Conscious Consumers are a growing segment of discerning consumers who make buying decisions based on factors such as health, sustainability and corporate responsibility. As food shoppers, they seek information about the products they eat and drink, and the values of the companies behind the brands.

Follow along with our Twitter stream to learn about challenges and opportunities in communicating with Conscious Consumers along the entire food supply chain. Join us for this invitation-only, half-day forum for senior communicators and marketers specializing in the food, beverage and agricultural sectors.

Speakers:

Ed Levine
Ed Levine, founder of SeriousEats.com, is a New York–based food writer, blogger, book author and frequent New York Times contributor. He is a recurring judge on Food Network’s Iron Chef America and has appeared on Good Morning America, Fresh Air, Charlie Rose, Martha Stewart Radio, The Splendid Table, Leonard Lopate, and CBS’s Sunday Morning. Serious Eats has won two James Beard Awards and was named by Time as one of the Top 50 Websites in 2008 and 2010.

Charles Passy
Charles Passy is an award-winning journalist who specializes in coverage of all things food and drink. He’s based at MarketWatch.com (part of The Wall Street Journal), where he’s reported on everything from the New Hampshire Ice Cream Trail to the chef who made Elvis Presley’s favorite sandwich. He also writes Weekend Sip, a column about wine, spirits and beer that runs every Friday on MarketWatch. He previously served as restaurant critic for The Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fl., and has written about food, entertainment, travel and personal finance for numerous print and online publications, including The New York Times, Money magazine and TheStreet.com.

Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn
Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn, former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, assumed the leadership of the World Food Prize Foundation in 2000, following his retirement from the State Department after a 32-year career in the Foreign Service. Inspired by the vision of Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, the founder of the World Food Prize, Ambassador Quinn will explain how “the Nobel Prize for Food and Agriculture” motivates action by recognizing the accomplishments of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity, or availability of food in the world.

Dr. Puvan SelvanathanDr. Puvan Selvanathan will describe the goals of the six Food and Agriculture Business (FAB) Principles, launched by the UN Global Compact in May 2014 following a two-year consultation process with over 1,000 businesses, UN agencies and civil society organizations engaged in agriculture, food and nutrition systems. The principles focus on sustainable intensification of food production and reduction of waste to support the projected world population of 9 billion by 2050.

Bryan WalshBryan Walsh has written and blogged about environmental, energy and health stories during his career at Time Magazine. He will discuss his coverage of global food issues, which have included the risks associated with the homogenization of the global diet, a Department of Agriculture program to fund bee-friendly crops, and reasons why organic agriculture may not be sustainable.

Izabela WojcikIzabela Wojcik is the Director of House Programming for the James Beard Foundation, a national New York City-based charitable organization that showcases the culinary arts, awards annual recognition for chefs, restaurants, and writers, and hands out scholarships to the next generation of aspiring food enthusiasts. In her role as chef wrangler, Izabela organizes more than 200 culinary events each year at the historic James Beard House. She acts as the liaison between the James Beard Foundation and the US Department of State’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership. She is also a member of the Kitchen Cabinet, the advisory board to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. In her daily context, Izabela engages food professionals in a dialogue concerning trends in fine dining, food preparation and ingredients, the latest in equipment and technology, the issue of local-global-seasonal-sustainable, and health and nutrition. Izabela holds a B.S. from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

Lilian Huang WooLilian Huang Woo is a news anchor and reporter for Fox News Radio Network as well as host of Fox & Food. Covering food for the network has given her the chance to sit down with some of the biggest names in the industry such as Mario Batali, Daniel Boulud, Grant Achatz and the late Marcella Hazan as well as many unsung heroes who help nurture our love for good food. Huang Woo, a 10 year veteran of ABC News, was one of its first employees tapped to help start up ABCNews.com where she was a producer. She was also senior producer of Newstream.com. Huang Woo is a graduate of Barnard College. She thinks one of the greatest pleasures in life is tracking down and enjoying mind-blowingly delicious foods.