Innovation opportunities on the path between farmer and table asks the question: How does food, local or imported, slow or fast, nutritious or unhealthy, industrial or small scale, get to our plate?

The global food supply chain is in the midst of a transformation, and that change is cause to re-imagine a future food system that actually may look very different from our traditional practice of delivering food from farms to tables. Increasingly, farmers are also engineers, crops are grown in enclosed vertical structures, and "clean meat"is raised in laboratories rather than on the range. Technology and Big Data are changing not only the who and the where, but how food gets our plates: food printers, lab dishes, or from personalized in-home farms.

The possibilities and consequences of a smart, interconnected food system are only now becoming visible. No more invisible supply chains; the future food system will operate transparently and faster. By understanding the history, complexity, and potential of the global food supply chain, consumers, policy makers, and the food industry can shape the future of food.