A recent restaurant association study forecasts a shortage of 200,000 line cooks over the next 10 years. The average age of the American farmer is 65, but a younger, tech-savvy generation is coming. These are just two of the trends facing the food and agriculture industry as a new wave of innovation, involving Internet of Things, tracking and fixing inefficiencies in food production is starting to emerge, according to Rob Trice (pictured, right), founder of The Mixing Bowl LLC, which has a mission of “connecting people who are feeding the world with people who are changing the world through tech innovation.”

“I think there’s a misperception that agriculture doesn’t need [information technology], and we’ve realized that there’s a huge opportunity,” Trice said. “Consumers want change in food.”

Trice offered his thoughts on IT and the food industry during an appearance on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, and answered questions from host Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick) during this year’s FOOD IT: Fork to Farm event in Mountain View, California. Trice was joined on the set by Michael Rose (pictured, left), partner of The Mixing Bowl, to discuss technology tools and use cases that could make an impact. (* Disclosure below.)

Salad-making robots are coming

Rose pointed to emerging autonomous technology as one way to help solve the line cook problem for the restaurant industry. At the FOOD IT exhibition during the event, Chowbotics Inc. demonstrated a customized salad-making robot (called Sally) designed to address the looming labor shortfall.

“We need to see more automation both on the farm and in the restaurants,” Rose said.

Another important area for growth will be aerial imaging, led by autonomous drone-based, data-generating aircraft, according to Trice. “By doing a flyover, you are providing farmers with more information than they’ve ever had,” he said. “You’re going from a data desert to a data flood.”

Trice viewed this as a positive trend that will lead to a greater willingness on the part of farmers to employ artificial intelligence for help with maximizing yields, pricing and sustainability. “Ultimately, the data will be free, it will open up, it will interconnect, and we just need that to happen in food and in agriculture,” said The Mixing Bowl’s founder.

Both Trice and Rose cautioned that there still needs to be less proprietary technology and more integration around common technology. “A restaurant could have seven different delivery services picking up from the restaurant and seven different iPads,” Rose stated.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the FOOD IT: Fork to Farm event. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for FOOD IT: Fork to Farm. Neither Western Digital Corp., the event sponsor, nor other sponsors have editorial influence on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE