Talking veggies, offshore bubble farms among food innovations

Get ready for some backtalk from your broccoli.

Talking vegetables, offshore “bubble” farms, and food delivered by drones are just some of the agricultural advances that could change shopping and dinner plates across America, a produce association executive said Wednesday.

In fact, vocal veggies are already being tried in grocery stores in Japan, in the form of hidden speakers that launch into a spiels as soon they are touched about where they were grown and what makes them special, said Bryan Silbermann, chief executive officer of the Produce Marketing Association of America, based in Newark, Delaware.

“It helps people learn about produce in a fun way,” said Silbermann in a keynote address to more than 400 members of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples.

Produce patter helped increase sales of veggies 250 percent, he added.

Innovations in the way food is grown, harvested, sold and brought to table are upending traditional expectations of producers, retailers and consumers, Silbermann said.

For instance, some vegetables are already being grown in so-called “growth protected” situations such as vast greenhouses or experimental plastic bubbles under the sea.

Crops of lettuce also are being harvested on the international space station, in gardens that provide physical and mental nourishment to astronauts who get tired of eating packaged food and appreciate having “a little piece of Earth” to nurture, Silbermann said.

In more traditional farms, technological advances are driving greater investment in more efficient irrigation systems, especially important for a state that’s No. 1 in the country in the production of tomatoes, grapefruit, oranges, cucumbers, snap beans, squash, watermelons and sugar cane.

The industry is seeing improvements in capturing and repurposing water, through recycling, filtration and evaporation control, among other techniques, Silbermann said.

Finding ways to grow crops more efficiently will become increasingly important as more of the world’s population migrates to cities, Silbermann noted.

It’s also important for Florida’s economy as produce is one of the state’s most important industries, bringing in $148.5 billion in revenue and providing 1.52 million jobs, or 14.3 percent of the state’s total.

Fortunately for the industry, increased interest in healthy lifestyles is inspiring celebrity chefs to create meals where vegetables are the stars of the plate, and protein is the side dish, Silbermann said.

And veggies are being prepared and processed with added spices to amp up their flavor, rather than being blandly steamed, he added.

Little-known exotic fruits that until a few years ago were relegated to ethnic cuisines, and so-called ugly heirloom vegetables with strange shapes and colors also are gaining wider acceptance.

Showing an image of two carrots with multiple arm-and-leg shaped tips that made them look like they were dancing, Silbermann quipped, “How can you not be amused by produce that looks like people?”

Research shows young adults are looking for fresh food because eating together is social currency, he said.

And consumers of all ages want food that is sustainably produced, he added.

“It’s turning the food pyramid on its head because it’s emphasizing a focus on foods that have a low environmental impact, and guess what — fruits and vegetables fall into it and away from those that have a higher environmental impact, like meat, cheese and even fish,” he said.

That’s put a spotlight on the industry in ways that require everyone in the food production and distribution process to be more conscious of how they respond to hot-button issues, from growing genetically modified crops to labor practices.

“It’s clear that consumers are interested in learning more about how their food is grown, where it’s grown, the practices used in growing it, and how the people who grow it are treated,” Silbermann said.

Florida’s biggest fresh fall/winter crops

Tomatoes            $437 million

Strawberries      $307 million

Bell peppers       $164 million

Sweet corn         $130 million

Watermelon      $80 million

Snap beans         $77 million

Cucumbers         $65 million

Blueberries         $64 million

Cabbage              $50 million

Squash                 $41 million

Source: USDA