Caleb Harper does not work at an ad agency, but if he’s successful, his work may amount to a campaign that promotes a completely different image of farming from one involving manual labour or the use of heavy machinery across wide swaths of open land.
The director of Open Agricultural Initiative (OpenAG) at MIT in Boston (or “farmer of farmers” as he’s sometimes called) recently visited Toronto for the CMDC’s Vision 20/20 conference. He talked about his work in developing “food computers” that will not only allow people in cities and other densely populated areas to grow crops, but to contribute to a growing database of shared practices.
In this exclusive video interview with Marketing, Harper talks about why some might consider the future of farming he’s working on “dystopian,” the impact on energy costs and how food companies should reconsider the way they advertise their products to consumers.
