Going Bananas | Krista Watkins | TEDxJCUCairns

Years of observing wild life break fences to feast only on green bananas finally made sense when in 2010, Walkamin banana farmer Rob Watkins accidentally drove over a hand of bananas that had been baking in the Tropical North Queensland sun. In this moment the idea of commercial banana flour was born. With more than 450tonne of green bananas wasted each week in North Queensland, Australia - a problem had finally been solved. Just like Lewis Carroll’s protagonist Alice in Wonderland, Krista took a tumble down a rabbit hole of her own in 2010 when she and husband Rob made their first batch of green banana flour using fruit that would have otherwise gone to waste. Juggling a cutting-edge health food company with raising two young girls is no easy task. The discovery put the Tablelands suburb of Walkamin on the map and propelled the couple to the forefront of scientific research and innovation, all of which have garnered international attention and earned the Watkins a swag of awards. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

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