Announcing the speakers for the Food + Future x Bitten Salon on March 24.
As part of Food + Future’s ongoing set of community programs, we’re extremely excited to announce the speaker list for our upcoming Salon in collaboration with Bitten.
The theme of the night is “On Transparency,” and we will analyze this topic from many different perspectives. Our speakers include a data scientist, a food historian, a fashion startup founder, a couple of dairy farmers from small and large operations, a spectroscopist, and a chef.
We hope to see you on March 24th. A limited number of tickets are still available and all ticket revenue will be donated to a local Boston non-profit doing great work in the food space.
Deb Roy — Associate Professor & Director, Laboratory for Social Machines at MIT Media Lab
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Deb Roy is Director of the Laboratory for Social Machines at the MIT Media Lab and an Associate Professor at MIT. Roy also serves as Twitter’s Chief Media Scientist after Bluefin Labs, his media analytics company, became Twitter’s largest acquisition in 2013. The author of over 100 academic papers, Roy’s research focuses on machine learning, natural language processing, and network science, with applications from children’s learning to large-scale media analytics. A Canada native, Roy received a Bachelor of Applied Science from the University of Waterloo and a PhD in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT.
Sue McCloskey — Farmer & Founder, Fairlife & Fair Oaks Farms
Fair Oaks, Indiana
Sue McCloskey was an art and art history student before being swept up in the world of dairy cows upon meeting her husband, Mike. They ran a successful dairy veterinary consulting practice in Southern California along with a 300 cow dairy in Redlands, California. In 1990 they sold the vet practice and became full time dairy farmers by moving to New Mexico and building from greenfield a 5000 cow dairy. In New Mexico, they created Select Milk Producers, now the nation’s 6th largest dairy cooperative, and began thinking about how to make milk more relevant to consumers and how to tell the story of modern agriculture.
In 1999, Mike and Sue moved to Northwest Indiana to create one of the largest dairy farms in the country and simultaneously opened Fair Oaks Farms, the country’s largest and most recognized agritourism attraction. Sue has been the Creative Director for Fair Oaks Farms as well as serving as a spokesperson for Fairlife, Select’s dairy-based health and wellness company.
Mike and Sue have 4 children scattered from coast to coast and way too many horses.
Nadia Berenstein — Flavor Historian
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nadia Berenstein is on the verge of receiving her PhD in History & Sociology of Science at the University of Pennsylvania, where she asks questions about the relationship between technology and nature, food and culture, scientific knowledge and sensory experience. Her dissertation tells the story of flavor science and the flavor industry in the United States beginning in the late nineteenth century. Her writing appears in Food & Wine, Lucky Peach, NPR’s The Salt blog, Popular Science, and other publications. She served as an advisor to the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn, where she lives, on their inaugural exhibition, “Flavor: Making It and Faking It.” You can read more about her research on her blog, “Flavor Added.”
Carrie Mess — Dairy Farmer & Founder of DairyCarrie.com
Lake Mills, Wisconsin
Carrie Mess is a former city kid turned dairy farmer, blogger, speaker, advocate for agriculture and toddler mom from Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Farming in partnership with her husband Patrick and his parents on their 100 cow, 300 acre dairy farm, Carrie shares her story and connects with those unfamiliar with agriculture via social media and her blog, The Adventures of Dairy Carrie, found at dairycarrie.com. She was selected the 2014 Social Media Farmer of the Year and has bylines in The Guardian and Huffington Post as well as several industry publications.
Maxine Bedat — Co-Founder and CEO, Zady
New York City, New York
Maxine Bédat is the co-founder of Zady, a fashion brand and lifestyle destination creating a transparent and sustainable future for the $1.5 trillion apparel industry. Her background in international law and diplomacy, including serving as a legal clerk for the U.N., led her to found The Bootstrap Project, a non-profit organization that works with entrepreneurs in the developing world. For its work in sustainability, Zady was named one of the world’s “Most Innovative Companies” in retail by Fast Company and its creativity was recognized by Mashable, which called the company “the #1 business rocking content marketing.” Bédat serves on the Council of NationSwell, has spoken at some of the world’s leading conferences, including the WWD Apparel/Retail CEO Summit, and has been regularly featured as an expert by Bloomberg, Forbes, Business of Fashion, CNN and the Huffington Post. Bédat is a graduate of Columbia Law School.
Ellen Miseo — Chief Scientist, Illuminate
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Ellen Miseo is Chief Scientist for Illuminate, a Food + Future venture. Illuminate is a data analytics company that works as a truth detector for food by bringing together molecular spectroscopy, analytical chemistry, and deep machine learning.
Ellen has been involved in spectroscopy and instrument development for her entire career. Originally trained as a physical chemist, she helps transform scientific research instruments into viable business products. She is passionate about applying science to food, and translating it into something people can understand and use to positively impact their lives.
Tracy Chang — Founder and Executive Chef, PAGU
Cambridge, Massachusetts
A Boston-area native, Chef Tracy Chang grew up in her grandmother’s Japanese restaurant. Her love for cooking led her to the award-winning O-Ya and then Paris, to study pâtisserie at Le Cordon Bleu. Chang then traveled and worked in the Spanish Basque Country alongside chef Martín Berasategui. Upon returning to Boston she co-founded the lauded Guchi’s Midnight Ramen pop-up with O-Ya alums. Her love for culinary collaboration continued as a teaching fellow with Harvard’s Science + Cooking course. Chang opened PAGU in Cambridge in January 2017, weaving together Spanish and Japanese influences into dishes that are authentic, playful and deeply personal.
