Join us on Monday, June 3 for an insightful exploration into the intersection of climate change and the future of food with Uma Valeti, CEO of Upside Foods, Chloe Sorvino, staff writer at Forbes covering food, drink and agriculture, and Gary Hirshberg, CEO of the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute and Co-Founder and Chief Organic Optimist of Stonyfield Farm. They will converge for a riveting conversation moderated by Elizabeth Novogratz, founder of Species Unite.

The global conversation around climate change and sustainable food practices has become more prominent as we grapple with the urgent need to mitigate the environmental impact of our food production systems. This discussion will explore the intersection of climate change and food sustainability, discussing innovations like cultivated meat, mycelium-based proteins, the shift towards plant-based and lab-grown meats, and the impact of regenerative agriculture on ecosystem health.

The event aims to illuminate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in adapting our food systems to a changing climate. Each expert brings a unique perspective to this crucial dialogue about sustainability, technology, and policy changes necessary to support a resilient food system for the future.
 

This program is part of the COAL + ICE exhibition and series of programs at Asia Society, Feb. 13-Aug. 11, 2024, designed to provoke thought and action on climate change. Galleries will be open until 6:30 p.m. on June 3 and museum admission will be included for holders of event tickets from 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Dr. Uma Valeti is the CEO and Founder of UPSIDE Foods, the world’s leading cultivated meat company. UPSIDE Foods was the first company focused on growing meat directly from animal cells and has led the industry ever since. Since 2015, UPSIDE Foods has achieved numerous industry-defining milestones, including being the first company to produce multiple species of cultivated meat (beef, chicken and duck), to partner with the existing meat industry, and to sell a cultivated meat product in the United States. Valeti's vision is to enable people around the world to eat the meat they love, while transforming the food system to become more sustainable and humane. Uma has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Aspen Ideas Festival and SXSW. In 2019 he was named a “Global Thinker of the Decade” by Foreign Policy magazine. Valeti is a Mayo Clinic-trained cardiologist and an adjunct professor in Cardiovascular Medicine at Stanford University.

Chloe Sorvino is a business journalist whose work focuses on climate change, food and agriculture. She's the author of Raw Deal: Hidden Corruption, Corporate Greed and the Fight for the Future of Meat (2022) and leads coverage of food, drink and agriculture at Forbes Magazine. Nearly a decade of reporting at Forbes has brought her to In-N-Out Burger’s secret test kitchen, drought-ridden farms in California’s Central Valley, burnt-out national forests logged by a timber billionaire, and Costco's rotisserie chicken slaughterhouse in Nebraska. She's the creator of the Forbes newsletter on food and sustainability called Fresh Take. Sorvino serves as a steward on the Forbes Union unit council. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, NPR, Fast Company, the Financial Times, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Civil Eats, Modern Farmer, Salon and many more.

Gary Hirshberg is CEO of the Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute and Co-Founder and Chief Organic Optimist of Stonyfield Farm, the world’s leading organic yogurt producer. He is also Founder and Chair of two non-profit advocacy organizations: Organic Voices and the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership. The author of Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World (2008), Gary frequently speaks on topics including sustainability, organic agriculture and the profitability of green business. He has received 12 honorary doctorates and numerous awards for corporate and environmental leadership including a 2015 Champion for Children Award from Mount Sinai Hospital’s Children’s Environmental Health Center, a Lifetime Achievement Award by the US EPA, and Fast Company Magazine named him one of the top ten “most inspiring people in sustainable food”. He is an Edmund Hillary Fellow in New Zealand where among his current projects, he is establishing an Organic Entrepreneurship Education Centre on a farm that he and his wife own near Motueka.

Elizabeth Novogratz (moderator) is the founder of Species Unite, a media platform that stands for a world of coexistence for all species. It is this ethos that will enable us to repair the planet and build a world based on dignity for humans and non-humans alike. In four years, Species Unite has grown to a community of 100,000 people who care deeply about the planet and all species who inhabit it. Elizabeth is also the host of the Species Unite Podcast, which serves as a gateway to countless heroic individuals doing what they can to make life better for those we share this planet with.