Food 4 Thought Innovations

Limited spots left! Balanced is sponsoring 10 Boston-area students to attend the 2025 Food 4 Thought Innovations Festival! It will take place at Harvard University, Friday, April 11th to Sunday, April 13th. We will be covering the cost of tickets and providing a $25 travel stipend to help get you there. The festival is perfect for college students who are passionate about changing our food systems to be more equitable, sustainable, and cruelty-free. Do you know any students who might be interested in this opportunity? Submit the Student Interest Form by March 10th.

Big announcement! Gene Baur will be taking the F4T Festival stage as a keynote speaker. Hailed as “the conscience of the food movement” by Time magazine, Gene is a pioneer in undercover investigations and farm animal rescue. He has visited hundreds of farms, stockyards, and slaughterhouses, documenting deplorable conditions. Gene’s pictures and videos exposing factory farming cruelties have aired nationally and internationally, educating millions about the plight of modern farm animals, and his rescue work inspired an international farm sanctuary movement. Gene is also CEO and Co-Founder of Farm Sanctuary, a nonprofit working to end animal agriculture and promote compassionate food choices. Farm Sanctuary is the first shelter for farmed animals in the US and advocates for animal welfare and veganism through rescue, education, and advocacy. We are deeply honored to welcome Gene to the F4T Festival, and we look forward to his insights on animal welfare and ethical food systems.

We are officially opening submissions for the F4T Festival Poster Session! This is a unique opportunity for undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students to present their work at our F4T Festival at Harvard University (April 11-13). Participants will have the chance to win a cash prize, learn from other researchers, and network with academic and industry representatives! Interested students can submit their research abstracts (both scientific and literary) related to alternative proteins, food systems, and more. This can also include any educational initiatives related to food (e.g. food systems, alternative proteins) that they have taken at their universities. Submissions are due March 3rd! Sign up now using the link below: https://lnkd.in/gkkDrYCt

We are very excited to announce that we are seeking 1 organized and articulate student with strong writing skills. Our intern Grant Manager will be responsible for finding, researching, drafting, managing, and submitting proposals to secure grant funding from universities, philanthropic organizations, private foundations, government agencies, and other grant makers. The ideal candidate will have an understanding of the general grant application process (or a willingness to quickly learn!), excellent writing skills, and the ability to write passionate and compelling proposals. This role is critical to ensuring the sustainability and growth of our organization! Applicants are not limited to the Boston area and may be from any university or region within the United States. This will be an entirely virtual position. Applications will be due on Friday, February 14th at 5:00PM EST. Please do not hesitate to reach out to admin@food4thoughtinnovations.org with any questions. https://lnkd.in/eHa6ecKX

Drumroll please… We are thrilled to introduce our first keynote speaker for the F4T Festival: Bruce Friedrich! Bruce is Founder & President of the Good Food Institute, a global network of nonprofit science-focused think tanks with affiliates in the U.S., India, Israel, Brazil, APAC (offices in Singapore & Japan), and Europe (offices in Brussels, London, and Berlin). With more than 235 full time team members, GFI works on alternative protein policy, science, and corporate engagement to accelerate the production of plant-based and cultivated meat in order to bolster the global protein supply while mitigating climate change, reducing agricultural land use, reducing pandemic and AMR risk, and improving food security.  Bruce has penned op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, USA Today, Nature Food and other publications. Bruce has appeared on podcasts including Making Sense (Sam Harris), Ezra Klein, Outrage + Optimism, and others. Bruce is a TED fellow, American Food Hero (EatingWell Magazine 2021), and popular speaker about food technology. His 2019 TED talk has been viewed more than 2.3 million times and translated into 30 languages.  We are incredibly honored to welcome Bruce to the F4T Festival stage, where he’ll share his insights on alternative proteins and food systems transformation. Stay tuned for more updates as we unveil additional speakers and details for the upcoming Festival!

We're excited to announce the F4T Festival 2025 Mentorship Program!  Connect with mentors from top organizations like the World Food Programme, Environmental Defense Fund, New Roots Institute, Earthjustice, and many more. Whether you're passionate about sustainable food systems, environmental advocacy, entrepreneurship, or science, our program offers mentorship across diverse career fields.  Don’t miss out- sign up now using the link below: https://lnkd.in/edcFuQsE

🌟🌱 Big News: The 2025 Food 4 Thought Festival is Here! 🎉🌍 Building on the incredible success of our inaugural event—with 400+ attendees from 15 countries and 60 universities—we're excited to make this year's festival bigger and better! Over three days, participants will have the opportunity to learn from influential speakers, attend immersive panels and demonstrations, and engage in career exploration and mentorship programming. A highlight will be the World Cultural Food Festival, showcasing a diverse array of plant-based and alternative protein food vendors. Additionally, we will select our second cohort of student entrepreneurs and researchers as part of this year’s Idea Incubator program. The festival’s programming will emphasize cross-disciplinary, student-driven solutions for a sustainable, equitable, healthy, and cruelty-free food future. Secure your spot NOW for an early bird discount. Check out our website and buy tickets at https://lnkd.in/eqdhgW9c!

In honor of Climate Week, I am excited to formally announce the launch of my nonprofit Food 4 Thought Innovations (formally Food 4 Thought Festival). Just a few months ago, Olivia Calkins Shawn Mobley Adham Ali and I had the idea to host a first-of-its-kind international future food conference at Harvard University with the goal of bringing hundreds of students together to envision the future of the food system. After concluding the event, we knew that the journey had only just begun.   Food 4 Thought Innovations is an international nonprofit that unites students, academics, changemakers, and visionaries in a coordinated future food ecosystem. Together, we build novel and innovative approaches to solve the world’s most pressing food systems challenges. Arguably, the food system contributes more damage to the planet, animals, and people than any other system in the world. However, not enough talent and resources are being dedicated towards addressing these issues. We aim to disrupt these norms by positioning students as changemakers in the food system, honing their skills and ideas to reduce suffering, improve livelihoods, and nurture a more compassionate world.   As an entirely student-built organization, we are coordinating this ecosystem by fostering connection points between students, universities, and the industry. Through our growing network of 1,000+ students across over 100 universities, we are developing a centralized hub for idea sharing across universities, forming regional hubs to cultivate highly strategic and tailored interventions, launching research projects and entrepreneurial ventures, and working with existing organizations to consolidate data and strategize new approaches to critical food system challenges. In the coming weeks and months, we will be expanding our team and hiring the following positions: Director of Incubator Programs, Festival Co-Directors, Social Media Managers, Content Developers, Partnerships Strategists, Regional Hub Managers, and Project Managers. Follow Food 4 Thought Innovations to stay up-to-date on our job postings. In addition, we are officially launching our first fundraising round to grow our organization. If you are interested in working together, please reach out to admin@food4thoughtfestival.org. We are excited to move the needle and look forward to working with like-minded individuals and organizations.