Feeding Change: Highlights from 2020

As we turn the corner into 2021, the Milken Institute is taking the unprecedented step of bringing together experts across its numerous Centers to work together on Feeding Change in recognition that true collaboration across disciplines, sectors, and continents is necessary to ensure the health of people and planet. Here is a preview of some of the planned work of the Feeding Change team:  

• A Food Is Medicine Task Force bringing together health and food leaders to catalyze action in the Food Is Medicine ecosystem to improve access to healthy food for all, with support from The Rockefeller Foundation  

• A Financial Innovations Lab® to identify and design finance and policy recommendations to overcome the key barriers that are currently deterring innovation and investment in our nation’s food systems  

• An inaugural Feeding Change Business Council convening leaders to develop and activate solutions both in the US and globally  

• Invest & Innovate sessions bringing together entrepreneurs with financial experts to unlock capital to help game-changing innovations reach their full potential  

• A pilot project out of our Center for the Future of Aging related to older adults, food insecurity, and nutrition  

• Asia Center events to build the network of leaders advancing healthier and more sustainable food systems in the region  

• The Future of Health Summit in June 2021, which will feature scientific breakthroughs and leading policy voices  

• Our hallmark Food Leaders’ Retreat at our annual Global Conference, bringing together leaders in food, business, health, finance, and philanthropy with influential cultural and government leaders  

We have tremendous optimism that 2021 is ushering in a new era of collaboration and that together we can truly begin to build a more equitable, nourishing, and sustainable food system. We hope you’ll join us. For more information or to share your ideas or interest, please contact [email protected].  

With the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve witnessed collaboration and partnership across the food system like never before. The Feeding Change team hosted both in-person and virtual sessions and panels across Milken Institute conferences and summits throughout 2020. Here are a few highlights:

• Leadership for a New Food Future (Global Conference 2020)

  • Beth Ford, CEO, Land O’Lakes; Tom Hayes, President and CEO, Ocean Spray; David MacLennan, CEO and Chairman, Cargill; Ryan Shadrick Wilson, Senior Advisor and Chair, Feeding Change, Milken Institute (moderator)

• Building a Stronger Food System after COVID-19 (Global Conference 2020)

  • Steve Cahillane, Chairman and CEO, Kellogg Company; Rodney McMullen, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Kroger; Dirk Van de Put, Chairman and CEO, Mondelēz International; Katie Fitzgerald, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Feeding America (moderator)

• Feeding Change: Food Is Medicine (Future of Health Summit 2020)

  • Cathy Burns, CEO, Produce Marketing Association; Chellie Pingree, US Representative, Maine; Pam Schwartz, Executive Director, Community Health, Kaiser Permanente; Roy Steiner, Senior Vice President, Food Initiative, The Rockefeller Foundation; Lauren Shweder Biel, Executive Director, DC Greens (moderator)

• Regenerative Agriculture: The Cure Is in Our Soil (Future of Health Summit 2020)

  • Heber Brown, III, Executive Director, Black Church Food Security Network; Birgit Cameron, Head of Patagonia Provisions; Paul Hawken, Founder, Project Drawdown; Author, Drawdown, The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming; Tim Ryan, US Representative, Ohio; Daphne Miller, Physician and Author; Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco (moderator)

Further, the Milken Institute continued to highlight food and sustainability work through the COVID-19 conference call series, our COVID-19 Power of Ideas essay collection, and our chairman’s podcast, Conversations with Mike Milken.

• Webinar: “Feeding the Nation during COVID-19: Food, Hope, and Recovery”

  • José Andrés, Humanitarian and Founder of World Central Kitchen; Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO, Feeding America; Michael Milken, Chairman, Milken Institute; Ryan Shadrick Wilson, Senior Advisor and Chair, Feeding Change, Milken Institute (moderator)

• Webinar: “Emerging Zoonotic Diseases and Planetary Health: Stopping the Next Pandemic Before It Starts”

  • Simone Friedman, Head of Philanthropy and Impact Investment, EJF Philanthropies; Eric Goode, Conservationist; Director, "Tiger King;" Mark Smolinski, President, Ending Pandemics; Gunhild A. Stordalen, Founder and Executive Chair, EAT; Melissa Stevens, Executive Director, Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy (moderator)

• Podcast: Conversations with Mike Milken: “Values, with Kroger’s Rodney McMullen”

• Podcast: Conversations with Mike Milken: “Sustainable, with Unilever’s Alan Jope”

• Report: “Tracking What Matters: How to Address Critical WIC Needs during a Public Health Emergency”

• Essay: “Designing a Resilient Food System Post-COVID” by Holly Bybee, Senior Director, Design for Food, IDEO and Rebecca Chesney, Senior Portfolio Lead, Design for Food, IDEO

• Essay: “Strengthening the Food System to Bolster the Nation” by Rodney Ferguson, President and CEO, Winrock International; John Fisk, Senior Advisor, Wallace Center; and Lucy Jodlowska, Executive Director, Wallace Center

• Essay: “Fixing the Food Supply Chain Could Prevent a Future, Even More Nightmarish Pandemic” by Jim Mellon, Entrepreneur and Investor; Chairman, Burnbrae

• Essay: “A Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19” by Mark Hyman, Head of Strategy and Innovation, Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine