--- description: Smart food policies in Latin America, better bio-plastics, transforming teaching, disrupting markets w/micropayments, and more. title: These Are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 16 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2014 5:01 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2014 5:01 PM CUT **1\.** [**Micropayments and digital currencies will ignite an explosion of disruptive innovation.**](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-idea-2015-coming-disruption-walter "undefined") By Walter Isaacson in LinkedIn **2\.** [**Latin America is taking the lead with progressive food policies — and putting public health above the interests of the food industry.**](http://civileats.com/2014/11/20/5-food-policy-lessons-the-u-s-could-learn-from-latin-america/ "undefined") By Andy Bellatti in Civil Eats **3\.** [**To preserve biodiversity and lift up communities facing hunger in sub-Saharan Africa, indigenous plants might provide a solution.**](http://www.newsweek.com/solving-hunger-ethiopia-turning-native-crops-291558 "undefined") By Amy Maxmen in Newsweek **4\.** [**Teacher preparation programs seek change with a pinpoint innovation approach. It’s time for a broad scale transformation of teaching.**](http://www.edcentral.org/teacher-preparation/ "undefined") By Kaylan Connally in EdCentral **5\.** [**Making clean plastics from biofuel waste could free up valuable farmland for food crops.**](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/swiss-researchers-create-eco-friendly-plastic-biofuel-waste-180953582/ "undefined") By Matt Safford in Smithsonian  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3635736/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-16/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3635736/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-16/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 16","datePublished":"2014-12-16T17:01:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:39.079Z","description":"Smart food policies in Latin America, better bio-plastics, transforming teaching, disrupting markets w/micropayments, and more.","url":"https://time.com/3635736/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-16/","keywords":["Innovation","Africa","Money","Agriculture","Food","plants","Education","Bitcoin","Harvard","Mexico","Currency","South America","digital","ethiopia","paypal","latin america","plastic"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3635736/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-december-16/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: December 16"}}]}] ```