We take a look back and catch up with just a few of our favorites.
Remember SCiO? The handheld innovative device that can tell you the chemical makeup of your food? Take a look:
“Imagine if there was a way which watermelon is sweeter, when is that avocado going to ripen? how many calories are in that shake? How is that plant doing? Imagine if there was a way to know the chemical make-up of everything you came into contact with…the applications are endless.”
Since we last spoke with SCiO in July, the team has been working on a new design with a few updates such as adding a remote temperature sensor to the optical head, a portable calibration mechanism, and an light indicator ring around it for immediate feedback. They are also finalists in "the last gadget standing" at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show held in Jan 2015. For more, and to find out how and when you can get one, check out their website, consumer physics dot com
Back in August we introduced you to Phil Cruver and the team at Catalina Sea Ranch. Utilizing some impressive technology, they secured the first permit for offshore aquaculture in U.S. Federal waters and were poised to become the first commercial shellfish producer, right here off the West Coast, farming 100 acres of open ocean for Mediterranean mussels and scallops:
“What we’ll be doing is producing mussels abuot 6 miles offshore and it will produce about 2.5 million pounds of mussels about 8 months after we seed the range.”
Since we last caught up with them, Catalina Sea Ranch is leveraging its assets and 'First Mover Advantage' with offshore aquaculture as a technology company. They are developing a pervasive and low-cost sensor network throughout their pioneering offshore shellfish ranch for transmitting massive amounts of real-time data over the Verizon cellular network. They are also partnering with IBM for the aggregation, distribution and visualization of Marine Big Data for the advancement of offshore aquaculture. Big Data will dictate responsible development of 'sound regulations based upon solid science' for domestic aquaculture putting a dent in our nation's $11 billion dollar deficit.
Check out their Facebook page to find out more!
And finally? How a simple piece of paper can change the way we eat:
Consumers are not only able to eat everything they buy and to eat more produce but they’re actually telling us that they’re able to afford eating a fresher healthier diet simply because they’re using something like Fresh Paper. So you would just use a sheet like this, it’s about 5 inches by 5 inches and drop it into a refrigerator door or fruit bowl or anywhere you store fruits and veggies and it will keep all of it fresh for 2-4 times longer. You don’t have to wrap the Produce. You don’t have to put it into a container. It’s so simple and so small and very low cost it can actually be used in these large scale applications as well.
The team at FreshPaper have busy between several TV appearances, like the Queen Latifah show, they’ve also developed the Fresh Kit,a bulk supply kit that people can buy and donate to their local food bank or favorite local farmer. They also launched the FreshPaper holiday collection – festive messages printed with edible ink on FreshPaper! And if you want to see more of FreshPaper in the new year, good news… they are launching in Sprouts in early January!
Happy New Year everyone and we’re looking forward to seeing you next year with many more food innovations!