13. Greg Drescher, Culinary Institute of America

Greg Drescher is senior advisor for strategic initiatives at The Culinary Institute of America, where he strengthens innovation in health, sustainability, culture and culinary insight. He played an instrumental role in developing the college’s Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival and co-led the Menus of Change initiative. On this episode of “Food Lab Talk,” Michiel speaks with Greg about how changing a system is like peeling an onion, why deliciousness is a key ingredient to successfully shift diets and why you should work with people outside your “lane of expertise.”   Greg Drescher: “If you're asking people to shift diets, what you're asking them to shift towards has got to be at least as appealing as what they have now. There's the notion of the unapologetic elevation of deliciousness as a public health imperative. It's important for the public health community to not just say in passing that ‘healthy food needs to taste good,’ because on the other side, people are trying to make food craveable. If you're putting up merely ‘taste good’ against ‘craveable’, you're gonna lose every time.”  00:36 Intro to Greg 01:57 Why we need to reconsider whether “the system is broken” 03:10 What does it mean to shift diets? 05:48 What motivates chefs to drive change 08:16 What you shift towards has to be at least as appealing as what you have now 09:57 Multiple approaches to seed change: ownership, desire, and experience 12:38 No “one size fits all” solution  - tailor for culture, traditions, and geography 16:30 Levers to inspire change 17:15 Why language matters 19:30 A case study in building consensus 22:57 Menus of Change: The business of  healthy, sustainable deliciousness  24:37 Building an accelerator for change 25:25 Why early success can ignite systems change 26:39 Value of working with people outside your area of expertise 28:17 Takeaways for changemakers  Links  Culinary Institute of America  EAT Lancet Summary Report  CIA Master’s in Sustainable Food Systems  Worlds of Flavor International Conference and Festival  Menus of Change   Keep in Touch Subscribe, rate, review the show at foodlabtalk.com