It's a hard nut to crack: in order to prevent food waste, we rely on plastic packaging and refrigeration, which harm the environment. What if we could turn to nature to address these challenges? Engineer and chemist Jenny Du shares how a simple plant-based innovation — using the same elements found in fruit and vegetable peels — can extend the shelf life of produce, while also fighting food waste and spurring a healthier, more sustainable food system.For a chance to give your own TED Talk, fill out the Idea Search Application: ted.com/ideasearch.Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:TEDNext: ted.com/futureyouTEDSports: ted.com/sportsTEDAI Vienna: ted.com/ai-viennaTEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Full Episode
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. It's a hard cycle to crack. In order to prevent food waste, we rely mostly on plastic packaging and refrigeration, which then leads to major environmental problems. What if we turn to nature to address these challenges?
In her talk, engineer and chemist Jenny Du shares how her company is tackling plastic production and food waste by mimicking nature's own preservation methods. In turn, it's opening up major possibilities for less waste and a more diverse and accessible global food supply.
And stick around after the talk for a Q&A between Jenny and Lateef Nasser, the co-host of Radiolab and a guest curator at TED 2025.
When you pick a piece of fruit off a tree, it's like a ticking time bomb. It's literally this living and breathing thing that's slowly cannibalizing its own stores of energy and nutrients, just trying to stay alive until it ultimately gets eaten by microbes or some other animal like us. Have you ever wondered why that is and what could be done about it?
My journey in trying to figure that out started in the spring of 2013. I'm finishing up my postdoctoral research in chemistry at the University of Santa Barbara, California, and all that really means is I'm a huge nerd and I've been in school for way too long. And I'm trying to figure out how to put all that training to meaningful use.
So two of my lab mates, James Rogers and Luis Perez, invite me to dinner. But it turns out to be a pitch disguised as dinner. And they opened by totally flooring me with some staggering stats. A third of the food that we produce worldwide is lost or wasted before it ever has a chance to be eaten. For fresh fruits and vegetables, that number is a half.
And waste is a problem at every single step of the supply chain. From the farm, trying to get it to market, in stores, restaurants and in our homes. And it's not just a waste of the food, it's a waste of the land, water, fertilizers, labor, energy, fuel, packaging and money out of farmers and our pockets.
If global food waste was a country, it'd be the third highest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and the US. For decades, all around the world, we've relied heavily on a surprisingly small number of ways to help fruits and vegetables last longer after harvest. These have gotten us a really long way, but they also have their challenges.
Refrigeration is a massive energy suck, a significant source of emissions, and it's expensive. It's unfortunately why a lot of places around the world don't have access to refrigeration. Designer pesticides aren't great for our long-term health or the environment.
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