“I hope we will make choices that sustain us - both our health and our home - because we want to, because they are more economical, desirable, and easy. I wish we can design a system in which the sustainable choice is more norm than the unsustainable choice.”

- Gesina Beckert, Director of Programs, BITE - Building Impact Through Eaters

“By 2035, I hope sustainability is deeply rooted in blue foods—making oceans and freshwater systems central to how we feed the world. Sustainable fisheries and regenerative aquaculture are the norm, not the exception, guided by science, strong governance, and transparent supply chains. Blue foods are widely recognized as climate-smart nutrition, providing low-carbon protein while supporting coastal livelihoods and food security.

Innovation plays a big role: seaweed farming improves water quality and captures carbon, shellfish aquaculture restores ecosystems, and alternative feeds reduce pressure on wild fish stocks. Communities that depend on blue foods—especially small-scale fishers—are empowered rather than displaced, with fair access to markets and technology.

By 2035, sustainability no longer means choosing between feeding people and protecting the planet. Instead, blue foods show how nourishing a growing population can actively regenerate our blue planet, proving that healthy waters and healthy diets are fundamentally connected.

By 2035, I think we will have made meaningful progress toward a more sustainable food future by fully embracing blue foods as part of the solution. Fisheries are better managed, with overfishing reduced through science-based quotas and improved monitoring, allowing fish populations to recover while still feeding millions. Regenerative aquaculture—especially seaweed and shellfish—has scaled globally, improving water quality, enhancing biodiversity, and creating resilient coastal economies.

Blue foods are more accessible and affordable, integrated into national dietary guidelines and food security strategies because of their high nutritional value and low environmental footprint. Supply chains are more transparent, reducing waste and illegal practices, while innovation in feeds and processing lowers emissions across the system.

Most importantly, by 2035 we have shifted the narrative: sustainable food is no longer land-centric. By valuing oceans, rivers, and lakes as essential food systems, we have taken a major step toward nourishing people while restoring the planet.”

- Jennifer Bushman, Executive Director, Fed by Blue; Reno Nevada

“What I think by 2035 as a society we will have accomplished towards a more sustainable food future is a reduction in food waste and holding industry leaders more accountable to being smarter with their food waste. By using industry data and even AI I think we can use these tools to better project food usage, consumption and waste to better reduce our food waste.”

- Joaquin Cariaso '22, Sous Chef, Manhatta

“By 2035 I hope the most celebrated dining experiences will be those that taste good, feel good and do good for the planet at the very same moment.”

- Sushanta Das, Founder and CEO of tRetail Labs

“By 2035 sustainability will read like a well-composed tasting menu: AI-enabled, interoperable knowledge systems inking molecules-to-markets and soil-to-soil, transforming wonky data details into clear decision signals. For farmers this means locally rooted soil and molecular intelligence to grow more biodiverse, resilient crops with fewer chemical inputs. For chefs and processors it means process and recipe guidance that cuts waste while protecting flavor, nutrition and cultural integrity—so sustainability literally tastes better. For institutions, purchasers and consumers it means affordable, machine-verifiable claims at the point of procurement and purchase that make healthy, equitable and delicious choices simple; for regulators it means auditing outcomes instead of paperwork, lowering costs and rewarding stewardship. Simply put: the future of sustainability is delicious.”

- Matthew Lange, CEO and Chief Science Officer | International Center for Food Ontology Operability Data and Semantics (IC-FOODS)

“By 2035, I hope we stop asking people to choose sustainability over deliciousness. The most sustainable food should be the most irresistible food—winning on flavor first, planetary benefit second. When regenerative agriculture consistently produces food that tastes demonstrably better, sustainability becomes a selfish choice, not a sacrifice. That's how we get everyone on board, not just the already-converted.”

- Mike Lee, Principal Futurist, The Future Market & Mise; Detroit, Michigan

“Independent restaurants won't have to choose between great ingredients, great jobs, and financial feasibility!”

-Irene Shiang Li, CEO, Prepshift

“I hope that sustainability in 2035 will be utilizing AI to improve farming and sourcing in order to localize purchasing of products and food.”

- Ryan Luttrell, Assistant Professor, The Culinary Institute of America

“By 2035, I believe we will have made real progress toward a more sustainable food future by redefining value in food and beverage. Sustainability will be reflected not only in what we source, but in how we design experiences and serve people.

Non alcoholic beverages will play a meaningful role in that shift. Applying a zero waste or low waste lens to beverage programs will become more common, using culinary techniques, byproducts, and thoughtful preparation to create drinks that are intentional rather than excessive. Alcohol free menus will help reduce waste, expand creativity, and allow operators to build more flexible, resilient programs.

As the industry continues to prioritize experience, inclusivity will become a core measure of sustainability. Creating spaces where everyone can fully participate, regardless of how or what they drink, will be central to what a sustainable future in food and beverage truly looks like.”

- Christopher Marshall, Founder, Sans Bar

“By 2035, I hope that sustainability will no longer be an aspiration — it will simply be how things are done. Food, packaging, supply chains and dining concepts will be designed with climate and health in mind as a default. We will have made major progress toward a diet that is good for people and planet, not through sacrifice, but because delicious, climate-conscious choices will be the easiest, most enjoyable and affordable ones. If we do this well, sustainability in 2035 will feel less like a revolution and more like common sense — quietly embedded in the food experiences we love.”

- Thorsten Merkle, Professor and Head of the Expert Group for Hospitality & Service Management at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences

“By 2035, we may look back and realize that the most radical changes to our food system didn’t arrive with fanfare, but through a quiet accumulation of small, deliberate choices. Farmers adopting regenerative practices one field at a time. Chefs rethinking waste not as an inevitability but as a design flaw. Scientists turning proteins into something we can grow with precision rather than extract with consequence. Communities rediscovering the power of sourcing food from places they can actually point to on a map.

Add these shifts together and a pattern emerges: a food system that becomes lighter on the planet, smarter in its use of resources, and more resilient in the face of climate and supply-chain disruptions. By 2035, we won’t have solved every challenge, but we will have rewritten the operating assumptions of how food is grown, distributed, and valued—setting the stage for a future where sustainability isn’t a goal, but the default.”

- Colin Milner,CEO of the International Council on Active Aging (ICAA) and founder of the active-aging industry in North America

“By 2035, I hope sustainability is no longer framed as an aspirational add-on, but as the default operating logic of the food system. Not something we brand or perform, but something embedded in policy, infrastructure, labor practices, and cultural norms. Success looks less like perfection and more like alignment between environmental limits, economic viability, human dignity, and cultural relevance across regions.

What I hope we’ve accomplished by then is a meaningful shift from fragmented, reactive efforts to durable systems that are harder to undo. Food policy understood as climate policy. Chefs recognized not just as advocates, but as translators turning global goals into everyday action through food that resonates emotionally and culturally. I hope we’ve reduced the most extractive practices, strengthened regional food economies, and made real progress on equity and access.

The 2035 horizon marks a critical midpoint between the urgency of the Sustainable Development Goals and the longer-term 2050 climate and food system targets. Reaching this moment with integrity means we’ve translated ambition into systems, shifting from isolated initiatives to shared belief, cross-sector collaboration, and infrastructure capable of sustaining change at scale.”

- Sammy Monsour '03/'20, Chef, Author, Educator, Food Activist

“Our food system will be transformed to focus on food for people, rather than feed for animals and fuel for cars.”

- Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University

“By 2035, I hope sustainability is no longer a separate conversation or a buzzword, but simply the way we do things. It looks like food systems that support farmers and workers, nourish communities, and help restore the planet. Most of all, it means practical, hopeful solutions shaped by the people most affected.”

- Danielle Nierenberg,President and Co-Founder, Food Tank | Baltimore, MD

“By 2035, I think sustainability will simply be how food is done, not something extra or special. Instead of asking if we should cook and eat sustainably, the focus will be on doing it better every day. Menus will naturally follow the seasons and what grows well locally. Vegetables will take the lead, with meat used more thoughtfully and with less waste. Kitchens will find smarter ways to use everything—turning scraps into stocks, sauces, ferments, or new dishes instead of throwing them away.

Sustainability will also be about people. Fair pay, good working conditions, and making healthy food accessible will matter just as much as protecting the environment. Technology will help, but tradition, culture, and common sense will guide decisions. In the end, sustainability will feel less like giving something up and more like cooking and eating in a way that just makes sense.

By 2035, I believe the Culinary Institute of America will have helped make sustainability a standard part of how chefs are trained and how the food industry operates. Sustainability won’t be a separate course or initiative—it will be fully woven into culinary education, from menu planning and sourcing to kitchen operations and leadership. CIA graduates will leave not only knowing how to cook well, but how to cook responsibly, waste less, and make thoughtful choices about ingredients.

The CIA will also be a bridge between chefs, farmers, schools, and food companies, helping turn ideas into real, scalable practices. Through programs like Menus of Change, the CIA will have influenced how restaurants, institutions, and corporations think about food—making healthier, more sustainable meals the norm rather than the exception. Most importantly, the CIA will have empowered chefs to be leaders who use food to positively impact people, communities, and the planet.”

- Uyen Pham, '04, CEC, M.Ed., Associate Professor, The Culinary Institute of America

“By 2035, I believe sustainability will be defined less by compliance and checklists and more by creative intelligence; the kind the Chef Brain naturally excels at. I hope we will see a shift from reactive problem-solving to an integrated, intuitive way of thinking where chefs, operators, technologists, and communities co-create solutions that regenerate rather than deplete.

My vision is that sustainability becomes woven into the daily mise en place of every food system. It will not be a department or an initiative; it will be a mindset shaped by data, AI-driven insight, and deeply human values. I imagine kitchens that operate with precision and empathy, farms and producers connected through transparent digital ecosystems, and decision-making guided by augmented intelligence that amplifies our senses, not replaces them.

In the future, sustainability will be smarter, simpler, more relational, and more rooted in stewardship than ever before. Chefs and extended culinary professional world will lead the movement, not from behind a stove, but from a place of holistic, five-dimensional awareness.

By 2035, I believe we will have built the foundation for a truly regenerative food economy. We will have moved beyond “less harm” toward net-positive systems that give back more than they take. Food waste valorization will be normalized. Circularity will be embedded into procurement, menu development, operations, and technology design. And AI will serve as a creative partner that helps us see patterns and opportunities we could never have recognized on our own.

We will also have elevated the role of culinary professionals as strategic thinkers. The Collective Chef Brain...our instinctive blend of sensory intelligence, spatial awareness, creativity, and adaptability, will finally be recognized as a powerful leadership asset in solving global challenges.

I believe we will have measurable progress in K-12 nutrition reform, scalable models for healthier institutional dining, stronger local food networks, and new partnerships between industry, academia, and government that drive innovation at the speed this moment requires. These processes are in place now...

Most importantly, I think we will have rekindled something essential: a shared belief that the future of food is both hopeful and human. And we will have proved that when chefs are empowered with technology, creativity, and community, they do not just cook better; they design better futures.”

- Tiffany Poe, CEC CHE MGT, Principal Consultant and CEO, Tiffany Poe Consulting

“I hope that we reframe the conversation to be about intention rather than specific outcomes. By speaking in relatable, human terms, we shift sustainability from being a conversation about biological outcomes to being one about biographical outcomes.

Given the current trajectory of our country, I hope by 2026, let alone 2035, that we have decided that we see our well being as intertwined with that of the broader populace.”

- Barton Seaver '01, Chef, Author, Sustainable Seafood Expert, Seafood that Matters

“Substantially reduce chemical use to grow food. We must.”

- Andrew Smith, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Rodale Institute

“By 2035, I hope we’ve made transparency the norm in food, not the exception. Through science-backed data and clearer storytelling, I believe we’ll be making food decisions that are better for human health, farmers, and the planet—and holding ourselves accountable along the way.”

- Jessica Student, Senior Marketing Lead, Edacious

“What do you think we will have accomplished by 2035 toward a more sustainable food future?

By 2035, I believe we will have fundamentally reshaped how food is understood, valued and operationalized across senior living communities—a rapidly growing and influential sector of our food system. We will have moved decisively away from institutional “senior dining” models toward integrated restaurant ecosystems that champion sustainability, nutrient density, human connection and deliciousness as core measures of success.

We will see widespread adoption of plant-forward, climate-smart menus grounded in Menus of Change principles and supported by transparent sourcing, regenerative agriculture partnerships and measurable waste-reduction strategies. Sustainability will no longer be positioned as an aspirational add-on, but as an operational standard tied to healthspan, resilience and wellness outcomes for adults 50+.

Most importantly, by 2035 the dining experience in senior living will be recognized as a driver of public health and environmental stewardship. Culinary teams, dietitians and wellness professionals will collaborate routinely, using evidence-based strategies to nourish people in ways that also nourish ecosystems. Community restaurants within senior living will stand as hubs of culture—places where residents, families and neighbors come together around sustainable food practices that model what the future can be.

If we succeed, we will have demonstrated that sustainability is not only compatible with aging well—it is essential to it.”

- Sandy Todd Webster, MPS, '24, Journalist, Educator, and Consultant, International Council on Active Aging

“I hope that in the next ten years, we will continue to work toward creating more with less. Maybe that's less packaging or less ingredients or less labor or less equipment - just a overall simplification of our processes, our diets and our lives in an effort to provide more sustainability for our communities.”

- Rachel Wyman, MBA, CMB, ’05, Faculty, The Culinary Institute of America