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Type | NGO |
---|---|
Legal status | 501(c)(3) |
Purpose | publication, advocacy |
Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland |
President | Danielle Nierenberg |
Chairman of the Board | Bernard Pollack |
Treasurer | Nabeeha Mujeeb Kazi-Hutchins |
Regina Anderson, William Burke, Brian Halweil, Julie Kunen, Kerri McClimen, Nabeeha Kazi-Hutchins, Marc Zornes | |
Website | foodtank |
Food Tank: The Think Tank for Food is a global non-profit community working towards positive transformation in how food is produced and consumed. Founded in 2013, [1] it is a research and advocacy organization that educates, advocates, and collaborates with local partners to amplify on-the-ground solutions. [2]
In 2015, Food Tank launched its first Food Tank Summit in Washington, D.C. Since then, Food Tank has been holding a series of summits in various cities focused on sustainability and equity in food systems. [3] Food Tank has hosted summits in Boston, [4] Chicago, [5] New York City, [6] Sacramento, [7] San Francisco, [8] Seattle, [9] and Washington, D.C. [10] The conferences gather experts across all sectors of the food industry including business, government, nonprofit organizations, farmers, unions, and chefs.
Food Tank convened an official listening session in the lead-up to the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in 2022. [11] [12] The session explored the theme "Dismantling Silos to Strengthen Nutrition and Food Security Research" and key takeaways were compiled into a formal report for the White House's consideration as they develop a strategy to end hunger, increase healthy eating and physical activity, and eliminate disparities.
Food Tank joined a coalition of non-governmental organizations and institutions including the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, WeightWatchers International Inc., Grubhub and the Natural Resources Defense Council [13] to help build bipartisan support for the Food Donation Improvement Act, which was signed into law in January 2023. [14] Food Tank's efforts included convening an event on Capitol Hill in partnership with WW, Bread for the World, the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), and The Healthy Living Coalition where lawmakers, policy experts, and advocates fighting food waste called on Congress to pass the legislation. [15]
The organization's website is a publishing platform for news about the food industry and system, and it also provides research and analysis with the goal of building a science-based foundation for changing the food system. [16] Topics covered include sustainable agriculture, climate change, food waste, urban agriculture, and policy and organizing. [17]
In 2014, Food Tank partnered with the James Beard Foundation to publish an annual "Good Food Org Guide," a comprehensive directory of nonprofit organizations that are working toward a better food system. [18]
In 2018, Food Tank launched an original podcast, Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg, on which Nierenberg invites chefs, experts, and activists to outline their ideal food system and how their projects are making a better food system more attainable. [19]
Food Tank built a working group of Chief Sustainability Officers representing more than 150 food businesses [20] that convenes monthly to discuss trends and case studies, learn from guest speakers, network, and harness coalition opportunities.
Food Tank's peer network of academic faculty and department directors [21] meets bi-monthly and represents disciplines around food and environmental studies as well as nursing and medicine, marketing, nutrition, anthropology, labor, and religious studies. The institutions represented include land grant, liberal arts, HBCUs and Tribal Colleges, and community colleges.
Food Tank also convenes the Refresh Working Group, [22] which brings together food, agriculture, and technology experts from across the United States to ensure the positive application and responsible use of emerging technologies and data across these sectors. The group's goal is to ensure robust and healthy agriculture and food marketplaces where innovation thrives and where small and big players alike can drive positive improvements throughout the global food system.
At the U.N. Climate Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Food Tank partnered with all official food pavilions including the Food4Climate Pavilion with A Well-Fed World, Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS, IPES-Food (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems) and ProVeg International; [23] the Food Systems Pavilion with Clim-Eat and 15 other partners; [24] and the Food and Agriculture Pavilion with CGIAR, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and The Rockefeller Foundation. [25]
At COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the U.N. Climate Conference featured an entire day devoted to food and agriculture for the first time. [26] Food Tank partnered on events and panels throughout the conference including at the Sustainable Agriculture of the Americas Pavilion facilitated by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), [27] the Food and Agriculture Pavilion facilitated by CGIAR, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, IFAD, and the Rockefeller Foundation, [28] the Future Economy Forum in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and the Action on Food Hub, [29] the University of Pennsylvania Pavilion, [30] the Nordic Pavilion in partnership with U.N. Global Compact Norway, [31] and more.
Food Tank hosts annual programming at the Sundance Film Festival. In January 2023, Food Tank collaborated with The Lodge at Blue Sky Auberge Resort and Fed by Blue to host a three-day event of screenings, tastings, talks, and live music. The event included a screening of and discussion about "Hope in the Water," a docuseries produced by celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, Brian Peter Falk, and David E. Kelly about the foods that come from the Earth's bodies of water, including wetlands, streams, and lakes. [32]
On January 20, 2024, Food Tank hosted a day of discussions during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, around the relationship between climate change and the food system. [33] Topics included Indigenous foods, food as medicine, the intersections of food and technology, the potential of restaurants in community revitalization, with celebrity speakers including Kimbal Musk and Chef Susan Feniger. [34]
Food Tank hosts annual programming at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. In 2023, Food Tank hosted a series of events including two film watch parties, official SXSW panels, and curated meals with celeb chefs. [35] The nonprofit also partnered with Huston-Tillotson University for a morning Summit featuring co-curated panel discussions moderated by top food and agriculture journalists. Speakers included Mary Beth Albright, Washington Post; Evadne Cokeh, ButcherBox; Chloe Sorvino, Forbes; Emily Ma, Google; Alejandra Sanchez, Driscoll’s; award-winning writer, director, and producer Brian Peter Falk; and Andrew Zimmern, 4-time James Beard award and Emmy award winner. [36]
In 2024, Food Tank hosted an entire day's worth of programming during SXSW, centered on food sustainability, food policies, and farming. [37] The event was free and open to the public. It was hosted at the Barr Mansion in Austin with multiple stages featuring 50+ speakers including cookbook author Toni Tipton-Martin, live performance, tasting areas, and a screening of documentary Common Ground. [38]
WeCameToDance is Food Tank's interactive original musical about the climate crisis. It was developed by Creative Producer Bernard Pollack [39] with choreography by House of Jack, [40] original language by David Peterson of Game of Thrones, [41] and original music by Rocky Dawuni. [42] The show debuted a month-long run at 2021 Edinburgh Fringe Festival [43] and is commissioned perform at the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow. [44]
During its initial run, WeCameToDance was featured in the New York Times, [45] The List, [46] Scotsman, [40] The Herald (Scotland), [47] and Edinburgh Reporter [48] and the cast performed live on Good Morning Britain, Al Jazeera, and the BBC. [49]
In 2024, Food Tank debuted Little Peasants, an immersive theatrical showcase by playwright Bernard Pollack and director Dori A. Robinson that spotlights how baristas at a fictional chain called Unicorn Coffee come together to unionize. [50] The audience gains firsthand experience with employer and employee struggles during a unionizing campaign by participating in a meeting with the baristas during the show. At the end, the audience decides if Unicorn Coffee unionizes and the workers and managers must abide by their decision. [51]
A one-act iteration of Little Peasants was previously featured at SXSW in March 2023, where it received critical acclaim and multiple standing ovations. [52]
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Danielle J. Nierenberg is an American activist, author and journalist.
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