Events

OPEN CALL

A culinary project collaborating with Gagel (Regenerative) Farm, in the Netherlands this coming fall connecting culinary professionals, farmers and artists in a regenerative setting! You will find details on the open call for residency and the mission of the Gagel Farm below.

LAUNCHING SOMETHING NEW

An interdisciplinary gathering connecting culinary professionals to regenerative farmers and artistic ideas has been launched for the first time at the inspiring Gagel (regenerative) Farm in Lochem, the Netherlands. Under the appropriate Dutch word “ERF” which translates as “yard” from Dutch, three coinciding residencies will take place in 2025.

THE EAT RESIDENCY IN FOCUS

The first EAT residency coincides with the FARM residency, and will take place from mid-September through mid-November for a period of 8 weeks in 2025.  Late in the summer harvest season, two inspired cooks will meet two farmers in the Gagel Farm regenerative gardens, located in the Dutch “Achterhoek” countryside.

WHAT IS EAT FOR?

Invited residents will be encouraged to engage in the processes of cultivating edible ingredients for the good of all forms of life, and to collaborate culinarily by transforming raw ingredients into nourishing (renewed) foods. However, we imagine the farm eco-system will set the scene for future communities focused on change with EAT and FARM residents!

PHILOSOPHY

Cooks and culinary professionals are at the frontline of changing food culture. They are artisan, creative, and practically engaged in nourishing others with their culinary practices. The EAT residency opens the path for professional cooks to the garden, where they can feed themselves and others with the magic and skills that come from cookery and regenerative farming.

PURPOSE

Gagel Farm grows locally, beautiful, nutritious, flavorful and seasonal ingredients with regenerative agriculture. The mission of the EAT residency is to inspire culinary professionals to take part in research that drives transition towards regenerative food systems and cultures. Why, you might ask? Because we need culinary professionals to inspire new food systems where we eat with the seasons, where we dine our landscapes into healthy and resilient habitats.

IN SEARCH OF PASSION

We seek culinary professionals who ask how we can bring our European places and communities back to life through the act of eating. The suitable applicant to EAT questions the current food system, and understands the power of food in changing the world.

CULINARY SCHOOL FOR A SEASON

The EAT residency at Gagel Farm is a real-life culinary school for those who value food stories rooted in the soil. It is an uplifting place to expand culinary visions, where new food cultures will be designed in collaboration with dedicated artists, farmers and food innovators.

LEARNING FROM A REGENERATIVE APPROACH
EAT culinary residents will gain insights into how a regenerative farm works, learning first-hand who grows, hatches, blooms, sleeps, flies and dies in which season. 

 WHERE?
Gagel Farm is in Lochem, the Netherlands, which is located in the eastern region known as the “Achterhoek” (or back corner). Gagel Farm is a flourishing place, made up of 45-ha regenerating landscape of growing edible ingredients and buzzing habitat. It is a lovely place to stay! Keep in mind, a weekly stipend, as well as accommodations are offered to invited residents.

NEW FOOD DESIGN
This project is designed for the culinary-inspired, who long to explore seasonally diverse processes, techniques, recipes, and menus that can foster regenerative life in restaurants and other food-connected places.

The EAT residency at Gagel Farm is created for those who dream of collaborating with farmers, artists, culinary researchers, innovators and scientists in a bio-diverse habitat, filled with hope and inspiration. 

 A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
I am honoured to fulfil the role of regenerative gastronomy-inspired mentor and cookery professional at the EAT residency, says Teri Salminem. However EAT and FARM (as well as RECONNECT) are collaboratively, curated efforts!  

EAT and FARM residents will be supported by regenerative farming founder Anne van Leeuwen as well the entire Gagel Farm team. Furthermore, food foraging expert, entrepreneurial farmer and outdoor kitchen chef,  Roos Burger will be the day-to-day guide on the farm, Terri Salminen will fulfill the role of culinary mentor, while co-developers Olaf Boswijk and Mirla Klijn from Valley of the Possible will fulfill the role of creative guides.

 APPLY TO EAT 

Are you seeking space, time and infrastructure to experiment and develop a personal, culinary style? Then we look forward to reading your open-call application! Follow this link for all the details! https://gagel.nl/residency/

Professional cookery – the missing ingredient for food systems transformation

Our current food systems are heavily commodified and cause many problems including environmental degradation, household food insecurity, diet-related illnesses, inequalities and excessive food waste. The food sector in the UK employs more than 13% of the country’s workforce, illustrating our reliance on an army of workers from farmers and fishermen through to food technicians and chefs to keep us nourished. Yet the sector is facing record staff shortages, leaving our food systems even more vulnerable to unexpected shocks and long-term problems.

Professional cooks or chefs are vital food systems actors, responsible for feeding people across schools, hospitals, care homes and prisons, and in restaurants, cafes and takeaways. They also manufacture and design our everyday foods. But professional cooks are undervalued and have been overlooked by policymakers and others as key players in food systems transformation.

There is a distinct lack of clarity in the variety of career pathways for professional cooks across public food service and food manufacturing as well as hospitality. Cookery careers receive a low profile in school curriculums and by careers advisers further hindering future workforce capacity. Current professional cookery curriculum requirements cover the essential topics of food safety and hygiene, menu planning and managerial skills. But they are also well placed to incorporate food systems subject areas such as nutrition, environmental sustainability, supply chain disruptions, and food waste. Leveraging this opportunity could broaden the skills of a significant number of actors in our everyday settings to address systemic food system problems, increase capabilities to manage food supply shocks by being agile with ingredients and reorientate our society to value freshly cooked, healthy, sustainable meals and snacks.

The 2025 City St George’s Food Policy Symposium will invite collective debate on this novel food systems topic and explore how professional cookery can be prioritised and reimagined through food policy. We will identify the practical needs and policy opportunities for a food systems approach to professional cookery and consider terminology. Discussions and workshops will reflect on how professional cookery pathways can be integrated with existing and future food policies to meaningfully contribute to a culture which values professional cooks as respected societal roles alongside farmers, doctors, nurses and teachers.

During this event we will:

• Examine the existing patchwork of professional cookery pathways in the UK
• Identify opportunities for policymakers to streamline professional cookery pathways and integrate food systems-based curriculum which moves beyond food safety and food preparation
• Understand the public and private sector needs and opportunities for food systems-based professional cookery, including leveraging the apprenticeship levy and incoming local procurement policy
• Share best practice examples of food systems-based professional cookery approaches and courses from within and beyond the UK
• Harness the momentum for the knowledge and skills of professional cookery to be valued in our society and reimagined to prioritise human and planetary health and foster local and regional economic benefits

The City St George’s Food Policy Symposium is hosted by the Centre for Food Policy and is generously supported by the Worshipful Company of Cooks.

The SDG2 Advocacy Hub, Zero Hunger Coalition, GAIN, Shamba Centre for Food and Climate and the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement will host the Road to Kampala, bringing together experts and stakeholders through a series of three subject-specific webinars, each tackling critical issues that align with the priorities of the new African agricultural framework. This first webinar will focus on the intersection of agriculture and nutrition, emphasising the need to strengthen food systems to deliver healthy diets and ensure better nutrition outcomes across the continent, with cross-cutting themes of gender and financing.

In collaboration with Goalkeepers, we are excited to bring Empty Plates to New York in September on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly! A global movement organised through Hungry for Action, Empty Plates aims to increase awareness of the global food crisis, pressurize G20 leaders to action on a Global Plan to end the food crisis and drive engagement and participation through powerful campaigning activations around the world at key moments.

Already making waves in 2024 in London, Rio and Kigali, NYC offers a unique opportunity to engage with key stakeholders, decision makers, advocates and chefs, to urge leaders to take action on the global food crisis.

Timing:

September 22, 2-5pm
September 23, 11am-4pm

Join us to call for action!

On September 22-23:

1. Take an empty plate and take a picture of yourself holding it.
2. Post the picture on social media on September 23.
3. Use the hashtags #emptyplates, #GoalKeepers2030, #UNGA79 and #G20.
4. Tag @HungryforAct on X and @hungryforaction on Instagram.

The Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty

To accelerate progress towards SDG2, Hungry for Action has been calling for a global plan to drive collective action that would align policy priorities, improve coordination, reduce fragmentation, support country leadership and implementation capacity, mobilise adequate financing and promote greater accountability. A global plan would demonstrate much-needed political leadership to end the food crisis now and break the cycle of crises. This year, President Lula and Brazil’s presidency of the G20 have championed and announced a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, embodying the global plan’s key components. This is a necessary step to mobilize the global community around a joint agenda to end hunger and malnutrition in all its forms. 

The SOFI report

The 2024 report, included a thematic focus on financing for SDG2, quantifying how much funding is needed to end food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition and identified innovative financing options to address the major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition as well as transform food systems. 

We applaud and celebrate Brazil’s leadership and call on other world leaders and the G20 governments to:

1. Join the Alliance
2. Work together on actioning a Global Plan
3. Deliver the financing needed

Together, we can end the global food crisis, now and forever. To call for action from world leaders, sign this open letter.

Follow the campaign on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Full assets and campaign messaging to include in social media posts are uploaded here.