Holiday Tables 2024

As we gather over holiday tables—or wonder what we’ll serve—we’re reflecting on the work Food & Society at the Aspen Institute had the good luck and help to do in 2024 to ensure that every table is abundant with food that nourishes body and spirit.

Our year was full of landmark achievements and partnerships. Our Food Leaders Fellowship graduated its inaugural class—and gained our first group of Food Leaders for Life! They remain fully engaged with us, each other, and new colleagues in fundraising, recruitment, and events—and have already planned a late-January reunion in a sunny place we keep teasing they forgot to invite us to (we’re not invited, and that’s great). This year we gathered fellows from our second and third cohorts in Aspen, DC, and Tucson, Arizona, where they met with local experts pushing for change and set to work on innovative solutions for the myriad problems facing our food system. Creation of a fourth cohort is underway with over 450 applications for 18 spots—a record!??

In 2024, we published the latest version of our Food is Medicine Research Action Plan, which updates the quickly evolving body of research and identifies the opportunities and challenges of delivering health-promoting food. More than 700 people registered for our launch webinar in April, and we’re honored to hear how many people say the report is required reading for anyone wondering what Food is Medicine means. We also met with Food is Medicine experts, practitioners, and funders?in Topeka with our wonderful partners at the Sunflower Foundation, where we discussed how to expand the field and make nutritious meals easier to access, especially for those living in rural and tribal areas afflicted by chronic illness and diet-related diseases. In partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services and Feeding America, we are now working on a Best Practices Guide for community-based organizations looking to enter the Food is Medicine field. Rethink Food is helping its partner restaurants look into Food is Medicine, and invited Corby to join founder Matt Jozwiak at their inaugural Family Meal Instagram video series.

Our Open Access Network continues to multiply with portals opening in New York City, Los Angeles, and New Haven just this year. Open Access breaks down the barriers to capital and education for food business owners—especially people of color. Municipalities across the country are eager to work with our program to support entrepreneurs who want to plan, launch, and grow businesses that supply their communities with culturally relevant?food.

In our Conversations on Food Justice series with our tireless partners at Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry, speakers recently tackled topics like food security and elections, the work of Black Farmers, and the role of philanthropy. These thought-provoking discussions gather hundreds of viewers across the world who want to learn more about the roots and evolution of the food movement.

We’ve gotten to present our Food is Medicine work in many venues and recently in Canada, as they think of national nutrition strategies, and Boston University’s Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences invited Corby to give their commencement address on Food is Medicine—the closest he’ll ever come to the floor of a hockey arena.

This year also saw exciting new partners joining and supporting our work, including our great partners at the Walmart Foundation, NovoNordisk, Ardmore Institute of Health, the McNulty Foundation, the Coretz Family Foundation, and a loyal group of Food Leaders Fellowship supporters and new members of our Advisory Council. We’re grateful for them every day!

Nicole shepherded daughter Ramona into day care and a world of new adventures, Mary now has a 19-year-old Marine home for the holidays, and Corby has a one-year-old granddaughter, Beatrix (yes, he’s way too young). It’s been a wonderful year, and we can’t wait for the next.

We look forward to advancing more of this great work in 2025 as we continue our pursuit of a healthier future for all. Most of all, we’re grateful for the wonderful fellows, partners and Aspen Institute colleagues we get to work with who bring joy and inspiration to every day of the year.