Mitchell Davis is the Executive Vice President of the James Beard Foundation, a cookbook author, a journalist, and a scholar with a Ph.D. in Food Studies from NYU. With the Beard Foundation for more than 22 years, Davis has created and overseen many of the organization’s initiatives, including the JBF Annual Food Conference, a national dialogue of thought leaders on sustainability and public health, and the JBF Chefs Boot Camp for Policy and Change, an advocacy training program for culinary professionals. In 2013, Davis led the team that was selected by the U.S. Department of State to create the USA Pavilion at the World Expo Milano 2015, for which he served as Chief Creative Officer, receiving commendations from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and First Lady Michelle Obama. Davis frequently writes about and reviews restaurants. He holds a chair on the Academy of the London-based World’s 50 Best Restaurants. He has written several cookbooks, including the ground-breaking e-book My Provence (Alta Editions) with Michelin three-star chef Laurent Gras, which won the IACP’s “Judges Choice” award in 2013, and the comprehensive guide to good cooking, Kitchen Sense (Clarkson Potter, 2006). Davis is a regular contributor to food and lifestyle publications, including the Art of Eating. Davis’s T.V. appearances include History Channel’s 101 Fast Foods that Changed the World, Food Network’s Food(ography), Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Best in Smoke. Davis is host of Taste Matters, a weekly radio show (Wednesdays at 11 a.m.) on The Heritage Radio Network. In 2013 The Forward selected Davis as one of the 50 most influential Jews under 50 in America.
Food Tank spoke with Mitchell Davis, Executive Vice President of the James Beard Foundation, who will be speaking at the Food Tank Summit in Washington, D.C.
