Evolving Food Futures with Chefs' Manifesto: One “No” Many “Yeses”

For several years OmVed Gardens has partnered with the SDG2 Advocacy Hub and the Chefs’ Manifesto to host London’s annual Action Hub. Their drive to build a better food future through advocacy, education and collaboration inspired us to widen the circle, inviting chefs, growers, community workers, artists, activists and citizens to create the Evolving Food Futures gathering.

Over the months leading to the event, we spent time each week in deep discussion about the complexities of our food system. While these conversations often evoked frustration, sadness, and uncertainty, we came to realise that what we feel is not despair. Despair signals a lack of hope, but the speakers we identified and the work being done locally and across the world are proof that hope is very much alive.

As we enter the final five years to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we move forward with determination and ambition. From this gathering, we carry three guiding themes: collaboration, action, and urgency. We've compiled some of the key ideas that emerged during the event, ideas that can help us shift focus from the “no” of broken systems to the many “yeses” already paving the way toward a more just, sustainable and nourishing food future.

Paul Newnham: Yes to Chefs Driving Change and Diversity of Solutions

Paul Newnham is Executive Director of the SDG2 Advocacy Hub and founder of the Chefs’ Manifesto, which mobilises chefs to drive sustainable food action. With 25+ years in global advocacy he connects diverse voices to tackle hunger and transform food systems.

Paul led the gathering, contextualising the work of the SDG2 Advocacy hub and highlighting its importance in the face of the political, economical and climatic challenges we face today.

“Chefs are at the heart of the global food system. They bridge the gap between farm and fork - influencing what we grow, what we put on our plates and how we think and talk about food.”

Conor Spacey & Vanshika Bhatia: Yes to Biodiversity and Indigenous Ingredients

Conor Spacey is a chef and author from Ireland committed to investigating the future of food for people and the planet. He is well known for being a zero-waste chef, recently releasing his book ‘Wasted’ and founding a cookery school in The Gambia. 

Vanshika Bhatia is a chef and restaurateur from India championing ingredient focussed vegetarian food advocating for local produce the length and breadth of the country. 

Through a cooking demo, Vanshika showcased a common Gujarati snack using locally grown British greens, moving beyond spinach to include other greens and Conor shared a Gambian recipe using millet and vegetables grown at OmVed. 

Their conversation illustrated the importance of a diverse diet, protecting biodiversity and indigenous ingredients by putting it on the menu, illustrating the many ways we can cook uncommon ingredients.

Christina Vogel: Yes to Rethinking the Hospitality Curriculum

Christina is the Director of the Centre for Food Policy, Professor of Food Policy and a registered nutritionist. Her research aims to inform the development, implementation and evaluation of food policies and interventions to improve population health, reduce inequalities and protect our planet.

“Professional Cookery is the forgotten industry: it is forgotten in policy, undervalued in society, and regarded as an undesirable career (...) Lagging leadership and low resourcing hinders innovation leaving the curriculum out of date (...) Some recommendations include streamlining training for clear and desirable career paths, a fiscal policy reform, and a stronger united voice to raise awareness on the power of food to drive change”

Jack Feeny: Yes to Perennials and Agroecological Forward Menus

Jack presented his initiative ‘Today’s Menu’ as part of ‘No Mise En Plastic’ an agroecological menu resource, encouraging chefs in the UK (and beyond) to use seasonal, ecosystem-regenerating ingredients that foster positive change in the food system.

An example of agroecological menu resources is the cultivation and use of perennials. Perennials (like asparagus, artichokes, rhubarb, or perennial herbs and grains) require less tilling, fewer chemical inputs, promoting soil health, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration -incredible benefits for the farmer and the planet. 

Dan Connor: Yes to Seed Sovereignty & Living Seed Libraries

Dan is a gardener and the coordinator of OmVed’s Seed Saving Network, a collaborative initiative launched in 2020 with four clear objectives:

1: Preserve biodiversity
2: Empower everyone to grow
3: Generate real-world data & insights
4: Support seed sovereignty & resilience

By enabling gardeners to grow, save, and share their own seeds, the Network challenges corporate control over seed resources and helps restore community power in our food supply.  

The Seed Saving Network unites a diverse community of growers to regenerate soil and biodiversity, preserve heirloom varieties, strengthen local resilience, spark ecological education, and reclaim control over food systems.

Dev Sharma: Yes to Young People Driving Change in the Food Industry

Dev’s work centers on the belief that youth are not just the future, they are the solution. He has crafted a roadmap for young people to influence policy, demand rights, and reshape food systems. His leadership in Bite Back and UK youth inquiries shows how empowering youth voices can spark real change, shifting broken systems toward the abundant “yeses” that lie within their energy and determination.

Dev Sharma has transformed youth activism into a powerful tool for food justice, demonstrating that when young people are given agency, their vision, creativity, and passion become catalysts for lasting, systemic change. 

In April 2025, Bite Back activists took over 365 billboard spaces across Lambeth and Southwark - especially around London Bridge station - with the message: “We’ve bought this ad space so the junk food giants couldn’t – we’re giving kids a commercial break.”

Delia Stirling: Yes to Standing Tall by Your Principles 

Groove & Meadow is a Nairobi-based plant-based food brand led by Delia Stirling, best known for its vegan cheese and crackers and other dairy-alternative products. Their core objective is to provide delicious, eco-friendly vegan alternatives that support sustainable food culture and cater to a growing plant-based demand in Kenya while supporting broader environmental and animal-welfare goals within the food system.

Delia shared a powerful anecdote on standing by your principles, especially in the eye of corporate pressure, when saying no and standing by it was key to create the food future we deserve. 

Palmiro Ocampo: Yes to Upcycling Food Scraps for Flavour and Nutrition 

Palmiro Ocampo is a Peruvian chef, researcher, and sustainability advocate specialising in “cocina óptima”, a culinary philosophy that maximises the nutritional and environmental value of food by using parts typically discarded, such as peels, stems, and offcuts.

Joss MacDonald: Yes to Supporting Local Food

Joss MacDonald serves as the Public Affairs Lead at the UK’s Food Foundation. In this capacity, he spearheads their engagement strategy with parliamentarians, influencing food-related public policy at the highest levels.

“1% of UK Advertising goes to fruit and veg, 33% on confectionary, desserts, snacks and soft drinks”

“Food is back on the menu because of rising prices, declining population health, struggling health services, unstable trade routes and global heating”

Eight suggestions to rethink the Food Strategy:

1: It must be long term and structural: be the north star and involve accountability.
2: It must support local food
3. It must work across the whole government
4. It must answer the countries problems (reducing carbon emissions, supporting nature and human’s health -including children and ageing population- and ease the cost of living crises)
5. It must not tell people what to eat.
6. It must focus on those with lower food incomes
7. It must mandate action from the food industry
8. It must not be forgotten that food should be delicious

Tim Lang: Yes to Reshaping Food Systems and Being Prepared for Food Shocks

Tim Lang is an emeritus Professor of Food Policy and the founder of the Centre for Food Policy at City, University of London. Since the 1970s (when a spell as a hill-farmer prompted him to question how food systems work) he has combined academic research, public advocacy and government advising, becoming one of the UK’s best-known independent voices on food policy.

Across his work, Lang’s central objective has remained consistent: to re-shape food systems so that they simultaneously protect public health, safeguard the environment, uphold social justice and respect consumer rights.

Some key takeaways from his keynote:

“If you don’t sort out the food system, you don’t sort out life.”

Tim opened with this powerful reminder that food systems underpin every aspect of society and wellbeing.

Britain’s vulnerability to food shocks

He emphasized that the UK is currently unprepared for major disruptions in food supply, from climate crises to geopolitical events.

Community resilience is the weakest link

Tim highlighted that the biggest gap in preparedness and subsequent opportunity lies within local communities. Neighbourhoods must build mutual support networks. His report Just in Case stresses the importance of community-led food resilience.

Collective wellbeing benefits individual health

The health of communities and ecosystems is inseparable from our personal health outcomes. What’s good for the collective is ultimately good for each of us.

“A day without beans or veg is like a day without sunshine.”

A memorable line underscoring the importance of plant-rich diets for both health and sustainability.

Geeta Vara: Yes to a More Balanced View of Food

Geeta Vara is a UK-based Ayurvedic practitioner. Her work centers on empowering individuals to achieve optimal health and wellness through personalized Ayurvedic care. She aims to make the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda accessible and relevant in the modern world, focusing on holistic health that integrates mind, body, and spirit.

“There are not good or bad foods, the key is in balance” 

Geeta shared the importance of not demonising certain foods and working towards balance as a core value in healthy people and the planet. 

Vicky Chown: Yes to Growing as a Tool for Resilience

Herbalist, grower and educator Vicky Chown champions growing as a vital act of connection: to land, food, and community. In her intervention, she defended the garden as a space of learning and adaptability: a place where understanding the value of food begins with soil, and where, in the UK’s shifting climate, “you are on your toes.”

Tom Hunt: Yes to Eating for Pleasure, People and The Planet

Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, food educator, writer, climate change activist and author of the book Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. 

His work focuses on raising awareness of the issues affecting our food system whilst empowering people and businesses to act responsibly through his workshops, consultancy, food writing, presenting and events. 

Through presenting his work and talking about the miraculous work of biodynamic farming, Tom emphasised that it is indeed possible to eat for pleasure, people and the planet.

Alyson Greenhalgh-Ball: Yes to Focusing on The ‘How’

Alyson runs her own UK-based advisory practice, helping companies, NGOs and investors embed “people, planet and prosperity” into strategy and product pipelines. 

Alyson’s work in food and food systems has been wide and varied and she is now focusing on the ‘how’ as opposed to the ‘why and what’. She facilitated a workshop, putting the conversation in the attendees hands in sharing solutions.

Emily Gussin & Sam Hamrebtan: Yes to Swapping Ingredients and Being Unafraid to Experiment

Delicious Magazine’s Sustainability Lead Emily Gussin and nutritional therapist-chef Sam Hamrebtan co-led an engaging, sparkly workshop focused on breaking rigid recipe ingredients. They encouraged participants to view cooking as a creative, adaptable process, where ingredients can be swapped based on seasonality, availability, nutrition or dietary needs. 

This flexible approach not only fosters resourcefulness and everyday creativity in the kitchen but also actively reduces food waste. By empowering cooks to trust their intuition and work with what they have, they showed how accessible and sustainable home cooking can be.

Danny McCubbin: Yes to Supporting Elderly and Essential Members of the Community

 Founder of Sicily’s Good Kitchen and long‑time Jamie Oliver campaigner, Danny rescues surplus food and turns it into free, dignified meals for seniors and key workers, proving solidarity can be served daily.

Chris Holmes: Yes to Not Being Judgemental 

Through Kickback Kitchens CIC, Chris Holmes creates inclusive dining spaces where “chip‑in‑what‑you‑can” meals are made from rescued local produce in under-used kitchens. By removing price tags, and the guilt that can come with them, he ensures everyone feels welcome, regardless of their means. 

During the gathering, Chris shared a powerful anecdote about a moment when he found himself being judgemental, only to be humbled by the experience. It served as a reminder that true hospitality starts with openness, empathy, and a willingness to learn from one another.

Leslie Barson: Yes to Funding Community Projects

Co‑founder of Granville Community Kitchen, Leslie shared how she champions funding that lands in residents’ hands, turning South Kilburn’s food aid into long‑term food sovereignty and local jobs.

Maia Magoga: Yes to Communal Power of Food Education

Artist‑grower Maia stages ritual dinners, seed‑saving labs and foraging walks where shared cooking sparks talk of ecology, ancestry and collective care. 

Clare Donovan: Yes to Food Support, Education, and Training for Families in Need

Cooking Champions’ founder Clare runs North London’s first community kitchen: parent‑child classes, free hot meals and a youth culinary academy help households cook, eat and thrive.

Tash Straker: Yes to Sharing Vulnerability and Spirituality 

At Giveascrap pop‑ups, facilitator‑chef Tash fuses breath‑work, storytelling and seasonal plates, inviting guests to taste food as a sacred, healing practice:

"Vulnerability is part of being human and we should embrace it and talk about it more"

The Urgent Yes of Change

This year’s gathering confirmed a simple truth: no single silver bullet will fix the food system. Instead we need a symphony of solutions, many “yeses” that overlap, reinforce and amplify each other. From chefs rewriting menus to youth hijacking billboards, from seed savers and perennial growers to policy shapers and community cooks, every action matters. 

Together these voices form a collective declaration: we refuse the “no” of broken systems and choose the abundant, urgent “yes” of collaboration, creativity and care. The path ahead is diverse by design, and that diversity is our greatest strength, and also the most urgent one.

Join us as we continue to shape this future. Sign up to our newsletter to stay connected, contribute your voice, and co-create the next gathering. The work is ongoing and everyone is needed.