Recipe for the future: Culinary education and food systems transformation

Food systems concerns have driven demand for a workforce trained to realise a sustainable, secure, and equitable food future. This is reflected in tertiary education, which has seen a rise of food-related programmes across the United States. The growth of food scholarship has brought increased academic interest in the pedagogical practices and curricula underpinning the field. Though despite the expansion of this research area, the intersection of food systems pedagogies and culinary arts education is underexplored. This research project interrogates the role of chefs in driving positive food systems actions and explores how tertiary culinary education might enable them to access the knowledge to do so more effectively. Through seven semi-structured virtual interviews with culinary educators working in the United States, it sought to explore the field’s perceptions chefs as food systems actors, the integration of food systems education into culinary curricula, and the barriers and opportunities of including this content in culinary arts programmes. The findings of this study revealed interest in food systems education among all participants, who identified chefs as key stakeholders. They highlighted pedagogical practices for bringing food systems education into their teaching, including interdisciplinary approaches, applied and experiential learning, and integrating content into existing curricula. However, knowledge gaps, lack of institutional support, and time limitations were noted as barriers. This project contends that chefs have the potential to be powerful food systems participants and bringing food systems education into tertiary culinary education presents an opportunity to equip the future workforce for this role.