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Today, there’s unprecedented demand for a smarter, safer, more honest food supply — and a resilient supply chain that can act quickly should something go wrong. Our innovative clients have a vision of how blockchain could meet that demand and create a new era of trust for the world’s food supply.
To celebrate our visionary clients, we commissioned five contemporary artists to interpret key blockchain objectives these innovators have achieved in their transformative work with us: consumer confidence and trust, transparent supply, food safety and provenance, sustainability, and efficiency.
BlockpARTy is the result. It’s a five-part series of virtual events that spotlight the art, the artists and the innovators. Episode 3, which debuts on 16 September, features artist Marina Berlin and her visual representation of how data is the key ingredient in achieving food safety and provenance. Included in the episode is an interview with visionary Tejas Bhatt, Senior Director for US and global food safety innovations at Walmart.
Join the Food Trust ecosystem for a smarter, safer, more sustainable food system
Meet the artist
Born in Russia and based in San Francisco, California, Marina Berlin initially trained as painter and worked as a makeup artist in TV and film. Then, accidentally, she discovered her current medium: agricultural wire mesh. Today she creates representational sculpture that fuses wire, light and shadow to push the boundaries of an underappreciated medium.
The inspiration: Food safety and provenance
What if we could see and trust the full story of our food — from seed in the ground to servings on our table? Where did it come from? Who transported it along the way? How fresh is it? And if there’s an issue with it, how quickly and precisely can it be removed from the food supply without throwing out unaffected items? Food Trust members know these answers — and are helping their customers and food supply partners feel more confident about food safety and provenance.
The interpretation
In her work for BlockpARTy, titled Trust, Marina has created a multi-layered story about humanity, technology, transparency and trust. The female form — suspended from above, her arms outstretched to give and receive — represents both Mother Earth and a mother feeding her family. Surrounding her are points of blockchain data, as transparent as she is. Grounding the suspended scene of humanity and technology is the earth and food itself — a garden of actual lettuce planted into rich soil.
“Food safety to me personally is about feeding my children. When it comes down to it, I want safe, high quality food.” – Marina Berlin, artist
Marina’s work, filmed on exhibit at 111 Mina Gallery in San Francisco, is a dimensional representation of our food’s new and trusted journey from farm to family.
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The visionary
Tejas Bhatt leads the Innovations Center of Excellence for Walmart’s Global Food Safety team, charged with driving initiatives across all markets in 27 countries. A global subject matter expert on food safety innovations, Tejas is responsible for protecting Walmart customers and the company by reducing food safety risks earlier in journey from farm to the retail stores and clubs. His innovative thinking applies predictive analytics, machine learning, artificial intelligence, internet of things sensors and blockchain technology to proactively mitigate food safety risks.
The conversation is moderated by Anita Gardeva, head of marketing for Food Trust and Blockchain Transparent Supply, and me, Nigel Gopie, Director of AI Applications and Blockchain marketing, your series host. Join us for this rare opportunity to hear industry leaders share how they helped influence their organizations and trading partners to enter into radically new relationships cemented by blockchain.
Register now to watch this and upcoming episodes of BlockpARTy
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