Skip to the content 
In this episode, Ragnar talks with Dr. Anne McBride, the deputy director of the Torribera Mediterranean Center (TMC), a joint initiative of the University of Barcelona and The Culinary Institute of America, located in Barcelona. Anne is also the program director for the CIA’s Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival, widely acknowledged as the U.S.’ most influential professional forum on world cuisines, food cultures, and flavor trends, and for the CIA’s Global Plant-Forward Culinary Summit.
Anne holds a doctorate degree in food studies from New York University (NYU), and focuses her research on the changing role of the chef in the 21st century. She is the director of the Experimental Cuisine Collective at NYU, an interdisciplinary group of more than 2,500 scientists, chefs, media, scholars, and food enthusiasts. She also teaches in the food studies departments of NYU and the New School.
A native of Switzerland, Anne is the chair of the James Beard Foundation Leadership Awards, a member of the Menus of Change Scientific and Technical Advisory Council, and a past board member of the Association for the Study of Food and Society, New York Women’s Culinary Alliance, and Culinary Trust. She was named to the Heritage Radio Network Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a frequent presenter and moderator at academic and professional conferences around the world.
Through two master’s degrees, an industry leadership conference, and other efforts, TMC takes the Mediterranean Diet as starting point to connect leading-edge food and nutrition research with culinary, agricultural, and business innovation.
Changing what we grow, cook, and eat is more imperative than ever if we want to have a chance to save the planet from the effects of climate change. Thankfully, we need to look no further than to the health, sustainability, and flavor principles of the Mediterranean Diet to adopt a road map to a better future. Join the Torribera Mediterranean Center — a project of The Culinary Institute of America and the University of Barcelona — for Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean: Virtual Conference. In roundtables and presentations, leading chefs and scientists from around the world discuss health, nutrition, sustainability, and flavor strategies to help chefs and foodservice operators operationalize the Mediterranean Diet into menus and products suited to the demands of 21st century consumers, in a Covid-19 era.
Inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the designation by UNESCO of the Mediterranean Diet as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, and at a time of great uncertainty in our industry worldwide, how can scientists, chefs, business and government leaders, and food systems change-makers collaborate to significantly increase the presence of the heart of the traditional Mediterranean Diet — principally, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, legumes, nuts and seeds — on the menus of restaurants and foodservice operations across the Mediterranean and worldwide? And to that end, how can this same collaboration inspire next-generation culinary strategy, food product innovation, and consumer engagement building on the genius of the centuries-old food cultures of the Mediterranean basin? These questions drive the work behind Tomorrow Tastes Mediterranean.
The Torribera Mediterranean Center (TMC) is a joint initiative of the University of Barcelona and The Culinary Institute of America. It leverages the strengths of two leading educational institutions to address vital public health and sustainability issues through expanded academic, professional, and business collaboration. As the only academic center focused on preserving and broadly advancing the Mediterranean Diet and the wide application of its principles, TMC connects cutting-edge food and nutrition research with world-class culinary insight, food and agricultural business innovation, and translational strategies across multiple sectors of society—all within a pan-Mediterranean cultural reference framework.
In a partnership initiated by Custom Culinary® and Worldchefs, The Torribera Mediterranean Center developed an additional, 8th module on Sustainable Nutrition for the Feed the Planet Sustainability Education for Culinary Professionals program.
Interested in earning a digital badge in sustainability? You can take part in our full Sustainability for Culinary Professionals webinar course series here.
Resources
Anne has co-authored seven books and regularly writes on topics related to professional and experimental cooking for both academic and consumer audiences. These include past contributions to Plate, New Worlder, Bake from Scratch, Roads & Kingdoms, Food Arts, Gastronomica, The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, Savoring Gotham, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, and Food Cultures of the World. (Barcelona, Spain; North Plainfield, NJ)
Want to get involved in sustainability projects at home and around the world? Feed the Planet can help connect you with fun, easy, and impactful initiatives designed for especially for chefs. Visit www.howtofeedtheplanet.com now.
Have an earth-friendly recipe to share? Click here to submit it! And don’t forget to become a part of the Feed the Planet community. Join now.
For more on sustainability, tune in to our World on a Plate episodes with UN Advocate Chef Arthur Potts Dawson, influencer Max LaManna, and The Vegetable Chef, Frank Fol.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to Anne McBride for joining as as a guest.
World on a Plate is supported by Nestlé Professional and our podcast sponsors.
