Sara Menker and Gro Intelligence Are Tackling Global Hunger – Part II
While Sara Menker and her team at Gro Intelligence continue to transform the way food is bought, sold and used around the globe, the company’s founder, Michael Hsu, remains focused on the future of food. Here, the entrepreneurs describe their journey from students at the University of California at Berkeley to building the most powerful and influential startup in the world for a better world.
Gro Intelligence is a digital services platform that unites all the most important data around food in a single, easy-to-use place.
The technology has the potential to change lives, but it is also a place where the impact of big data is being felt in the real world – in our ability to tackle issues like hunger, food waste, and the food supply chain.
Last month, the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published Gro Intelligence’s annual State of Food Challenge Report, which outlines the key challenges facing the global food system and shows where the UK is falling short.
At the heart of the report is the conclusion that food security is a question of collective responsibility: everyone has a role to play in building a sustainable and just food system. However, the issue of food security is made more complex because it is not just about food or diets, but every aspect of how we think about food.
This is why it’s imperative that a new way of thinking about food is developed. And it’s happening today.
“When someone gives me money for something I buy, it is because I feel like it is going to make me feel better and lead me to a better life,” says Michael Hsu, Gro Intelligence’s founder and CTO.
Michael and his team at Gro Intelligence have set out to develop a tool which tackles some of the same issues for millions of people and can be used to create a real impact.
“We believe a world where every person is respected and valued is one where food systems will be sustainable and resilient,” he says.
And it’s not just one person working on this.
“Gro Intelligence is an open-source