Episode 1 of 6 – Why do we need AgTech? The global food system faces serious problems – environmental, social and commercial. This six-part podcast series seeks to unravel these complex interrelationships asking how we can better align the interests of the environment, farmers, entrepreneurs and investors, allowing new Agtech solutions to address these critical challenges. In this episode, we explore why new technology is needed in agriculture … and when it is not. We ask where and how new technologies will help with some of agriculture’s biggest challenges including: longstanding labour shortages and widespread issues of poor working conditions; why and how the food system makes up 1/3rd of greenhouse gas emissions; biodiversity loss and land use change; and how poor farmer profitability exacerbates the sector’s capacity to respond to these challenges. Featured in this Episode • Juliet Ansell, Zespri International • Sarah Mock, Author • Brent Loken, WWF • Francesco Tubello, FAO • Ethan Cleary, Irish Farmers Association Further Reading The following resources are those I found helpful or were recommended by my interviewees Books - available from https://www.betterworldbooks.com • The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan • Hog Wild by Lynn Waltz • Farm and Other F Words by Sarah Mock • Freedom Farmers by LaDonna Redmond & Monica M White • Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates Online Reports • Bringing it Down to Earth – Nature Risk and Agriculture https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?2660466/nature-finance-risk-and-agriculture • Milked by the Immigrant Dary Farmworkers in New York State http://www.iwj.org/resources/milked-immigrant-dairy-farmworkers-in-new-york-state