Food Tank

"Starvation isn’t a byproduct of war. It’s a weapon of war." Food is being withheld as a deliberate strategy of conflict. Ending hunger begins with ending the weaponization of food. This week’s Growing Forward piece from the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University and Food Tank explores how starvation is used as a tool of power—and what accountability must look like. ✍️ By Johanna Mendelson Forman 📖 Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/eVqHqpEh #FoodTank #GlobalFoodInstitute #FoodSecurity #ZeroHunger #HumanRights #FoodJustice #WarAndPeace #GrowingForward

We were so honored to co-host "A Night of Storytelling Honoring Our Farmers" with our brilliant friends at Food Tank and the Broadway Green Alliance to conclude Climate Week NYC! 🎤   At Niman Ranch, our commitment is to the family farmers whose passion and sustainable practices are the foundation of our food system. This powerful evening reinforced that regenerative agriculture is not just a trend—it's a deeply personal story of resilience, stewardship and community often passed through generations.   Farmers from around the world, including two of our very own partner Niman Ranch hog farmers, took center stage and reminded us why we fight to support small scale independent family farmers. As one of our farmers, Ron Mardesen, shared, "Every farmer that we can keep on the land is another reason for a town to keep going..."   Thank you to every storyteller from the evening. Your dedication to the land and livestock inspires our work every day. Learn more and watch the amazing speakers here: https://lnkd.in/eJDstQDY   Special thanks to Bernard Pollack, Danielle Nierenberg, Kenzie Wade and everyone who contributed to this inspiring event! 

Join Food Tank, the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University, the The Culinary Institute of America, and José Andrés for the inaugural Food and Agriculture Policy Summit on October 28, 2025, at Jack Morton Auditorium in Washington, D.C. in collaboration with Driscoll's, Meatable, and Oatly. The Summit will explore practical and actionable policy ideas focused on driving change through procurement, accelerating industry innovation, advancing better health through nutrition, strengthening climate resilience, addressing food loss and waste, reimagining global food aid, and much more. Confirmed speakers, moderators, and performers include (in alphabetical order): Casey Aden-Wansbury (Instacart); José Andrés (World Central Kitchen; Global Food Institute, George Washington University); Mchezaji "Che" Axum (University of the District of Columbia); Allison Aubrey (National Public Radio); Charles Basa (George Washington University); Christa Barfield, Public Health Innovator (FarmerJawn); Jackie Bertoldo, DrPH, MPH, RDN (Eat Better by Design); Shontel Brown (U.S. House of Representatives, Ohio); Vern Buchanan (U.S. House of Representatives, Florida); Shante Bullock (DC Central Kitchen); Zacharey Carmichael (World Bank); Tim Carman (The Washington Post); Hank Cardello (Georgetown University); Marcia Brown (Politico); Jennifer Duck (Novo Nordisk); Jenet DeCosta (Driscoll’s); Stacy D. (Global Food Institute, George Washington University); Sara Fletcher (Oatly); Bruce Friedrich (The Good Food Institute); Maria Godoy (NPR Science); Ellen Granberg (George Washington University); Robert E. Jones (Culinary Institute of America); Lauren L. (The Washington Post); Gerardo Martinez (Wild Kid Acres); Dariush Mozaffarian MD DrPH (Tufts University); Marion Nestle (New York University); Anna Nelson (U.S. Department of State); Danielle Nierenberg (Food Tank); Julie Anna Potts (Meat Institute); Roy Steiner (The Rockefeller Foundation); Frank Sesno (George Washington University); Chloe Sorvino (Forbes); Johan Swinnen (IFPRI); Jason Tepper (Alexandria City Public Schools); Michael Twitty (culinary historian and educator); Ana Villafañe (Broadway and television star); Lyndsay Waugh (Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation); Kia “Chef Kay” Williams (Shaleafa’s Kitchen); Katie Wilson (Urban School Food Alliance); and Raigon Wilson (FRESHFARM). This event is by invitation only. To request consideration, please email Bernard@FoodTank.com. Details here: https://lnkd.in/g__vHRun.

Food Tank’s Fall Reads for Food, Farming, and Our Future Food Tank is rounding up 26 recommended titles that explore the intersection of food, farming, and cultural identity. 1. All Consuming: Why We Eat The Way We Eat Now by Ruby Tandoh 2. Agroecology in Practice by Jeffrey W. Bentley and Paul Van Mele 3. Barn Gothic: Three Generations and the Death of the Family Dairy Farm by Ryan Dennis 4. Care and Feeding: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever 5. Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave it All Away by David Gelles 6. Dirty Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Jill Damatac 7. Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet by Stuart Gillespie 8. Foreign Fruit: A Personal History of the Orange by Katie Goh 9. Formulating Development: How Nestlé Shaped the Aid Industry by Lola Wilhelm 10. From Scratch: Adventures in Harvesting, Hunting, Fishing, and Foraging on a Fragile Planet by David Moscow and Jon Moscow 11. Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life by Gabrielle Cerberville 12. Ginseng Roots: A Memoir by Craig Thompson 13. Mushroom Day: A Story of 24 Hours and 24 Fungal Lives by Alison Pouliot 14. My (Half) Latinx Kitchen: An Unforgettable Multicultural Culinary Journey, Spice up Your Cooking Game by Kiera Wright-Ruiz 15. Reaping What She Sows: How Women are Rebuilding a Broken Food System by Nancy Matsumoto 16. Recipes from the American South by Michael Twitty 17. Saturdays at Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood by Tony Hillery, illustrated by Jessie Hartland 18. Sea Change: Unlikely Allies and a Success Story of Oceanic Proportions by Amanda Leland and James Workman 19. Strong Roots: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Ukraine by Olia Hercules 20. The Accidental Seed Heroes: Growing a Delicious Food Future for All of Us by Adam Alexander 21. The Last Supper: How to Overcome the Coming Food Crisis by Sam Kass 22. The Light Between Apple Trees: Rediscovering the Wild Through a Beloved American Fruit by Priyanka Kumar 23. Turtle Island: Foods and Traditions of the Indigenous Peoples of North America by Sean Sherman (forthcoming November 2025) 24. What if Soil Microbes Mattered?: Our Health Depends on Them by Leo Horrigan 25. What to Eat Now: The Indispensable Guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters by Marion Nestle (forthcoming November 2025) 26. Will Work for Food: Labor across the Food Chain by Laura-Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern and Teresa Mares More here: https://lnkd.in/eJRYVBbG

Join us in person in Tempe, Arizona on Thursday, October 16, 2025, for "World Food Day 2025: Food is Medicine and Eating for Health," the official North American World Food Day celebration, co-hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Arizona State University’s Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, and Food Tank. Hosted at the Walton Center for Planetary Health at Arizona State University, this half-day event will bring together global and local leaders exploring how food can heal our bodies, our communities, and our planet with a delicious lunch, inspiring conversations, and a live musical reception. Confirmed speakers include Kathleen Merrigan, PhD (Executive Director, ASU Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems), Danielle Nierenberg (President, Food Tank), Tom Pesek (Senior Liaison Officer, FAO), Lyndsey Waugh (Executive Director, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation), Chef Pierre Thiam (Founder, Yolélé ), Michel Nischan (Founder and Executive Chair, Wholesome Crave), Denisa Livingston (Community Health Advocate and Seed Steward), Crystal FitzSimons (President, Food Research & Action Center), Arnott Duncan (Owner, Duncan Family Farms, LLC), Selena Ahmed (Global Director, Periodic Table of Food Initiative, American Heart Association), and Brandon Lombardi (Chief Legal Officer, Chief Sustainability Officer, and Corporate Secretary, Sprouts Farmers Market). The program will be moderated by Debra Utacia Krol (The Arizona Republic | azcentral.com | La Voz) and Clara Migoya (The Arizona Republic). Breakout facilitators include Michael Kotutwa Johnson, PhD, MPP (University of Arizona), Ali Mohammed, Ph.D. (University of Arizona), Luke Ramsey-Wiegmann (ASU), Chris Wharton (ASU College of Health Solutions), Melissa K. Nelson (ASU School of Sustainability), Sophie Neems (ASU), Ginger Sykes Torres (Local First Arizona), Suzanne S. (ASU Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems), and Erica Martin (ASU). 🎶 Live musical performance by Jenna Lea Rosen, American vocalist and Broadway actress currently starring in the national tour of Suffs at ASU Gammage. 🎵 Reception music by Notes from Neptune. 📍 Walton Center for Planetary Health, 777 East University Drive, Tempe, AZ. 🍽️ Lunch and reception included. 🔗 Register now with the promo code WorldFoodDay at https://lnkd.in/exExD93e . Join us as we work hand in hand for better food and a better future. #WorldFoodDay #FoodIsMedicine #FoodTank #ASU #UNFAO #SproutsHealthyCommunities #SustainableFoodSystems #PlanetaryHealth #EatForHealth

🎙️ On this week’s episode of Food Talk with Danielle Nierenberg, Dani sits down with Stacy Dean, Carbonell Family Executive Director of the Global Food Institute at the George Washington University. They unpack the impacts of Trump-Vance era changes on the federal nutrition safety net, how to turn research into real policy action, and why empowering young leaders is key to transforming our food systems. Plus, updates on SNAP deadlines, the U.S. government shutdown’s effects on farmers, and new insights from the EAT-Lancet report and Zero Budget Natural Farming research. Listen now: https://lnkd.in/em8hjuw9

Excited to share insights from our event with Food Tank “Digital Futures: A Better Food Future” Celebration at Climate Week NYC, co-presented by Better Food Future and my company, Journey Foods! As a founder, I'm passionate about leveraging AI and data to build nimble and smart supply chains—and this event was a powerhouse of ideas at the intersection of food, climate, tech, and culture. Panelists like Erik Giercksky from United Nations Global Compact nailed it: In today's world, “there’s no place to hide.” With food fraud costing the global economy up to $40 billion annually (according to the FDA and industry reports), transparency isn't optional—it's essential. Mark K., Co-Founder of Wholechain, echoed this by emphasizing starting at the origin: Uncovering hidden gems in supply chains that distributors might overlook, leading to 20-30% improvements in efficiency and sustainability metrics, per recent McKinsey & Company studies on traceable systems. At Journey Foods, we're using AI to make this real. Our tools help companies optimize suppliers, reduce harmful operations, and boosting nourishment. Dr. Augusto Castro-Nunez from the Alliance of Bioversity International stressed farmer empowerment—ensuring tech adoption translates to real financial gains, like yield increases of up to 15% through data-driven insights. Sustainability pros like Alexandra Golub from Acme Smoked Fish Corp highlighted traceability's ripple effect: Unlocking value in seafood (a $160 billion industry) by giving consumers provenance proof, potentially cutting illegal fishing losses by 50% with blockchain tech. And let's not forget flavor and fun! Daniel Russek of Atarraya and chef/influencer Eniá “Flava P” Patterson reminded us: Delicious, trendy food goes viral—and sustainability must too. With social media influencing 70% of Gen Z food choices (Nielsen data), authenticity cuts through algorithms. Digital innovations free up resources for creativity, as Eric Mittenthal from the Meat Institute and others noted—protecting habitats while producing food that tastes amazing, like Elena Piana from Regal Springs described. The future of food is transparent, tech-enabled, and very creatively collaborative. What's your take on digital futures in 2025? #FoodTank #Influencers #creativity #supplychain Always, endlessly thankful to Danielle Nierenberg Bernard Pollack Kenzie Wade https://lnkd.in/edBbr2EE

“A good pan is like a trusted friend - it improves with time, instead of slowly poisoning you.” -Andrew Zimmern https://lnkd.in/eqRh5krh

“This land holds my ancestors’ stories and now, it holds mine. Every seed I plant carries my grandmother’s legacy.” 🌾 In upstate New York, Sea Matías is reclaiming space, honoring family roots, and feeding communities from the Bronx to the Catskills. Through their work at Serra Vida Farm, they’re proving that farming can be about healing, belonging, and cultural connection as much as food itself. Part of Food Tank’s Farmer Friday series, produced in partnership with Niman Ranch. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gGA_4ksd