Food activist to discuss hunger, obesity and the food system

Ellen Gustafson, a sustainable food system activist, innovator and social entrepreneur, will visit Salve Regina Wednesday, Nov. 20 to discuss hunger, obesity and the food system. Sponsored by the Campus Activities Board’s spotlight series, her presentation will be held at 7 p.m. in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall.

Gustafson is the co-founder of Food Tank: The Food Think Tank. The organization seeks to bridge the domestic and global food issues by highlighting how hunger, obesity, climate change, unemployment and other problems can be solved by more research and investment in agriculture.

In addition, Gustafson co-founded FEED Projects, a charitable company that creates good products that help feed the world, and is the co-founder and former executive director of FEED’s nonprofit partner, the FEED Foundation. Under her leadership, FEED provided more than 60 million school meals to children around the world.

Gustafson has served as the U.S. spokesperson for the United Nations World Food Program, a terrorism research reporter in the ABC News investigative unit and a research associate for the military fellows at the Council on Foreign Relations. She has a B.A. in international politics from Columbia University.