The Politics of Food

Chiara PAVAN

Chiara Pavan is cheffe of Venissa (alongside Francesco Brutto), a Michelin-starred restaurant with a strong commitment to low environmental impact cuisine. Through her cucina ambientale, she strives to create a true taste of place while adopting sustainable practices around the sourcing, production, and preservation of food. In her restaurant she cooks vegetables from her own garden and the current menu focuses on invasive species from the Adriatic Sea.

Set within the Venissa estate on Mazzorbo Island in the Venice Lagoon, her culinary work has been recognized with several national and international awards, including the Green Michelin star in 2022, “premio no food waste” per il Gambero Rosso 2024, Best Female Chef from Guide l’Espresso in 2019 and for Identità Golose in 2020. She is member of the advisory board of “Climate Smart Chef” European project.

Chiara trained at ALMA and has worked in various Michelin-starred restaurants over the last ten years before taking over the kitchen at Venissa in 2017. She also holds a master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Pisa and a masters in sociology and history of science from EHESS in Paris, with a special focus on gender roles and women’s leadership – an interest which then became very relevant throughout her career as a woman leading a kitchen brigade.

Audrey BOUROLLEAU

Audrey Bourolleau is co-founder (with Xavier Niel) of Hectar, a unique ecosystem including a pilot farm in regenerative agriculture, entrepreneurial training programs and a start-up accelerator. Located close to Paris, on more than 600 hectares, Hectar aims to support the social and economic transition of the regenerative agricultural and food sector.

Drawing on her background as agriculture, forestry and rural development advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as Managing Director of Vin et Sociéte, an association that represents the entire French wine industry in dealings with the public authorities, Audrey will be discussing the Politics of Food at our 9^th Parabere Forum in Rome.

Asma KHAN

Chef and humanitarian advocate Asma Khan is an award-winning restaurateur, best-selling cookbook author, and the founder of London’s famed Darjeeling Express restaurant.

The UN World Food Programme’s Chef Advocate, Asma has become one of the UK’s most prominent culinary figures. Her restaurant is best known for her all-female kitchen team and her commitment to social change, while Asma’s cookbook Ammu was named ‘Times’ Book of the Year’. She was the first British chef to be profiled on Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Chef’s Table and the first chef to be featured on Vogue’s list of 25 most influential women.

An unstoppable force in the hospitality industry and beyond, Asma is a distinguished presence on the Mayor of London’s Business Advisory Board and an Honorary Fellow at Queen’s College, Oxford University. She holds a PhD in British Constitutional Law from King’s College London where she is also a Fellow and an Honorary Doctorate from SOAS University.

Annalisa CORRADO

After graduating in mechanical engineering, he earned a PhD in energetics, from the University of Rome “La Sapienza,” focusing on the analysis of the environmental impact of energy systems.

She is currently the head of innovative project development at AzzeroCO2 (an Energy service company) and the responsible for technical activities for the Kyoto Club ngo.

Together with the famous Italian actor and director Alessandro Gassmann she conceived the #GreenHeroes project, to promote and enhance virtuous experiences related to circular economy and sustainability.

Since 2014 she has been dedicated to climate justice activism and ecofeminism.

Between 2021 and 2023 she collaborated with several television program as scientific popularizer, in particular with GEO, on Public television “Rai 3” (UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development).

Active in science education and popularization, she wrote “Le ragazze salveranno il mondo” (“Girls will save the world” 04/2020 ed. People), “Nessi e connessi” (“Nexus and connected” 04/2023 ed. Il Saggiatore, with Rossella Muroni), “pensiamo verde” (“Let’s think green” 09/2023, ed. Il Battello a Vapore, Piemme, for young readers).

Since April 2023 he has been member of the board of the Democratic Party with Elly Schlein, with delegations to Ecological Conversion, Climate, Agenda2023, green economy.

Dee WOODS

Deirdre “Dee” Woods, FRSA is an award-winning food actionist. She is a celebrated cook, urban agroecologist and earth wisdom keeper. Her work meets at the nexus of human rights, food sovereignty, agroecology, community, policy, decolonial research, culture, climate and social justice.

Dee co-founded Granville Community Kitchen and the African and Caribbean Heritage Food Network. She sits on the Greater London Authority Food Board, and is a co-editor of A People’s Food Policy. She is an Honorary Research Fellow at CAWR, Coventry University and member of the Food Ethics Council.  She is the co-chair of the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) and Vice Chair of A Growing Culture.

A passionate knowledge broker, ideator, pollinator and weaver who advocates for good food for all and a just food system, Dee is a director and Food Justice Policy Coordinator of the Landworkers Alliance. She currently represents La Via Campesina as the Western Europe Focal Point on the Coordination Committee of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples Mechanism for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security (CSIPM).

Monica BERG

Monica Berg is a London based multi – award winning bartender and entrepreneur. Her work includes Muyu liqueurs and London bar(s) Tayēr + Elementary with partner Alex Kratena – currently no 8 on The Worlds 50 Best Bars 2023, and in 2022 won “Best International Cocktail Bar” at Tales of The Cocktail’s Spirited Awards.

She has been featured in Wallpaper* Graduate Directory 2018, as one of the brightest new talents to watch, and in 2019 she won the prestigious “International Bartender of The Year” at Spirited Awards, Tales of The Cocktail, and “Bartender’s Bartender” by The Worlds 50 Best Bars.

In 2023, she was named the most influential person in Bar World 100 by Drinks International for the 4^th consecutive year.

She is the co-founder of P(OUR), an industry non- profit and charity, which works to expand drinks knowledge across the bar community and support communities protecting regional biodiversity.

Her project BackOfHouse.Info, a free online resource for small businesses to get anonymous feedback from their teams, and where employees can flag harmful behavior, discrimination and harassment.

In 2020 and 2022 Monica Berg and Alex Kratena won the Bar Innovators Of The Year Award by Class Magazine and during the Covid19 crisis launched Tayēr RTD; a collection of ready to drink bottled cocktails, which bring together the best of classic and contemporary flavours.

Marco Francesco MAZZU

Marco Francesco Mazzù is Professor of Practice in Marketing.

He is currently a member of the board of directors and of the nomination and remuneration committees in listed companies (Aeffe S.p.A. and Sanlorenzo S.p.A). During his previous work experience he worked in Procter & Gamble, in the Marketing function, in IBM, in Fincantieri and as a consultant for parliamentary commissions and government bodies.

He also spent 14 years at McKinsey, where he became a partner in 2008 and where he lead engagement and relationships on several international companies leaders in their respective sectors. He successfully completed projects in over 20 countries, gaining significant experience in both mature and emerging markets, in contexts both of rapid transformation and ongoing business.

He was also a member of the leadership group of the Sales & Marketing, Consumer Goods, Fashion & Luxury, Automotive Practices, accumulating a deep functional expertise on Marketing, Sales and Retail, applied in many sectors and topics.

Marco holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from La Sapienza University, an MBA from INSEAD and a PhD in Economics, Management & Statistics from the University of Messina. Today he is involved in scientific research on issues related to consumer behavior and decisions-making, strategic marketing and communication, where he has published in internationally renowned journals.

Argentina

Narda LEPES

Narda Lepes, passionate about cooking, communicator and gastronomic entrepreneur, has created a relevant brand in the culinary world. Her publications such as “Eat and have a good time”, “Ñam Ñam” and “100 Tips para no comer como el or**” , have been created to promote an improvement in the quality of household nutrition and generate awareness of “eating deliciously, eating plants, eat seasonally, eat well.”

Narda has explored the deep relationship between the role of women, food, and commitment to political and social reality, having promoted important initiatives related to improving eating habits, especially focusing on children.

Her gastronomic ventures are a trend in the Buenos Aires and national culinary scene: “Narda Comedor”, “Lepes”, and “KONA”, an innovative tribute to Japanese gastronomy.

Her sense of social responsibility has been reflected in her role as co-founder in projects such as A.C.E.L.G.A and Feria Masticar, among others. She works and collaborates permanently and intensely with small and medium-sized producers throughout the country, supporting them in developing and commercializing new proposals. She has had an influential television career from 2002 to the present.

Recognized as the Best Female Chef in Latin America in 2020, she is a member of the International Board of Basque Culinary Center, regularly participating in international events with a unique focus on the social and political aspects of the culinary world.