FOODSHOT 3
BIOACTIVE FOODS
GROUNDBREAKERS
The BioActive Foods Foodshot catalyzes the development of and access to nutrient-dense and optimized foods that support brain, immune system, cardiovascular, metabolic, and gut health. BioActive Foods should be grown not only to increase nutrient density but to reduce exposure to pollutants and toxins, protect air and water quality, and further enhance biodiversity. Processing should leverage the full complement of traditional techniques and innovative technologies, always in service of nutrition, sustainability, and accessibility. Key focus areas include biotechnology, machine learning, human feedback systems, and conscious consumer choices.
PRIZE WINNER
DR. RAY WEIL
$240,000 to Dr. Ray Weil, Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland, for his work to improve human nutrition by addressing low sulfur soils that may cause deficiencies in key amino acids in African countries.
DR. RAY WEIL GROUNDBREAKER
PRIZE WINNER
Dr. Weil will develop innovative management practices that use indigenous resources and plant diversity to help soils and agroecosystems provide crops with enough sulfur, an essential, but often forgotten, plant macronutrient element. The goal is to increase crop yields and farmer income, while also enhancing the amino acid profiles – and hence the nutritional quality – of the protein in grain legumes (such as bean, peanut, cowpea, and soybean) in the large regions of the world where soils are deficient in sulfur. By ensuring that plant-based proteins include enough methionine and cysteine (MET+CYS), this work will help provide complete proteins and promote intestinal absorption of iron and zinc, which are limiting nutritional factors in developing countries.
"I'm humbled and excited to have been awarded the FoodShoot Global Groundbreaker prize. It really feels like a validation of my life's work to improve agriculture for farmers, eaters, and the planet... I am looking to work with existing NGOs and institutions to help resource-poor small-scale village farmers use resources they may not know they already have to improve the food they are already growing."
PRIZE WINNER
JOSH TRAUTWEIN
$120,000 to Josh Trautwein, CEO of About Fresh, to deploy user-centered design and technology, including the Fresh Connect debit card, to create a scalable model for increasing access to healthy foods in low-income communities.
JOSH TRAUTWEIN GROUNDBREAKER
PRIZE WINNER
About Fresh's Fresh Connect platform enables healthcare organizations to make targeted investments in healthy food for people and to measure the impact of their investment, fulfilling the BioActive Foods goal of improving access to nutrient-dense and optimized foods. Fresh Connect captures real-time cardholder spend data that is tied back to electronic health records to facilitate impact measurement. This provides the opportunity to assess how improving access to a broad array of tailored, healthy foods changes the trajectory of specific diet-related illness for people who previously struggled to afford the range of healthy foods they require to support brain, immune system, cardiovascular, metabolic, and/or gut health.
"About Fresh is honored to be awarded a Groundbreaker prize and we are grateful to Foodshot for their belief in our work. The Foodshot team has already become an integral thought partner and connector as we drive an ambitious plan to accelerate the growth of Fresh Connect and deepen our commitment to food access equity and healthcare transformation."