Lauren Benoit has been involved in agriculture for almost her entire life, and her speech demonstrated her faith in the industry to address growing issues around food. She explained some of the innovations in farming that have changed the industry over time, including the tractor, synthetic fertilizer, and the robotic milking machine.
“At the end of the day, the technology does not replace the people,” she added.
“The mandate of agriculture is to feed hungry people, in a socially, environmentally, economically responsible way,” she said, introducing the audience to some of the challenges facing farmers today, including an anticipated 70 per cent increase in production that will be needed to feed nine billion people in the world by 2050.
Benoit believes that the problem will not be producing enough food; as she says, the technology looks after that. The problem, she believes, will be communication between farmers and consumers.
“We all eat, and we all want to know where that food comes from,” she acknowledged. “It’s the responsibility of farmers to educate, and it’s the responsibility of consumers to go out and learn a little more.”
Benoit’s momentum was interrupted by some technical difficulties, but her passion for her profession and her commitment to addressing these issues around food production were evident.
Photo By Dana Bellamy
Great article regarding the speakers at the 7th TEDxGuelpU event! The amazing hosts of the event were 11 TED passionate students from the University of Guelph. And we are thankful for all of our event sponsors including many UoG student councils, Guelph Chamber of Commerce, and local Guelph businesses.
The TEDxGuelphU team did an outstanding job! It was an inspiring day wth incredible speakers, attendees, and the wonderful organizers. It was an honour to be selected to be a part of it!