by Food+Tech Connect in partnership with Applegate and GRACE Communications Foundation.
The hackathon's 24 teams tackled sustainable meat industry challenges including access to farmland, food labeling, whole animal utilization, and the unique flavor profile of grassfed meat. They pitched their final prototypes to an expert panel of judges including Michiel Bakker of Google's Global Food Services, Bill and Nicolette Niman of Niman Ranch & BN Ranch, Niko Hrdy of Valley Oak Investments, Amol Deshpande of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Chris Cosentino of Incanto and Anya Fernald of Belcampo Meat Co.