A great FOOD IS A CONVERSATION took place in OFFICUCINA on October 22nd! This time our FIPPERS, our Fellows and our Young Talent Academy were inspired by the talk of two amazing guests: Danny McCubbin from the Jamie Oliver Foundation and David McIntyre, the head of the food program of Airbnb.
The conversation kicked off with dinner preparation by FIPPERS: the pièce of resistence consisted in the disruptive presentation of novelty food from the ceiling to dip in different kinds of healthy sauces. A success.
The conversation’s main topic was the future of food, the new food concept of Airbnb, and Danny’s experiences at the Jamie Oliver Foundation. The students were very eager to ask a lot of questions and David and Danny were happy to answer them.
David talked about Airbnb’s impressive food program in their offices around the world. At the cafeteria they exclusively offer house-made beverages and food that is locally sourced and generates minimum waste. There is only one option on the menu each day and commensality is strongly encouraged as it favors on the one hand, healthier eating habits and trust and networking among co-workers. Airbnb also envisions introducing food into the experience the company provides. The company has seen potential in leveraging on the sharing economy trend through which people can monetize assets they own and that are being underused such as food being cooked at home.
Keeping employees productive and healthy and minimizing waste and environmental impact is also at the heart of what the Jamie Oliver Foundation does. In their fight against childhood obesity, Danny mentioned that acquiring basic cooking skills is essential in order to push change. In fact, the foundation is mainly working on the promotion and education of this type of skills with mainly with families but also collaborates with important game-changers. He presented the work the foundation is doing in helping refugees: in collaboration with the re-known NGO, Caritas, the Jamie Oliver Foundation is teaching refugees arriving to Europe, to recognize and use food products that are used in Europe and that are different from the ones being used in their countries.
The students learned a lot this evening and are honoured to have met Danny and David.
But not only the students loved it, David and Danny were very happy to see such a motivated group work on making the world a better place through food, as Danny posted:
“Thank you so much to Sara Roversi and Chiara Cecchini and the whole team and family and friends of #futurefoodinstitute for a wonderful couple of days here in Bologna. The team tirelessly engage people from all over the world to find solutions to fix our broken food system. Last night we spoke to a group of High School and masters students who are all a part of Sara’s team and who are all so passionate about food. It was a Saturday night here in Italy and here this team were spending time with us speaking about their solutions and how to make this world a better place through food. Thank you Sara for all that you do, a privilege to be walking the same path as you”
