Fifty-five attendees gathered for a mini-gala dinner on March 27 to raise money for Change Food, an organization which strives to create a healthy food system for all by developing programs, events, and resources for individuals and groups changing the food system from the ground up.
The benefit dinner was held at Lighthouse, a small restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, offering locally-sourced, seasonal dishes in an intimate setting. As the brainchild of Change Food’s Founder and Executive Director Diane Hatz, known to bring together great food minds, and Lighthouse’s Naama Tamir, an outspoken advocate for sustainability in New York’s restaurant scene, it featured a family-style meal custom-made by Chef Joey Scalabrino.
Attendees filled out a questionnaire prior to the event, which had thoughtfully assigned seating to promote meaningful connections and conversations surrounding different areas of the food system.
Food system leaders in attendance included Andrew Ive, Managing Director at Food-X; Viraj Puri, Co-Founder and CEO of Gotham Greens; Stephen Ritz, Founder of the Green Bronx Machine; and Robert Graham, MD, MPH, Co-Founder of FRESH Med NYC.
The dinner celebrated local producers in Brooklyn: microgreens courtesy of Edenworks’ aquaponics operation; organic produce from Local Roots NYC; Sea to Table‘s small-scale sustainable wild shellfish; pesticide-free lettuce cultivated by Gotham Greens; and Sweet Loren’s all-natural cookies to finish. Beer was provided compliments of Brooklyn’s own Strong Rope Brewery.
The event also featured a corresponding online auction of items ranging from a one-hour consultation with Food+Tech Connect Founder Danielle Gould to a beer-making kit from Brooklyn Brew House. All proceeds benefited Change Food as the nonprofit strives to create a healthy food system for all.
From 2011 to 2015, Diane Hatz’s TEDxManhattan series, “Changing the Way We Eat,” brought together thought leaders in the food system. Click here to view Change Food’s free video library, consisting of short-length videos covering both problems and solutions to food and farming today.
