Rethinking Our Food Supply Chain - Future Proofing Your Food | Kieran Kelly | TEDxDerryLondonderry

Nowadays, traceability of charges is taken for granted, we are so used to hearing the term from farm to fork, but according to the World Health Organization, almost 600 million, that is, one in 10 people fall ill every year from eating contaminated

food

and 420,000 die from these causes. are caused by fraudsters manipulating our

food

supply

chain

, but we hear little about it in our daily lives in January 2016, the world economic forum told us to be prepared for the fourth industrial revolution, the digital age and the fact that the world was going to change faster than In this new era that builds and extends the impact of digitalization in new and unforeseen ways, 15 months later the world was told to prepare for the fifth industrial revolution, the rise of artificial intelligence, the machine learning and the Internet of Things, we have never seen such speed before.

From the change from autonomous and automated cars to homes that know you are nearby and turn on the lights and heating, just look at the changes in our mobile phones. Where would we be today without our smartphone in our daily lives? Alexa and Siri have changed the way many people live, but when a farmer walks out his front door and onto his farm, he is using technology and practices that haven't changed much since the early 20th century. Yes, tractors are more comfortable. and milking machines have become more automated, but tracking and tracing our food is largely done with pen and paper and is duplicated across so many systems that it causes some of the biggest problems that may be hard to believe, but most farms have barely changed at all. over the last 100 years, this in turn will affect each of us in the coming months and years if we don't look at our food and how we consume it, so I want to take you on a journey as the son of a butcher.

I followed my father in the family business I loved taking raw products and turning them into something that he not only tasted good but was something that people wanted. I learned a lot of skills and took a lot of pride in my work. I love listening to my customers and explaining the origins of their produce where they come from and how to cook them, nothing for me was better than seeing an empty counter at the end of a night and as a trusted member of the community it was a privilege to provide that service , but my curiosity didn't stop there.

I spent time in and across the

supply

chain

working with fantastic and inspiring people. I learned to appreciate the effort required daily to not only feed our nation but also support agricultural exports and international trade alongside my work. I had a passion for electronics and loved playing with circuits. I tackle computers and chose to develop that passion into a professional career, so I studied to gain my professional qualifications and built a career as a technology specialist. I am happy to say that over the years I have traveled the world working alongside global organizations, leading technology companies.

Providing solutions for the healthcare, aerospace and government food and beverage sectors is now part butchery and part vulgar. I wasn't content to sit on the sidelines and wanted to use my passion for food and agriculture and knowledge of the technology sector to address the global problem. of food traceability and provenance despite traceability being taken for granted the ancient problem of food fraud is more important now than ever the first recorded incident of food fraud dates back to the time of the roman empire when wine was diluted or mixed to ensure the guests present had enough to drink the idea was that the more they drank the less they cared about quality I wouldn't want to try it today fast forward to today and the problem is much more prolific the horse meat scandal of 2014 reported by our own queens professor elliot highlighted the scale of adulteration and the impact on human health a 2016 pwc report outlined the global impact of food fraud and the cost to the economy exceeded $40 billion and the center of anti-fraud studies at the university of portsmouth estimates 11.97 billion for potential losses in the UK, you may be wondering what is this about, what does this mean for you and me, as well as any loss, that loss must be recovered from someone and somewhere it is estimated that five pence is added to the pound every day. items that mean the average shop costs £50 2.50 goes towards that cost mislabeling a product or incorrectly representing its quality its safety its origin its freshness is simply fraud dilution misrepresentation adulteration even fake rice are among some of the cases recorded by the global research institute Food security in Queens is sad to say, but our food isn't the only thing affected.

Medications, supplements, and veterans have measured our meteoric rise in cases, so the need for change has never been greater. I remember addressing a graduating class in the US just before the first one. close in 2020 and I had the opportunity to ask the question what is innovation? someone from the back of the room shouted: innovation is answering the questions the

future

asks. You see, during the pandemic, the world innovated more in 10 months than in the previous one. 10 years, when faced with adversity, we worked together to achieve fantastic things. Greater collaboration. Most outstanding communication. Yes, even the family zoom quiz.

So I say it's time to rethink our food supply and apply new ideas. Faster innovation. More collaboration and, above all, greater transparency. Look, I know what I'm doing, I've already done it, but I know we can do it better. I was one of the first specialists in the world to use blockchain technology to help the craft beer and whiskey industry communicate with and tell their customers. the story and passion behind the brand, from the quality of the water to the barley and hops, even the story of the individual team members involved in the process, that story of the brewer's passion and all the data was contained in a scannable code that was unique to each bottle, all you had to do was use

your

mobile phone, authenticate

your

age and you would see the video of the harvest day, the photo and the dates of the production day along with the bottling records and the proof of provenance, in this effective but simple way.

The solution gives customers confidence and comfort in knowing exactly what their product is, what it is supposed to be, who made it, and where it comes from. I asked the question: What if we could do for our food? What would we do for the beverage sector? What if we could? make this level of transparency and proof of provenance common across all our foods by embracing change and collaborating with our growers, processors and supply team members. Not only can we see and ensure who our food comes from. We can also reduce our food miles. 100 provenance guarantee supports sustainability. and establish a connected community trusting the products we consume.

You see, my family is obsessed with scanning food packaging to get information about its calorie and calorie content. Why not use this simple technology to go further to include reliable information on farmer and processor costs? The distributor and retailer must not only tell the story and passion behind the brand, but also demonstrate its provenance and create positive economic value for our economy by connecting with our food and trading in the trusted economy. We can promote our amazing products globally. Establish new commercial agreements. creating more jobs and supporting transformation and innovation in our communities it's about small steps it's about realizing there is a problem and addressing those problems with a solution it's about working together it's about giving a voice to farmers and their products this technology is with us today and helps us create value throughout the community we serve the land we work and the food we eat renowned author rachel botsman state trust enables innovation and as consumers we must all play our part and demand greater transparency, so join me on our provenance journey to Use dynamic technology and processes across our supply chain to eat the food we trust and trust the food we eat.