Eat this TEDx Talk: 7 talks on food and its future

From the molecular underpinnings behind good wine and cheese pairings to engineering medicine into milk. From eating bugs to simply eating local. These talks encourage you think more carefully about what’s on the end of your fork — and might even impact your next diet.

Cooking with chemestry: Francois Chartier at TEDxUdeM

What makes certain foods pair so well? Why do other combinations fall short? Francois Chartier uses molecular chemistry to investigate the dominant ingredients in our favorite foods — uncovering some surprisingly tasty blends. (French with English subtitles.) (Filmed at TEDxUdeM.)

Eat less meat, more bugs: Florence Dunkel at TEDxBozeman

Insects are high in protein and — if prepared well — delicious. And according to Florence Dunkel, their low-cost, ecological production means we need to incorporate them into our diets if we want a stable future for food security. (Filmed at TEDxBozeman.)

The brain cafe: Gary Wenk at TEDxColumbus

What’s the best diet for your brain? Gary Wenk sheds light on some of the controversial, and often contradictory, studies linking eating habits to health, mood and behavior. (Filmed at TEDxColumbus.)

Medicine from milk: Harry Meade at TEDxBoston

Medicines can involve complex, intricately folded proteins that are expensive to produce with traditional methods. Harry Meade shares his ingenious work-around —breeding goats that can generate these medicinal proteins in their milk. (Filmed at TEDxBoston.)

Delicious, healthy hospital food: Joshna Maharaj at TEDxToronto

If hospitals want people to get better, why do they serve unhealthy food? Chef Joshna Maharaj wants hospitals to serve tasty, sustainable and fresh food. (Filmed at TEDxToronto.)

The local future of food: Rob Spiro at TEDxSoMa

Rob Spiro exposes some of the systemic problems with large scale grocery chains and calls on us to change our food culture to focus on locally farmed foods. (Filmed at TEDxSoMa.)

Urban farming: Roman Gaus at TEDxZurich

Roman Gaus never thought he’d be a farmer. Now part of an urban farming collective in his city of Zurich, Switzerland, he harvests his own fish and produce on a regular basis. In this talk at TEDxZurich, he explains aquaponics: self-contained agriculture that relies on a symbiotic relationship between plants and fish — the fish provide nutrients for plants while the plants filter water for fish — all within portable containers made from recycled materials. (Filmed at TEDxZurich.)

Stephen Ritz: A teacher growing green in the South Bronx

Featured on TED.com in July, the frenetic, exuberant Stephen Ritz explains how teaching a group of high-risk kids in the South Bronx to garnden spun off into a student run movement to green New York City. (Filmed at TEDxManhattan.)