Ellen Gustafason is serious in her mission to change how the world eats and her bio proves it. Ellen is a sustainable food system activist, author, innovator and social entrepreneur. Her first book, “We the Eaters: If We Change Dinner, We Can Change the World” is being published by Rodale Press in May 2014. She is the Co-Founder of Food Tank: the Food Think Tank, with Danielle Nierenberg. She is also founder of a small sustainable home goods company called the Apron Project. Before the launch of Food Tank, Ellen founded the 30 Project, a campaign that has helped to change the conversation about the global food system by connecting hunger and obesity. She is also the creator of the ChangeDinner campaign and HealthClass2.0, which are helping individuals change the food system at dinner tables and in schools. Ellen Gustafason is this week’s guest on Eat Your Words. She chats with guest host Briana Kurtz about the book, her various projects and what’s wrong with the way the world is eating. This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery.

“The American food system has literally spread to every corner of the planet.” [03:00]

“[Food waste] is built into our system from farm to refrigerator. It’s something a lot of eaters don’t realize. We have to really re-think what kind of food chain we want if this kind of waste is built in. This is where some of the altenerative buying systems have been successful – people would rather buy direct from a farmer and know there’s no waste involved.” [24:00]

“The food system is one of the least free market capitalist systems we have.” [24:00]

“I love how democratized cooking has become because of the internet.” [25:00]

–Ellen Gustafason