354 Dan Barber - AI-Powered natural breeding: The End of GMOs, Gene Editing, and CRISPR?

Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food

An overdue check-in conversation with Dan Barber, chef, co-owner of Blue Hill restaurants and co-founder of Row 7 Seeds, where we dive into the fascinating world of seeds and how breeding is evolving with the explosion of AI and other technologies. No, we don’t need GMOs, CRISPR, or other risky blunt instruments. We discuss the implosion of the fake meat hype, which was at its peak when we last spoke four years ago, why insane umami flavor and potentially self-nitrogen-fixing tomatoes are revolutionary. This is a deep conversation about bread and wheat—and why breeding wheat specifically for whole meal flour is so important, where Row 7 Seeds, his seed company, is headed and why they’re launching a CPG brand using pressure-cooked vegetables (because processing isn’t a dirty word).

When your vegetables come from incredible seeds and are grown in healthy soils, you don’t need unhealthy additives. We kick things off with mouthwatering winter spinach and dive into a long conversation about the role of technology in food and agriculture. No, we shouldn’t go back to the past. No, we’re not Luddites. In fact, Dan is incredibly bullish on the role of AI in natural breeding—perhaps the best of both worlds, enabling faster breeding for local conditions rather than global crops that lack flavor, nutrients, and rely on excessive chemicals.

Get ready for a firehose of stories on food, seeds, soil, and culture!

More about this episode on https://investinginregenerativeagriculture.com/dan-barber-2.

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In Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food podcast show we talk to the pioneers in the regenerative food and agriculture space to learn more on how to put our money to work to regenerate soil, people, local communities and ecosystems while making an appropriate and fair return. Hosted by Koen van Seijen.

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1. Introduction to the Flavor Revolution (00:00:00)

2. Flavor and Health: The Same Thing? (00:11:51)

3. Embracing Technology: AI in Agriculture (00:30:29)

4. The Decline of Fake Meat Hype (00:46:54)

5. The Importance of Wholemeal Flour (00:59:38)

6. Innovative Seed Breeding and Its Evolution (01:26:08)

7. The Connection Between Soil Health and Food Quality (02:15:52)

8. The Rise of Consumer Packaged Goods (02:33:54)

9. Canning and Preserving Flavor in Vegetables (03:31:13)