South By SouthWest (SXSW), the largest digital-interactive conference in the United States, offers a unique opportunity to connect with and learn from a diverse group of people who are using digital technology to make the world a better place. Last year there were only a couple of food panels at the conference, and we’d like to help ensure that there’s more representation this time around.

At Food+Tech Connect, we write about the innovative companies and people using information and technology to disrupt, democratize and bring transparency to the food industry. If you enjoy our insights and analysis, please check out the SXSW panel proposals below. You can vote for your favorite panels by registering here and then clicking the thumbs up on the top left corner of each panel description page. Voting ends Friday, September 6.

Don’t miss our panel: “Building An Ecosystem For Food & Health Innovation,” and comment away if you find additional proposals that we should highlight!

Building An Ecosystem For Food & Health Innovation – Danielle Gould, Food+Tech Connect
As consumers become more aware of what they eat and how it effects their health and lives, a new generation of startups are creating companies to disrupt the way food is produced, distributed, sold and consumed. A number of groups are working to build an infrastructure for innovation in this space that engages everyone from entrepreneurs and investors, to producers, suppliers, distributors, health providers, etc. And building a vibrant ecosystem is a key touchpoint for being able to successfully re-envision how food gets to our table. On the panel, you’ll hear from a number of leading voices in food, health and tech about our lessons learned in cultivating infrastructures for food and health innovation.

Food Startups From All Around the World – Julien Pelletier, Cookening
The idea of this meetup is really to provide the platform for a first meeting between all the people interested in innovation around food + tech. Startups can innovate at the different main stages of food production or food consumption (planing, buying, cooking, eating, sharing) and focus on restaurants or at home.

Future Foods: New Cuisine for a New Age – Leigh Durst, IEEE
Welcome to the world of future foods, where gourmet fare meets high tech — where traditional farming meets precision agriculture. It’s a world of machines, compounds, and precision — and a world that includes healthy, organic food that is sustainably grown.

Building a Grassroots Movement from Farm to Fork – Swaroop Samant, Fenugreen
The story of FreshPaper’s grassroots growth, as told by Fenugreen’s Inventor & Founder, Kavita, provides unique lessons in how a small group of committed individuals can enable a simple idea to spread globally with little or no resources.

Be a Food Hero: Bringing Your Network to the Table – Charlie O’Donnell, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures
Shared meals help me create community and leverage my time–which is important as a one person VC fund. O’Donnell will talk about the importance of community management principals like curation, scaling and in person interaction design.

Transparency in the Food Chain – Mark Vierthaler, Servi-Tech, Inc.
As the population grows, the need for efficient and safe food sources grows. As many companies and individuals work towards that goal, they’ve become misunderstood. MP2 looks to fix that by pulling back the curtain on food production in an honest, but non-confrontational way.

Technology’s Role in Improving Health – Amanda Cowan, Food on the Table
Public health officials are challenged with managing, and reversing, the continued growth of America’s waistline. Since the current rate is not sustainable, how can entrepreneurs, public entities, and academia work together to influence Americans eating habits and exercise routines for the better? Come see how technologists are moving the needle with lifestyle apps and devices, and what this private/public partnership could look like in 2020.

Hacking Meat: Why Insects Are the Future of Food – Megan Miller, Chirp
In May 2013, the U.N. released a 200-page report on the potential of insects to solve the global food crisis. The U.S. startup community is answering the call to action with exciting new businesses at the forefront of the food revolution. In this session, you’ll mingle with the founders of Chirp, Tiny Farms, and exotic insect-food supplier, World Ento.

The Future Farm is Now: Can Robots Feed the World? – Nathan Wright, LAVA ROW
This panel will examine the technology currently being used in fields across the globe, forward-thinking research revolutionizing the precision agriculture field, and the ethical issues inherent in our ever-evolving food system.

The Emerging Conscious Consumer – Soraya Darabi, ZADY
This panel defines the conscious consumer, who leverages the internet to make informed and ethical shopping decisions. From GoodGuide.com to Source Map.com to Zady.com, this consumer has data at her fingertips and the data leads to changed behavior.

Food Hacks: Eat Your Way to Creativity and Success – Mark Briggs, KING Broadcasting Co. 
Many creative professionals have discovered how to leverage apps, social media and an emerging universe of food services to eat better food on a regular basis, making them healthier, happier and – of course – more creative. – See more at: http://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/23427#sthash.GGSi98u0.dpuf

What’s With the Appetite for Online Food Services? – Kara Goldberg, H3O Communications
From chain restaurants to hometown favorites to healthy take-out, this panel of experts will speak to the growing popularity of food-based businesses on the internet and why the public has an insatiable appetite for more.

Pixels, Plows & Personas: The UX of Food Deserts – Kel Smith, Anikto LLC
This presentation will examine the cultural and societal impact of technology on food communities, and we’ll explore why user-centered design may be the key to solving one of our most fundamental human dilemmas.

Politics, EDU & Chickens: DX Disruption in Action – Tahlor Marchi, Acquia, Inc.
This panel will explore the digital journey at three leading organizations – The Economist, New Tech Network, and Whole Foods – as they’ve revolutionized their digital strategies by embracing open source and Drupal. Learn how each has created centers of excellence around digital lifecycle management.

Healthy Eating: Starving for Better Technology – Runa Islam, Aetna
This crunchy discussion focuses on how technology and access to food and personal health data needs to advance in order to help people make better food choices for a healthier future.

Successful Adoption of Digital Health Technologies – Krista Burris, dacadoo
This unique session will address the endless challenges of adoption from all angles. Hear thought leaders in digital health share strategies they are using and/or developing to promote adoption and which principles they are leveraging from various industries (ex: gaming) to sustain adoption.

Creating an Iconic Brand in Digital Health – Malay Gandhi, Rock Health
This panel will focus on why there has been a lack of notable consumer companies in digital health, the pathway to building a great consumer health company and the companies most likely to become the new icons.

Big Data, Big Health: Boosting Your Body & Brain – Erica Perng, Lumosity
This presentation will explore what big data can teach us about our brain health, physical health, and the mind-body connection. We’ll also examine how big data from online fitness interventions can help create better and more personalized user experiences.

A Roundtable with Healthcare’s Biggest Innovators – Ted Muething, Jones-Dilworth Inc.
During this panel, you’ll hear innovators in healthcare share what new technologies are being evaluated and that we can expect to see applied in healthcare organizations in the next 10 years.

Make it Rain: The New Healthcare Funding Landscape – Peter McCormack, SHIFT Communications
This presentation will dissect the funding options for various healthcare entrepreneurs at any stage to help them navigate and get in front of the right one for them. Is a consumer-facing crowdfunding portal the right way to go for digital health startups? How can early stage companies specifically gain a financial footing with seed investors, angels, and corporate VCs?

A Recipe for Native: Baking ads into conversations – Babette Pepaj, BakeSpace, Inc.
This panel will look at some of the most innovative publishers today and how they are changing the face of online advertising.

Here are a few additional panels that might be relevant to our readers:

• From Table to Tech: The Secret Ingredient – Jane Ko, A Taste of Koko
• How Crowdsourcing Is Saving Your Life – Christopher DeNoia, Amplify Health
• The Ongoing Issue of Funding Women Entrepreneurs – Kate Brodock, Girls in Tech
• Your Enterprise as a Startup – Aaron Eden, Intuit Inc
• You Stay Scrappy, Entrepreneur Nation – Jasmine Teer, Yodle
• Mobile Technology Solutions for the Marginalized – Megan Trotter, St. Anthony Foundation
  
• Four Tech Companies Changing the Face of Tech – Ashley Scott, digitalundivided
• Brands as Publishers: The Future of Media? – Jordan Slabaugh, Spredfast
• Marketing Without Words: The Visual Revolution – Apu Gupta, Curalate
• Open Innovation: Enterprise In Bed With Startups – Caroline Titmuss, British Airways
• Lean Ramen: Will It Be Your Bowl of Ramen? – Chalsea Chen, RAPP