Elmar Mair, co-founder and CEO of Neatleaf, shares how artificial intelligence and robotics are being used to revolutionize cannabis cultivation. Megan Latshaw discusses the design of healthier communities and the challenges faced in advocating for healthier initiatives.
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Quick takeaways
NeatLeaf uses AI and robotics to optimize cultivation, increase sustainability, and improve efficiency in greenhouse farming.
Designing healthy communities involves prioritizing access to fresh and healthy food, walkability, and sustainable transportation options while preserving personal choices.
Deep dives
NeatLeaf: Robotics and AI in Farming
NeatLeaf is a company that utilizes robotics and AI to transform farming by collecting extensive data on cultivation. Their system, the NeatLeaf Spider, captures camera images, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, and leaf temperature in greenhouses and indoor facilities. This comprehensive data provides cultivators with insights into crop health and stress, allowing them to make informed decisions to optimize cultivation, increase sustainability, and improve efficiency. The platform is crop-agnostic, starting with cannabis cultivation and expanding to other crops grown in controlled environments.
Creating Healthy Communities with Environmental Health
Megan Latchaw, an associate scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discusses the concept of healthy communities. She emphasizes that healthy communities should prioritize making healthy choices easy choices. This includes access to fresh and healthy food, walkability, and sustainable transportation options. While some individuals may resist these initiatives, the goal is to make the healthy choice the easier choice without taking away personal choices. Latchaw also highlights the role of government, from global decarbonization efforts to state constitutions ensuring the right to a healthy environment, and local zoning decisions that prioritize public transit and sustainable infrastructure.
Examining Corporate Responsibility for the Planet
The discussion shifts to corporate responsibility for the environment. Megan Latchaw emphasizes the need for companies to consider long-term sustainability rather than focusing solely on short-term costs. Shifting away from fossil fuels and considering the impact on the workforce and local communities are vital. Latchaw suggests ending fossil fuel subsidies and creating incentives for companies to account for environmental externalities in their decision-making process. Currently, incentives are not adequately aligned, and changes are necessary to encourage companies to prioritize the planet's well-being.
Neatleaf Co-Founder and CEO Elmar Mair discusses revolutionizing cannabis cultivation and with artificial intelligence and robotics. Megan Latshaw, Associate Scientist in the Department of Environmental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, talks about her work in helping to design healthier communities. Hosts: Tim Stenovec and Emily Graffeo. Producer: Paul Brennan.