MAD Feed

The Contemporary Status of Agriculture

Thu, 28 May 2026 01:38:51 GMT

Vandana Shiva has been fighting industrialized and commodified food systems since the 1980s. In her presentation at #MAD3 she describes how decades ago her gut feeling led her to become a food activist. Since then she has started Navdanya which to date is made up of 120 community seed banks in 17 states of India. Many seed banks are now running independently of Navdanya’s support. Navdanya has also trained and created awareness amongst 750,000 farmers in seed sovereignty, food sovereignty, and sustainable agriculture over the past two decades, and helped setup the largest direct marketing, fair trade and organic network in the country. More than 4000 rice varieties have been collected, saved, and conserved by Navdanya in last 26 years. Multitudes of food crops left behind by the Green Revolution and monoculture cropping, such as millets, pseudo-cereals, and pulses, have been conserved and promoted by Navdanya.

René Redzepi's Closing Speech

Wed, 13 May 2026 08:02:00 GMT

S1E8 - José Andrés & Endless Ambition

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:48:17 GMT

In this season’s final episode of MAD Talks, José André—chef of Jaleo, minibar, The Bazaar and Oyamel; and the founder of World Central Kitchen and The Longer Tables Fund—talks about the extraordinary trajectory he has been on since he first fell in love with cooking as a child, and the dreams (hint: they aren’t small) he has for the future. It’s a revealing conversation filled with hope and determination, and it just may convince you that life, as he puts it, “begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

S1E7 - Kylie Kwong & Exploring Identity

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:48:11 GMT

Chef and restaurateur Kylie sits down with René to reveal how she cultivates that sense of purpose, including all the bumps along the way. From changing careers to reconciling difficult family relationships; from connecting with her Chinese heritage to the “miracle” that happened when she came out; from the decision to close her restaurant to her inspiring new work with Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, Kylie is as open and honest with René as she is with herself. And throughout this moving conversation, they connect over their love of food and the creative practice that cooking represents.

S1E6 - Ron Finley & Sowing Resistance

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:48:04 GMT

Did you know there are places in the United States where growing vegetables is actually a crime? At the fourth MAD Symposium, Ron Finley shared how he learned this firsthand—when he was cited for planting vegetables in his own front yard. What followed was an extraordinary journey of resistance and transformation. Finley took action—not just for himself, but for his entire community. In this powerful conversation, René Redzepi sits down with Finley, a true force of nature, to talk about his life as a guerrilla gardener. They explore why access to healthy food is a human right and how growing your own food can be a revolutionary act.

The Intentional Restaurant

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 10:14:11 GMT

How do you create a workplace you actually want to be in?

It's the question Erin Wade asked when she founded Homeroom, a mac and cheese restaurant in Oakland, California. Her answer is "collective success," where every decision is made with the team, customers, and community in mind.

At Homeroom, that means weekly meetings where everyone, from dishwashers to servers, digs into the financials and pitches ideas on how to improve. And the results speak for themselves: Homeroom has some of the highest revenue per square foot in the industry, retention rates 10x the national average, and a safety system now used by restaurants and bars worldwide.

MAD Camp 2025

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 09:38:11 GMT

At MAD Camp 2025, 200 students from Hotel- og Restaurantskolen sailed to Refshaleøen for MAD Camp – a day showing what culinary craft can be and all the paths the profession can take. Featuring René Redzepi, Erin Wade, Joshua Niland, Douglas McMaster, Ryan Walker, Emilie Qvist and the team from Baka d’Busk, among many others, who guided students through everything from work culture and fin-to-gill philosophy to zero waste, wild herbs and a plant-based menu with klezmer music.

Next year MAD Camp moves to a new location in Denmark... stay tuned.

MAD Camp is produced in collaboration with Hotel- og Restaurantskolenand with support from Tietgenfonden and Tuborgfondet.

Interview with Arianna Occhipinti | Longer Tables Fund x MAD

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:51 GMT

This year, MAD and José Andrés’ Longer Tables Fund joined forces to build Symposium’s first ever on-site studio, capturing dozens of interviews with MAD7 speakers, guests, and team members. As José said in the big red tent, let’s not be afraid to tell everyone around us what we dream to do. And let’s be loud about it!

Interview with Matty Matheson | Longer Tables Fund x MAD

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:48 GMT

Matty Mattheson didn’t eat in a restaurant until he was a teenager. It’s an upbringing he’s grateful for: a “beige and unremarkable” diet punctuated by fresh seafood from Canada’s east coast.

As an actor-chef-father-husband-author-producer-clothing maker, his career is a master class in staying true to yourself—something he believes is key to longevity. Stop chasing likes, and stay present.

Interview with Laxá Fishing Guides | Longer Tables Fund x MAD

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:45 GMT

Laxá í Aðaldal—known as ‘The Queen of Icelandic Rivers’—is where Andrea, Alexandra, Arndis, Áslaug and their families have been fishing guides for seven generations. But the sea-farmed salmon industry threatens their family’s future.

Sea-farmed salmon is a food that’s toxic for our bodies and our planet. Their rallying cry? Stop eating it. When you’re grocery shopping, scan the label for its origins. When you’re out to eat, ask the restaurant where they source their fish.

Interview with Kamal Mouzawak | Longer Tables Fund x MAD

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:41 GMT

Kamal Mouzawak has spent decades building Souk el Tayeb, Beirut’s first farmers market, as a celebration of the local produce, traditions, and people...a longer table with a seat for everyone.

Food travels across borders, becoming the bridge that connects us. We are grateful for people like Kamal who remind us that food has the power to bring us together, regardless of differences, to build stronger communities.

Interview with Ron Finley | Longer Tables Fund x MAD

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:38 GMT

“Gardening is the cornerstone of civilization.”

Ron Finley is the gangster gardener from Los Angeles. He learned the value of being self-sustaining as a kid, when he started mowing lawns and planting flowers with his mom. Now, he knows we need to treat young people as the precious resource they are—to teach them to care about something other than themselves

Because, as Ron says: if you can’t feed yourself, you can’t free yourself.

This year, MAD and José Andrés’ Longer Tables Fund joined forces to build Symposium’s first ever on-site studio, capturing dozens of interviews with MAD7 speakers, guests, and team members. As José said in the big red tent, let’s not be afraid to tell everyone around us what we dream to do. And let’s be loud about it!

Interview with Courtney Storer | Longer Tables Fund x MAD

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:34 GMT

Sharing food can be beautiful. It can also bring up complicated memories. Courtney Storer, the Culinary Producer for The Bear, joined us at the studio to talk about being a deli kid, the richness of LA’s food scene, and the power of a perfect plate of cheese ravioli.

This year, MAD and José Andrés’ Longer Tables Fund joined forces to build Symposium’s first ever on-site studio, capturing dozens of interviews with MAD7 speakers, guests, and team members. As José said in the big red tent, let’s not be afraid to tell everyone around us what we dream to do. And let’s be loud about it!

Interview with Kira O´Brien | Longer Tables Fund x MAD

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:30 GMT

Hospitality is not just about food…it’s about creating community. That’s exactly what Dr. Kira O’Brien and Emma's Torch, a non-profit social enterprise, are doing every day: empowering refugees with the skills to build meaningful careers and find their place to belong.

At a time when some people try to make higher walls that drive us apart, we must choose to build longer tables where everyone is welcome…especially our newest neighbors like immigrants and refugees.

This year, MAD and José Andrés’ Longer Tables Fund joined forces to build Symposium’s first ever on-site studio, capturing dozens of interviews with MAD7 speakers, guests, and team members. As José said in the big red tent, let’s not be afraid to tell everyone around us what we dream to do. And let’s be loud about it!

Ryan Chetiyawardana | Longer Tables Fund x MAD Studio

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 12:37:27 GMT

A martini is one of life’s perfect moments.

London-based bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana believes that making one—like cooking a meal—is an act of love. As a bartender, he specializes in meeting people where they are. Guests come in to celebrate, to unwind, to try something new. He creates moments (and cocktails) for everyone, building connections around the table or across the bar.

At MAD7, we joined forces with with José Andrés’ Longer Tables Fund to build Symposium’s first ever on-site studio, capturing dozens of interviews with speakers, guests, and team members. As José said in the big red tent, let’s not be afraid to tell everyone around us what we dream to do. And let’s be loud about it!

The Vegetable Orchestra

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 08:36:58 GMT

Carrot and parsnip flutes, watermelon bongos, a pumpkin string bass and cabbages—of the heavy metal variety—filled the tent when Vienna's Vegetable Orchestra proved that fresh produce makes beautiful music.

Sometimes you should play with your food.

Yvon Chouinard in Conversation with Lisa Abend

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 15:00:56 GMT

In conversation with Lisa Abend, Yvon Chouinard shares how starting as a blacksmith making climbing tools led to building a company guided by values over profit. He describes hitting $1 billion as the worst day of his life.

After 50 years in business, Chouinard champions purposeful growth over endless expansion. Patagonia is now steward-owned, and the earth is their only shareholder. They've donated over $100 million in excess profit to environmental causes.

Their conversation covers everything from corporate responsibility to table salt.

Christine Schauflinger's Strudel

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 14:16:00 GMT

A moment of paper-thin, doughy zen from strudel queen Christine Schauflinger, chef and owner of Gasthaus Theuerwang.

Chinampas are the Future

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 13:05:05 GMT

Pablo Usobiaga of Arca Tierra believes the future lies in the past.

He works directly campesinos—peasant farmers—to recover Mexico’s 4,000-year-old chinampas: floating gardens that once fed 1.5 million people. Today, less than 10% of them survive.

Campesinos are their custodians. Some of society’s most overlooked workers, campesinos are in fact on the frontlines of our climate crisis. As Pablo explains, they are guardians of critical knowledge. Learning from them is how we’ll walk ourselves back from the ecological cliff.

Leading with Generosity

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 13:21:09 GMT

Chef Josh Niland is rewriting the rules of whole-fish cooking at Sydney’s Saint Peter and Fish Butchery—turning every scale, bone, and organ into something extraordinary.

Before his MAD talk, he broke down a fish with the noma team—but his real lesson was about leadership: generosity, space for creativity, and knowing what sparks each person on your team.

Legacy in Action

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 13:42:59 GMT

The Loiseau sisters carry forward the legacy of their father Bernard Loiseau, the legendary French chef who transformed a crumbling restaurant in rural Burgundy into a three-Michelin-star powerhouse—then taking his own life at the height of his success in 2003.

Blanche and Bérangère’s mother kept the flame alive after tragedy. Now, they’ve now taken the helm of a hospitality group that spans 6 restaurants, 2 hotels, and 130 employees. Their approach differs from their father’s obsession with Michelin stars—they’re building a more sustainable vision still in his timeless values: excellence, authenticity, innovation.

Bernard Loiseau’s ‘cuisine des essences’—bringing lightness and freshness through produce—changed French gastronomy forever. Now his daughters are honoring his legacy while carving out space to breathe and grow.

The Art of Staying Engaged

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 07:43:03 GMT

At the age of seven, Chido Govera was left orphaned, caring for her grandmother and little brother in rural Zimbabwe. At ten, she refused an arranged marriage—choosing instead a path that took her from foraging for survival to building something extraordinary.

The Future of Hope Foundation has now transformed over 10,000 households in Zimbabwe and beyond through mushroom farming. What started with learning to grow oyster mushrooms from corn stalks has become a movement rooted in Ubuntu philosophy—“I am because we are”—where communities solve their own problems with the right knowledge and support.

Everytime she speaks with MAD, Chido shows us the power of working “one mushroom at a time”—turning complex agricultural science into something rural communities can master themselves. Sometimes the most radical act is simply believing people are capable of more than their circumstances suggest.

Looking at Nature with Appetite

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 19:15:47 GMT

Ángel León known across Spain as "el Chef del Mar", believes the ocean holds answers we haven't thought to ask for.

He transformed a 200-year-old abandoned mill into Aponiente, his three-Michelin-starred laboratory in Cádiz, proving the future of food may lie below the surface.

We’re only eating a small portion of what the sea has to offer. That’s why León works with the unwanted parts of the fish—the cuts and species that typically get discarded.

He’s developed the world’s first omega-3 rich grain that grows entirely in seawater, marine soybeans with higher protein content than their terrestrial cousins, and techniques for transforming discarded moray eel into dishes so convincing you’d swear you were eating pork.

By 2026, he plans to open a two-hectare estuary where guests will eat live fish and mollusks pulled directly from the water. His philosophy: look at the ocean “with hunger,” seeing every element as potential nourishment rather than waste.

Translation by Pablo Soto Rodriguez Gil

José Andrés & René Redzepi in Conversation

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 18:44:13 GMT

These days, José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen, finds that his best work happens in the most impossible places. Unfamiliar kitchens where nothing works, where broken equipment forces the kind of creativity and collaboration that comfort never could.

His parents always cooked with a certain resourcefulness. His father made big paellas, always adding more rice for more guests. His mother turned kitchen scraps into croquetas—a generosity that has stayed with him through his humanitarian work.

"Life starts at the end of your comfort zone," he says. While he's still learning what that means, he knows one thing for certain: hugs beat selfies, every time.

In conversation with René Redzepi, José opens up about fear, hope, and why being pro-humanity means showing up for everyone—even when it's hard.

The Future Library

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 13:12:42 GMT

In 2014, artist Katie Paterson planted 1,000 spruce trees in Norway's Nordmarka forest and asked the world a simple question: what if we created something meant to outlast us all?

Future Library is a century-spanning artwork where each year until 2114, a celebrated writer contributes a manuscript that won't be read until the trees become the paper.

Katie Paterson and Anne Beate Hovind share the logistics behind this temporal experiment: negotiating Oslo's first 100-year municipal contract, managing the anxiety of protecting trees across decades, and creating annual forest rituals built on mutual trust.

Hospitality Without Hangovers

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 13:38:55 GMT

The force behind Ben’s Friends speaks on how the restaurant business has been both his salvation and his enabler.

Starting as a doorman checking IDs, Mickey Bakst discovered his passion for hospitality, creating magic for guests who saved all year for once-in-a-lifetime meals. But the same industry that gave him purpose also normalized his addiction. “I found a shelter from the storm, a place where my addiction was not only accepted, but condoned.”

After nearly dying and waking up in a psychiatric ward, Mickey got sober in 1982. Decades later, he co-founded Ben’s Friends: a recovery community specifically for F&B workers. Today, it has 26 chapters across the U.S. with daily meetings worldwide.

For more information on joining Ben’s Friends meeting: https://www.bensfriendshope.com/meetings/

What Happens When We Don't Kick The Ladder Away

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 08:09:18 GMT

Asma Khan entered the restaurant world at 45. Then she became the first British chef on Chef's Table.

At MAD7, she shared how her London restaurant, Darjeeling Express, came to life. She made the bold decision to open a restaurant staffed by grandmothers and mothers—home cooks who had never worked in professional kitchens, armed with "terrible knife skills but huge hearts." 

Chefs constantly credit their mothers and grandmothers as their biggest culinary influences. But these women are rarely part of the restaurant team. Asma built her kitchen differently, bringing softness to an industry obsessed with toughness. She’s proven that kindness is a form of strength. 

Matty Matheson & Courtney Storer in conversation with Lisa Donovan

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 13:25:10 GMT

Matty Matheson and Courtney Storer have been close friends for years, but their connection deepened at MAD six years ago.

Today, the supremely dynamic duo works together on The Bear. Courtney serves as culinary producer on the iconic series. Matty works as consultant, producer, actor, and the chef who brings lionhearted authenticity to every kitchen scene. At MAD7 with Lisa Donovan, they unpack how the show uses intense, theatrical reality to examine human connection.

Their conversation is expansive. They dig into working with actual family while creating chosen family. The vulnerability required in both acting and cooking. How food becomes a character itself—carrying both nostalgia and trauma.

How to Build to Last

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 18:11:15 GMT

For Arianna Occhipinti, talking about wine is like talking about love.

Both require the right tools to avoid repeated failure. Both have the power to transform obstacles into meaning.

At 22, Arianna started making wine in Sicily's Cerasuolo di Vittoria region. Today her biodynamic methods—wild fermentations, no filtration, cover crops mixing 15+ plants—yield over 120,000 bottles per year. SP68 Rosso, her signature blend, combines native Frappato and Nero d'Avola grapes.

Building her story piece by piece, Arianna shows how individual vision can reshape an entire industry's approach to sustainable winemaking.

A Legacy Under Water

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 12:07:32 GMT

With a confidence most of us could only dream about when we were their age, the seventh-generation fishing guides told us about the threat that salmon farming poses to their family tradition, their river, and the wild species itself. Escaped fish weakening wild populations, sea lice spreading rapidly, antibiotics and pesticides building up in fish fat.

Their message to the chefs in the audience was crystal clear: stop serving sea farmed salmon.

Thomas Keller & René Redzepi in Conversation

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:13:39 GMT

In this conversation between Thomas Keller and René Redzepi, who worked under him early on at French Laundry, they discuss what it means to be part of an interconnected culinary lineage. Keller traces his path back to his mother getting him that first kitchen job, which led to his focus on making people happy through food.

They cover mentorship, sleep over burnout, nurture over ego and building leaders who surpass you. Plus, Thomas Keller meets Thomas the Goat—you'll have to watch for that one.

MAD7 | Build to Last

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 08:44:53 GMT

At MAD7, we explored how we can best ensure that our planet, our communities, our industry, and we ourselves continue to thrive—now, and in the future.

Welcome to MAD.

How Can We Be Good Ancestors?

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 07:00:00 GMT

When philosopher Roman Krznaric voted in a UK election, he handed his ballot to his kids. Their futures hang on today's decisions way more than his does.

In his talk at MAD7, based on his book, The Good Ancestor: How to Think Long Term in a Short-Term World, Krznaric argues we've colonized the future. We're using it as a dumping ground for problems we can't (or won't) solve.

But what if we thought like ancestors instead?

Drawing on cathedral builders, Victorian engineers, and Indigenous traditions of long-term thinking, he asks us to stretch our imaginations past the next quarter, the next election, or even the next generation…

Cooking in Community

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 11:27:43 GMT

Why would a talented young chef choose to open a restaurant in a part of Denmark so disdained by other Danes that they refer to it as the rotten banana?

For Emilie Qvist, opening a restaurant (or two!) in a place with more pigs than people meant cheaper rent and closer proximity to nature. But as she explained in her talk at MAD7, it also gave her the chance to make an impact. With first Medvind and now Lyspunktet, she found a way to support the local economy, showcase local fishing and farming, and create a place for local residents to celebrate the big and small moments of their lives. “You become someone there,” she said. “Someone who knows your farmers’ names, and what their struggles are, someone who knows your neighbors.”

In the rotten banana, in other words, she found community.

How to Take Over Your Parent's Restaurant in Five Easy Steps

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Following his father suffering a debilitating stroke in 2019, Justin Pichetrungsi made the daunting decision to take over his family’s 43-year old restaurant, Anajak Thai, in Los Angeles, California.

From working as an art director at Disney to deciphering his family’s recipe cards, he reflects on what it means to inherit something sacred. And how, apparently, it all starts by arguing with your parents.

How to Fall in Love with a Delicious Future

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 07:00:00 GMT

Climate activist and imagination catalyst Rob Hopkins walked on stage in a spacesuit and asked us to time travel. Not to escape, but to dream.

He wanted us to imagine a distant utopia instead of another dystopian warning. Together, we pictured a 2030 within reach: greener cities, bicycle rush hours, shared meals, restored soil, more joy.

His new book, How to Fall in Love with the Future, argues that hope works better than despair. The future doesn't arrive fully formed. We build it, story by story, meal by meal.

MAD7 | Build to Last - A Wrap on Day Two

Fri, 30 May 2025 09:00:37 GMT

MAD7 | Build to Last - A Wrap on Day One

Fri, 30 May 2025 08:58:08 GMT

S1E5 - Nina Persson & Staying Creative

Tue, 13 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Redzepi sits down with Nina Persson, the lead singer of the iconic 90s pop band The Cardigans. They talk about her unlikely start as a musician, the impact of mentors who can recognize your talent, and the tension they both feel between staying creative, and giving their fans what they want. And it wouldn’t be an episode of MAD Talks without a discussion of foods that changed each of them, including Turkish sausage, corn on the cob, and one very special pineapple dish.

S1E4 - Dan Giusti & A New Role For Chefs

Thu, 08 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Redzepi reconnects with Dan Giusti, his former head chef at noma and now the founder of Brigaid, an amazing organization that harnesses the knowledge and skills of chefs to create healthy school lunches for 650,000 kids every day. They chat about how Giusti’s chef journey began, why feeding kids can be way more challenging than working in a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, and his long-term vision of transforming America’s school food system.

MAD - About Symposium

Wed, 07 May 2025 06:13:30 GMT

S1E3 - Chido Govera & Cultivating Change - MAD Talks

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Redzepi sits down with Harold McGee, the writer who has done more than anyone else to explain the science of flavor to the world, and the author of On Food and Cooking—a book we can pretty much guarantee all chefs have on their shelf. They discuss pleasure, the flavors that have stuck with them since childhood, and what’s really going on in your brain when you put something in your mouth.

S1E2 - Harold McGee & Flavor Illusions

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

S1E1 - Magnus Nilsson & Moose Fondue

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Magnus Nilsson is a chef and author who earned two Michelin stars and many other accolades for his ground-breaking restaurant in northern Sweden, Fäviken. After speaking at the inaugural MAD Symposium in 2011, Nilsson joins Redzepi once again to reflect on the experiences of opening and closing that restaurant, and the unexpected turns his career has taken since. And like all guests on MAD Talks, he explores what building to last—the theme of the next MAD Symposium—means to him.

MAD Symposium is back!

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

After a seven-year hiatus, the most exciting gathering in food returns for mind-blowing ideas, inspiring talks, and meaningful connections. Under Build to Last, we’ll explore how we can best ensure that our planet, our communities, our industry, and we ourselves continue to thrive—now, and in the future.

What is a Good Life?

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

For British architect, Carolyn Steel, the question of how we want to eat in the future is really a question of how we want to live. Food has become invisible in our cities, but it hasn’t always been and doesn’t have to remain this way. Using food as a lens, she takes us on a journey to understand the myriad ways in which food has shaped the cities and societies we live in, and how, in accepting the true value of food, we do away with the illusion of “cheap food” and play an active role in the food system.

Restore the Soil and Feed Tomorrow

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

We’ve lost a third of the world’s fertile soil and are slated to lose another third in the next century–this is an optimistic story about the environment. Geologist David Montgomery shares his life’s research and insights into soil, from its role in the foundation of our civilizations down to the microbes that live in it and how regenerative agriculture can save the food world of tomorrow.

Get On Your Knees (and Bring Gastronomy with You)

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

As chef Christian Puglisi’s restaurant community, Relæ, in Copenhagen expanded, he realized he should not be growing out, but growing deeper. So he started the Farm of Ideas to grow his own produce. At this MAD Monday, he recounts how his experience starting the farm led him to face the high cost of producing food and impacted how he values it.

It's up to restaurants, up to chefs, he believes, to get down on their knees and understand their produce because they have a unique responsibility to help people understand the true value of food and redefine what gastronomy is in the process.

Leaders are the Glue, Not the Light

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Clarence Slockee and Christian Hampson run Yerrabingin (We Walk Together), Australia’s first Indigenous rooftop farm that interweaves indigenous knowledge and collaborative design thinking in South Eveleigh, Sydney.

Here they share their insights on how Indigenous values of collective wisdom, kinship (relationships to each other), and custodianship (responsibility to our mother earth) inform the matriarchal model of leadership in Indigenous cultures, and are key for transformational change. Placing this in stark contrast to patriarchal, top-down, forms of leadership, they suggest that “Leadership must be a voice, but also give a voice.”

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Leadership, 4 November 2019. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD, and Kylie Kwong that brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on what leadership looks like in our changing world. MAD Mondays are open to the public and held throughout the year and around the globe.

Get Out of Your Own Way

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Propelled into her role as the first female Zen Buddhist and Insight Meditation teacher, Subhana Barzaghi didn’t have other women role models to help lead her way. She reflects on how she grew into the Zen Roshi role and her inner journey of facing her anxieties to find her authentic voice.

How to Lead in a No-Ego Kitchen

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT

Chef Alanna Sapwell has journeyed through kitchens around the world, experiencing different leadership styles in each. Now as head chef, it’s her turn to set a new standard.

At ARC Dining, she and her team have established a series of tenets for running their restaurant that include: make thoughtful, delicious and confident food; provide an environment that creates a better-rounded chef; foster focused creativity; no ego; and, always make staff meal a highlight. In a no-ego kitchen, natural leaders emerge, creativity thrives, and no one is above washing the dishes.

Resilient Restaurants

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Josh Niland, Chef and Owner of Saint Peter restaurant and Fish Butchery, shares the stories of resilience behind his restaurant’s success at Sydney MAD Monday.

The philosophy behind his restaurants is the respect for the product and the fishermen that work hard to provide the most sustainable produce to work with. At Fish Butchery they have developed a recipe for nearly every part of the fish, which helps them to cut costs. With this lesson, Josh stresses the importance of educating the new wave of chefs at working without loss and food waste. Moreover, he points out that the life of a chef is filled with ups and downs and resilience is the only way to reach your goals.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Resilience, July 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Rediscovering Food Through Resilience

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Indira Naidoo, journalist, broadcaster, author and food activist, tells the story of her journey from news reading to finding meaning through growing vegetables and turning her balcony into an edible pantry.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Resilience, July 16, 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Love and Resilience

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Reverend Graham Long, Pastor and CEO Emeritus of the Wayside Chapel in Sydney, is someone whose life is woven into the community fabric of Sydney. Reverend Long shares the story of his path to understanding resilience, from a personal tragedy to the enduring support he found in the vulnerable, homeless and lost people who come to the Wayside. He underlines that love is everywhere to be found and that resilience is not deposited in you but is for you if you want it.

Cultural Resilience

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Lydia Miller is a Kuku Yalanji woman and the Executive Director of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts at Australia’s national arts funding body, the Australia Council. In this talk, Lydia shares her thoughts on the importance of preserving the aboriginal culture and history that she belongs to. For many years she could not understand why she was part of a minority when her ancestors were the founders of the land. However, she quickly realized that she had the duty of preserving this heritage by developing the cultural resilience forged by the first nation's people in Australia.

Preserving Identity Through Coffee Traceability

Fri, 30 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Arthur Karuletwa is a native of Rwanda, but lived as a refugee in Uganda and Kenya in the 1990's. Today, he sees coffee as a source of healing and empowerment, and has developed a program to trace coffee beans from the point of origin through the supply chain.

In surviving the horrific genocide of his people and murder of his family, Karuletwa was stripped of his identity. As a immigrant in America, he has dedicated his life to preserving the identity of others. Waging a war on poverty through agriculture and traceability, Karuletwa points to our food and drink as a reflection of our identity and culture, something we must understand to better act as agents of global development.

Conducting the Kitchen

Fri, 23 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Ture Larsen has composed many works and arrangements for theatre, film, jazz ensembles and symphony orchestras. Today, his focus is teaching surgeons to leverage their non-verbal communication skills in the operating room.

Randi Beier-Holgersen, Senior Surgeon of Nordsjælland Hospital,, Denmark, is responsible for the training and education of junior doctors and medical students.

At the sixth MAD Symposium, Ture Larsen and Randi Beier-Holgersen introduce their research on utilizing the non-verbal communication skills of conductors as an educative tool for leaders in other fields. With the help of the crowd, and "guest conductors," David Zilber and Mette Søberg of noma, they demonstrate the power of non-verbal communication, providing examples and uses for it within the restaurant environment.

Links Between the Culinary and Music Industries

Fri, 23 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Nina Persson is the lead singer of the Swedish band The Cardigans. She kicks off day two of the sixth MAD Symposium in performance with her husband Nathan, before a conversation with Tatiana Levha, MAD Alumni and owner of Le Servan and Double Dragon restaurants in Paris.

The two discuss the similarities between music and cooking, comparing the power of both musicians and chefs as spokespersons and figures of change.

Bridging The Gap Between Men and Women

Fri, 23 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Jytte Vikkelsøe is a Copenhagen based psychologist and author whose research focuses on conflict resolution and the complex dynamics of romantic love. Her most recent book is the bestselling Derfor Forelsker Du Dig Aldrig I Den Forkerte (‘Why You Never Fall in Love with the Wrong Person’).

At the sixth MAD Symposium, Jytte Vikkelsøe explains that for too long, biology, history, and culture have prolonged and entrapped our views on men and women. We need to better understand and address the differences in the treatment of both the sexes to find equality between them.

What Does Courage Look Like

Fri, 09 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Trish Nelson is a comedian, actor, and producer with more than 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry. As the founder of Bantergirl, she helps women create films, television, podcasts, and other projects that give voice to their experiences.

At the sixth MAD Symposium Nelson holds a microscope over restaurant culture, exposing its destructive practices and the damage they have caused both to her personally, and to our community as a whole. Raw and powerful, her talk is a call to action, urging us to recreate our culture and our workplaces so that they are equal, safe, and just for all.

Nobody Puts Baby In The... Kitchen

Sun, 04 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMT

For chefs, having a restaurant is akin to having a child. But how do you balance the love of that “child” when you become the parent to a living and breathing human.

Guided by Munchies DK Editor in Chief Lars Hinnerskov Eriksen, chefs Suzanne Barr, Niklas Ekstedt,Tatiana Levha, and Matt Orlando break down the surprises, benefits and the challenges of parenthood in the kitchen. Calling out for the support from the industry, the panel shares stories on how they've adapted their lifestyle and restaurant practices to better accommodate for future parents.

How To Reverse Climate Change

Thu, 25 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Chad Frischmann is the Vice President & Research Director at Project Drawdown, where he leads the Drawdown Coalition, Senior Research Team, and Fellowship Programs. Drawdown uses information from multiple fields to propose actionable solutions to reverse global warming.

At the sixth MAD Symposium, Chad delves into the frameworks and purpose around Project Drawdown. Revealing the impact that our food industry, agriculture, and production has on the climate, Chad urges the MAD community to look at how we can change our food and restaurant systems to change our climate.

On Food, Authenticity, and Culture

Fri, 12 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Romy Gill is the self-taught chef and owner of Romy’s Kitchen, a Punjabi/Bengali Indian restaurant in Bristol where she combines ingredients and techniques from her Indian heritage with those of her home country, the United Kingdom. Gill has been awarded with the title Member of the Most Excellent Order by the British Queen for her outstanding service to British and Indian food.

Side by side on stage with the MAD Dispatches Editor, Chris Ying, Romy introduces us to her story. Romy and Chris break down what authenticity means, and discuss what it means to take a cultural artifact out of its original locality, or in other words: the significance of exploring Indian cuisine in a British context.

Owning It

Thu, 11 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

The Mexican-American daughter of two immigrants, Rosio Sanchez has been instrumental in introducing Mexican cuisine to Denmark. After roles as the Head Pastry Chef and in the R&D kitchen at noma, she now runs the acclaimed restaurant SANCHEZ and taqueria Hija de Sanchez.

Rationalizing identity, heritage, flavor, and experience is a task no chef is trained for. At the sixth MAD Symposium, Rosio points out the gap which exists between seeking perfection and inspiration under the vision of others, and the contradictory desire to cook what matters to you as a person. Bridging that gap, as Rosio explains, is no easy task, requiring you to align what you do for a living, and what you care about in life.

What It Takes To Open Your Own Restaurant

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Chef and owner of the year-old restaurant, Core, Clare Smyth is one of the industry's most awarded chefs. As the head chef of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Smyth earned three Michelin stars and was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to British cuisine.

Smyth confronts what it takes to bridge the gap between our vision and dreams, and what reality deems possible. Touching on leadership, criticism, and solitude, Smyth shares her discovery that the rewards are never guaranteed, but there is something magical about creating a place that is your own and watching people embrace it.

#MeToo, Now What?

Fri, 21 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

New York Times' national food correspondent Kim Severson won a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on sexual harassment in the workplace in 2018. At the sixth MAD Symposium, she leads a conversation between Wade Davis, UN Women Global Champion for Innovation and inclusion consultant for Google and Netflix, and Lisa Donovan, acclaimed pastry chef and writer, who won a James Beard award for her essay on #MeToo in the food world.

In this important and intense discussion, Donovan, Davis, and Severson reflect on the revelations that prompted the #MeToo movement and the reckoning that has resulted from it. Spurred by their individual experiences and those of audience members, they offer insight and guidance to the industry as it finally begins to tackle these critical issues.

Finding Peace in the Kitchen and the Mind

Fri, 21 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Michael Miller is the co-founder of the London and New York Meditation Center. Miller regularly teaches all across the globe, introducing the ancient technique of Vedic Meditation in a way that is accessible and relevant to people living in today's world.

Interweaving practical techniques with vocal advice, Miller compels us to see how meditation can make us more available, responsive and active in our lives. By tuning in to, and ridding ourselves of stress we can create better kitchen environments, he argues.

Rewriting History

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Jeannette Ehlers is a Danish-Trinidadian multi disciplinary visual artist who aims to disrupt the dominating narratives and replace them with ones that acknowledge the aspects of history that have thus far been ignored. Ehlers engages themes of visibility, identity, and collective memory, such as her work I am Queen Mary, which represents one of four queens who led the 1878 labor revolt in Saint Croix, a former Danish colony.

Presenting her works at the sixth MAD Symposium, Ehlers discusses how it is possible to reframe history so that it is inclusive to all and provides examples how to do so through her works. Ehlers engages us, urging us to see how art, and other mediums like food, can provoke, lead and guide, people to better self-understanding.

No More Cock-Rock

Tue, 18 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

At his restaurant, Attica, New Zealand-born Ben Shewry showcases both: his interests (Australian culture, Indigenous ingredients, music, and art), and his core beliefs (not being a jerk, creative and financial independence, have a bloody good time without destroying anything.)

Lisa Abend is a journalist and author based in Copenhagen. She was previously TIME magazine’s correspondent in Spain, and her food writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Saveur, and The New York Times.

In a captivating dialogue led by Abend, Shewry delves deep into how the harrowing stories of his early career galvanized him as he and his team at Attica strived to create an equal, safe and fun work environment. Through his perspectives on work-life balance and leadership, Shewry further proves himself one of our industries most candid speakers, compelling us to stand behind our words and remain active in our mission to redefine the culture of the kitchen.

What On Earth Just Happened

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Lynda Obst is one of Hollywood’s most prolific producers. Obst has been credited with inventing the contemporary Romcom. Her films have garnered two Oscar wins and eleven nominations. She has written Hello He Lied: Other Truths from Hollywood and Sleepless in Hollywood.

At the Sixth MAD Symposium, Obst shared her eye-opening account of life in the center of the storm, providing us with an insight into a culture of abuse and sexualized narcissism. In closing, Obst urges us to acknowledge our shortcomings and to build stronger and safer work environments for the future.

Am I Good Enough?

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Kamilla Seidler, named the Best Female Chef in Latin America by the 50 Best Restaurants List, has led kitchens the world over, and has won widespread recognition for her work as head chef of Gustu, a built from scratch culinary academy and fine dining restaurant in La Paz, Bolivia. Despite the accolades, she, like a lot of us, constantly questions whether she is good enough.

Here she shares her journey from the active role as an instructor and leader in developing the Bolivian food movement to returning home to Denmark. Seidler’s journey is an example of how providing an opportunity to and nurturing passion within people is important no matter how you do it, and that the reward lies in watching those individuals develop and push themselves.

Why Is What You Do Important?

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Vincent Hendricks is a professor of Formal Philosophy at The University of Copenhagen and Director of the Center for Information and Bubble Studies (CIBS). He is a previous recipient of the Elite Research Prize from the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation and Roskilde Festival Elite Research Prize.

On stage at the sixth MAD Symposium, Hendricks argues that restaurants need to harness their power and take on responsibility beyond serving food. In a philosophical commentary that touches on the truth behind agendas, food tourism, and the links between attention and consumerism, Hendricks spurs us to realize that by knowing what we do, and why it is important, we can inform real change.

Feeding A Million

Sun, 09 Sep 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Former Head Chef of noma, Dan Giusti founded Brigaid in 2016 to improve the quality of school food. He’s gathered professional chefs and school staff together to challenge the system, promote food education and serve kids delicious meals made from scratch at a dozen public schools in New York City and New London, Connecticut.

The realities laid bare by Giusti are a wake up call, not just about school food but about the health and wellbeing of future generations. In conversation with Chris Ying at MAD6, he presents the cause and his appetite for change, prompting the industry to think about not the big picture, but the real one.

Jay Fai's Famous Crab Omelet

Fri, 31 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Fai owns Raan Jay Fai, Thailand’s first “Street Food” restaurant to win a Michelin star, and one of only three street food restaurants in the world to garner that honor. Guests flock to Fai's place for congee and crab omelets.

With her signature oversized goggles that protect her from grease, she opened the stage of the sixth MAD Symposium, demonstrating live how to make her famous omelet.

Indigenous Foodways

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Aboriginal Elder, Uncle Charles Madden, officially welcomes guests of MAD, Carriageworks and Kylie Kwong's Sydney MAD Monday to Gadigal Country. MAD Program Manager Bella Napier, chef at restaurant Billy Kwong Kylie Kwong, and Director of Carriageworks Lisa Havilah introduce the evening's talks. Moderator Caroline Baum provided background to the conversation.

These introductions opened the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

Migration, Family, and Farming

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Palisa Anderson, director of Sydney restaurant Chat Thai and first generation farmer of Boon Luck Farm, shared stories from her childhood, as well as her farming practices and approach to utilizing sustainable Indigenous ingredients in her cooking.

This talk is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

How to Meet Demand for Australian Bushfoods

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

This discussion is part of the Sydney MAD Monday event on Indigenous Foodways, April 16 2018. Sydney MAD Mondays is a collaboration between Carriageworks, MAD and Kylie Kwong, and brings together voices from across the Australian food community for talks on the role today’s restaurants play in taking care of the environment.

A range of speakers reflected on the growing demand for Indigenous Australian ingredients in restaurants across the country. What role can restaurants play in shaping the ways this demand is met?

The conversation was moderated by Caroline Baum, an Australian journalist, author and broadcaster. Palisa Anderson of restaurant Chat Thai and first generation farmer of Boon Luck Farm shared stories from her childhood, as well as her farming practices and approach to utilizing sustainable Indigenous ingredients in her cooking. Gayle Quarmby of Outback Pride Project, the largest bushfood-growing organisation in Australia, shared how her company provides opportunities for remote Aboriginal communities to access an industry where their traditional knowledge is valued. Elder Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison, an initiated Yuin man and the knowledge holder and teacher of the guides at Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness shared his understandings of sacredness and the land. A member of the Birri-Gubba People and the Yugambeh language group, novelist and scholar Nicole Watson of the University of Sydney Law School reflected on the national narratives of Australia and engaged us in telling new stories about Australia.

Indigenous Australian Bushfoods

Sat, 09 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Gayle Quarmby of Outback Pride Project, the largest bushfood-growing organisation in Australia, shares how her company provides opportunities for remote Aboriginal communities to access an industry where their traditional knowledge is valued.

Respect For the Sacred Land

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Indigenous Australian Elder Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison, an initiated Yuin man and the knowledge holder and teacher of the guides at Ngaran Ngaran Culture Awareness, shares his understandings of sacredness and the land.

The Stories that Define Australia

Wed, 06 Jun 2018 00:00:00 GMT

A member of the Birri-Gubba People and the Yugambeh language group, novelist and scholar Nicole Watson of the University of Sydney Law School reflects on the national narratives of Australia and engages Australians in telling new stories about Country and people.

Techniques of the Past for the Future

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Jacques Pépin is a chef, author, and television host, as well as the dean of the International Culinary Center in New York City. Jacques opened MAD5 with stories from the French kitchens of the 50's, as he demonstrated his own technique by making chicken galantine and teaching the audience to make an omelette.

It's Time to Act

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Eric Archambeau is a venture capitalist and chairman of the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation.

Feeding the Restaurant Beast

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Kat Kinsman is a writer and editor based in New York City, currently Senior Food & Drinks Editor at Time Inc.’s Extra Crispy. Her debut book, Hi, Anxiety came out in November 2016. She is an advocate for mental health, especially in the restaurant industry, part of this work includes her online resource for chefs called 'Chefs With Issues.'

Managing Talent

Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:00:00 GMT

Sydney Finkelstein shares insight into his research on some of the worlds most powerful bosses to help us understand how to seek, develop and manage new talent. Finkelstein is the Author of Superbosses, as well as professor and faculty director of the Center for Leadership at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

Kitchen Solidarity

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

José Andrés is nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his humanitarian work with his non-profit World Central Kitchen. The organization is changing the world through the eyes of a chef. As chefs, our work in the kitchen improves health, increases education rates, provides career skills, and creates food businesses.

In addition, José is a Chef and owner of ThinkFoodGroup, author, television host, and humanitarian, and was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2018.

About MAD:

MAD is a non-profit transforming our food system by giving chefs and restaurateurs the skills, community, time, and space to create real and sustainable change.

Tomorrow's Kitchen Starts on the Farm

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Carlo Petrini is a food activist born in the province of Cuneo in Italy. He is the founder of the International Slow Food Movement. In the 1980s he first came to prominence for taking part in a campaign against the fast-food chain McDonald's opening near the Spanish Steps in Rome.

Working With the Family

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Head chef Téllez and Magaña, chef de cuisine, from restaurant Laja in Ensenada, Mexico. Situated in the beautiful Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, Laja is a remarkable destination restaurant which pays homage to the surrounding countryside. Laja's home is a stone barn-like building, which was constructed from scratch by Télles and a team of craftsmen (many of whom went on to work in the restaurant itself). It is surrounded by its own orchard, fields, and vineyard, whose harvests are supplemented by local organic farmers and fishermen.

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Wed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Angela Dimayuga is the executive chef of Mission Chinese Food in New York City.

Like many chefs who are working to change the industry for the better - including making sweeping changes in the kitchen culture that isn’t good for women OR men - Angela Dimayuga has already made a significant impact by voicing her opinion of what she calls “kamikaze kitchen culture.”

As she told GRUBSTREET: “We've been consciously planning to make our work-life balances more sustainable. I want it to be part of our dialogue for our mental health and happiness. It takes unlearning bad habits. It's also just that you can do better work when you've tried to sleep or eaten a proper dinner. We're not martyrs — that's not cool, and it's not sustainable. The way restaurants have been, historically, is that killing yourself is considered admirable. It's a kamikaze, basically — what are you doing?”

Vivre la Cuisine

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Michel Bras is one of the most iconic chefs that have ever lived.

He was born to a blacksmith–father and chef–mother in Gabriac in 1946. He schooled in a nearby town and from an early age started helping his mother tend her pots at the family’s hotel/restaurant, Lou Mazuc. Bras credits his mother with introducing him to the cuisine of Aubrac — the region of his birth and upbringing.

Michel never left the Lou Mazuc kitchen to train elsewhere, he studied culinary literature, philosophy and photography in his spare time and cooked from intuition – as he continues to do today. At thirty-three, he took over the inn from his parents and his innovative cooking led to Lou Mazuc winning two Michelin stars.

He continued here until 1992 when he opened the hotel/restaurant Michel Bras. It is an ultra-modern structure nearly all of glass with slate and granite, which sits on a plateau overlooking the landscape of Aubrac. In 1999, he was awarded three Michelin stars.

Michel has published several books under his name, including the seminal 2002 cookbook Essential Cuisine (which he took all the photos for himself). He also opened an eponymous restaurant in the Windsor Hotel Toya in Hokkaido, Japan in 2002.

The Power of Food

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Gastón Acurio is a Peruvian chef and ambassador of Peruvian cuisine. He is the owner of international restaurants and author of several books. In Peru he's also the host of his own television program and contributes to several magazines.

Gaston studied law (expecting to succeed his father in a political career) in Lima then Madrid, but dropped out to learn how to cook, enrolling at first an hotelier school in Spain then le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

In 1994, he returned to Peru and applied his new knowledge of international cuisine to Peruvian ingredients and recipes, opening his first restaurant, Astrid & Gastón. Today, together with his wife Astrid, he owns restaurants across the Latin world and in America.

How Will Future Food Systems Differ?

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Hans Herren was appointed president of the Millennium Institute in May 2005. Prior to this, he was director-general of the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, Kenya. He also served as director of the Africa Biological Control Centre of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Benin.

At IITA, he conceived and implemented the highly successful biological control program that saved the African cassava crop and averted Africa’s worst-ever food crisis.

Over the years, Hans has moved his interests toward integrated sustainable development, in particular, linking environmental, plant, animal, and human health issues.

Hans earned his Ph.D. at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland, and holds numerous awards that recognise his distinguished and continuing achievements in original research including election to the US National Academy of Sciences and the World Food Prize, the highest award given to an individual for advancing human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.

Make Food Not War

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Kamal Mouzawak created the first farmers’ market in Beirut, Souk el-Tayeb, which preserves food traditions and the culture of sustainable agriculture in Lebanon. Kamal is working to protect the interests of local small farmers and producers in Lebanon, enabling them to sell their products directly at the market, thus ensuring a fair price for their goods.

Today, Souk el-Tayeb has grown to include regional festivals, school programmes, a newsletter, Dekenet Souk el Tayeb and a coop kitchen/restaurant where a different cook/producer prepares the daily lunch. Kamal has been recognised as an Ashoka Arab World Fellow for his work

Insects & Plants Together for Life

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Alex Atala began his career at 19 in Belgium, at the École Hôtelière de Namur. He went on to work at Jean-Pierre Bruneau’s 3-star Michelin restaurant there before moving to France and the Hotel de la Cote d'Or with Bernard Loiseau. Stints in Montpellier and Milan followed before returning to São Paulo in 1994.

His work at several restaurants around the city immediately attracted the attention of media and customers. By the end of 1999, he opened D.O.M.restaurant, where he was one of the first to use indigenous and Amazonian produce in a fine-dining setting.

Alex went on to publish Por uma Gastronomia Brasileira, a two-volume cookbook of recipes and documentary photographs featuring native Brazilian ingredients.

In April 2011, D.O.M. was rated the 7th best restaurant in the world in the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best list whilst also winning the title of ‘Aqua Panna Best Restaurant In South America.’ In 2009, Alex opened his second restaurant, Dalva e Dito, to critical acclaim.

Coquina et Naturali Vinorum

Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:00:00 GMT

The youngest of five children, Iñaki Aizpitarte was born in Besançon from Spanish relatives fleeing from the Franco dictatorship in Spain. After school, he held a string of odd jobs: stonemason, landscape painter and finally enology student. In 1999, he flew to Tel Aviv and worked as a dishwasher for a Serbian chef, where he learned the basics of cooking. Subsequently, he toured Latin America before arriving in Paris.
Iñaki worked his way through the city’s kitchens, first at Café des Délices then la Famille in Montmartre and Transversal in the Mac/Val museum before opening le Chateaubriand in Belleville with his friend, Frédéric Peneau, in 2006.
It was an instant hit and was declared le Fooding’s Best Restaurant in its first year. Within two years, le Chateaubriand had won the San Pellegrino Breakthrough Prize. Today, Iñaki is one of the most influential chefs cooking and le Chateaubriand was voted 9th best restaurant in the world in the S.Pellegrino World's 50 Best list in 2011.

About MAD:
MAD is a non-profit transforming our food system by giving chefs and restaurateurs the skills, community, time, and space to create real and sustainable change.

A Future Without Waste

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Ida Auken is MP for the Danish party Radikale Venstre and the former Minister of the Enviroment. She has written extensively about sustainability, climate changes, and circular economy in the Guardian.

In this video from the MAD Monday “Trash or Treasure,” she speaks to an audience of chefs, farmers, and writers about creating a future without waste.

A Waste of Waste

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

MAD's former Head of Research speaks about the potentials of fermentation to turn trash into gastronomic treasure.

A Very Delicious Sheep Brain

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

“We just had to make it work,” says chef Sam Nutter of the first days of Bror, which he and Victor Wagman opened on a shoestring budget in Copenhagen about two years ago. That meant calling in friends for help in the kitchen, borrowing chairs and tables to fill the dining room, and trying to work with ingredients like penis, testicles, and whole heads.

The duo focused on the latter part of this process at the recent MAD Monday, “Trash or Treasure.” “When you are working in a busy kitchen, it’s hard to see the full extent of the waste,” says Nutter. “You see the trimmings and things like that, but what about the pieces that didn’t ever come through the restaurant’s door?”

The Full Cycle of Restaurant Amass

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMT

In this video from our latest MAD Monday, which had “Trash or Treasure” as its theme, the rising star chef Matt Orlando, of Copenhagen’s Amass, discusses how you can create a sustainable ecosystem to feed your restaurant, as well as find delicious flavors in items you would normally throw in the bin.

“I used to think that everything that came out of a greenhouse didn’t taste good,” says Orlando. But his opinion changed as he was figuring out what to do with the expansive plot of land his restaurant sits on. In those early months, he started discovering innovative ways to deal with compost and grow much of the menu’s products right out the front door. As Orlando explains, a clever “worm hotel” is one of the most important engineers of this ecosystem.

Food Production Fosters Sustainable Development

Thu, 14 May 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Chido Govera, a citizen of Zimbabwe, is a Social Entrepreneur and founder of The Future of Hope Foundation. Through her foundation, Chido fulfills her commitment to ending poverty, abuse, self-pity and victimhood at grassroots level in Africa through food security.

The Future of Food

Thu, 14 May 2015 00:00:00 GMT

Jim Yong Kim, M.D., Ph.D. is the President of the World Bank Group. Soon after he became president in July 2012, the organization established two goals: ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity for the bottom 40 percent of the population in developing countries. Kim’s career has been focused on health, education, and delivering services to the poor.

David Chang is the chef and founder of Momofuku, which includes restaurants in New York City, Sydney, and Toronto as well as a best-selling cookbook and print journal called Lucky Peach. Since opening Noodle Bar in 2004, David has been awarded Time 100 and Fortune’s “40 Under 40” and profiled in the New Yorker, Vogue, and on the cover of Forbes Life and New York Magazine. He has been called one of “the most influential people of the 21st century” by Esquire, and one of Fast Company’s “1000 most creative people in business.”