Texas A&M AgriLife partners with Silicon Valley to tackle food security research

In recent years food security concerns have been exacerbated globally by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical conflicts and climate change, along with regional factors like labor dynamics and severe weather that can disrupt a stable supply of nutritious food regardless of location.

Texas has had its own challenges in urban food deserts amplified by unprecedented storms in the region during the past two years. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service is looking to address concerns about food and nutrition security and prepare for future issues through a partnership with agtech investor SVG Ventures and Thrive and semiconductor chip manufacturer Intel Corp.

All three are betting on controlled environment agriculture to solve many food and nutrition security challenges.

"It has become increasingly clear that traditional agriculture will be challenged to meet the food demands of the future" John Hartnett, CEO and founder of Silicon Valley, Calif.-based SVG Ventures and Thrive, said in the release. "We are delighted to partner with Intel & Texas A&M to accelerate CEA innovations to drive improvement in food and nutrition security."

The goal: Create a platform for advancing nutrition security in the Texas ecosystem and beyond.

Related news: Growers see traceability as essential to food safety

Advancing nutrition security through CEA

The partners plan to accelerate CEA innovations by leveraging their strengths, according to the release:

• Intel will use its extensive resource base and development capabilities to support CEA technology advancement.

• Texas A&M AgriLife, which comprises a college and four state agencies focused on agriculture and life sciences, is bringing its expertise and broad infrastructure to support education and research in regional economies.  

• SVG Ventures and Thrive offer startup, corporate partner connections along with tools and insights on scaling up.

"This collaboration in CEA represents a significant step toward AgriLife Research's commitment to advancing and sharing knowledge that nourishes health, strengthens communities, protects natural resources and supports economies," Texas A&M AgriLife Research Director Cliff Lamb said in the release.

Nutrition security is a core pillar of Thrive’s Global Impact Initiative — an international effort to advance a sustainable future for agri-food, according to the release. The initiative seeks to achieve this goal through convening startups, scale-ups, corporates, producers, investors and others to catalyze the innovations required to address pressing industry challenges like food security, soil health and biodiversity, greenhouse gas reduction and water management, according to the release.

"Our collaboration with Thrive is part of Intel's Rise Technology Initiative which has created a broad, purpose driven platform for action with dedicated workstreams that support areas such as sustainability, education, healthcare, accessibility and human rights." Rick Echevarria, Intel vice president and general manager of Intel’s RISE Technology Initiative, said in the release.