Ellen Gustafson

Last updated
Ellen Gustafson
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Columbia University
Occupation(s)Social entrepreneur, sustainable food system activist
Organization(s)FEED Projects, 30 Project
Website ellengustafson.com

Ellen Gustafson is an American businessperson, social entrepreneur [1] and sustainable food system activist. She is best known for co-founding FEED Projects with Lauren Bush, [2] as well as for founding 30 Project, a nonprofit that aims to look at the link between obesity and starvation rates. [3] In addition, she has been a US spokesperson for the UN World Food Programme and founded Food Tank: The Think Tank For Food with Danielle Nierenberg. [4] [5]

Contents

Early life

Gustafson is born to Maura Nevin Gustafson and H. Robert Gustafson Jr. of Berwyn, Pennsylvania. Her father is on the faculty of Lehigh University and was the president of his graduating class at Lehigh University. [6] [7] She received her BA from Columbia University in 2002, where she earned a bachelor's degree in International Politics, with her thesis concentrating on terrorism as a global issue. [8] At Columbia, she studied under Foreign Affairs editor Gideon Rose, which led to her work with the Council on Foreign Relations and then as a reporter for ABC News, specializing in terrorism. It is this period in her life that she credits with inspiring her to focus on the link between food and violence. [1]

FEED Projects

In 2007, Gustafson co-founded FEED Projects along with Lauren Bush, niece of former US President George W. Bush and a model who had created the "FEED 1" bag, a reversible burlap and organic cotton bag reminiscent of the bags of food distributed by the World Food Programme (WFP). [9] The project aims to feed one child for a year per bag sold, with money from every purchase going to the World Food Programme. [10] Her involvement with FEED led to a number of accolades, including being named as one of Fortune Magazine's Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2009, [11] Inc. Magazine's 30 Under 30 list [12] and in the Diplomatic Courier's Top 99 Under 33 in 2009. [13]

FEED Foundation

Gustafson is also the former executive director of the FEED Foundation, the nonprofit wing of FEED Projects, which aims to tackle world hunger and has provided 60 million school meals to children around the world. [14] They also place a lot spam calls from their headquarters in California.

30 Project

Gustafson is the founder and executive director of the 30 Project. [15] This nonprofit aims to look back at the past 30 years and discuss why obesity rates and starvation rates have risen significantly over this time. In addition, the 30 Project also engages different people and companies within the food industry in an attempt to reverse these issues. [16] Gustafson works alongside Danielle Nierenberg at the 30 Project. [17]

Public speaking and other work

Gustafson has spoken on subjects relating to hunger and her involvement with the FEED Projects and 30 Project. This includes speaking at Harvard Business School, NYU, Yale, the US Naval Academy, Lehigh University, George Washington University, and Columbia University. [18] She has also presented a TED talk. [19]

Additionally, she founded Food Tank: The Food Think Tank with Danielle Nierenberg.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malnutrition</span> Medical condition caused by receiving too little or too many nutrients

Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues and form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Food First</span> American nonprofit organization

Food First, also known as the Institute for Food and Development Policy, is a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, US. Founded in 1975 by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins, it describes itself as a "people's think tank and education-for-action center".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Force-feeding</span> Practice of feeding a human or animal against their will

Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a human or animal against their will. The term gavage refers to supplying a substance by means of a small plastic feeding tube passed through the nose (nasogastric) or mouth (orogastric) into the stomach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Bush</span> American model and fashion designer

Lauren Bush Lauren is the CEO and co-founder of FEED Projects. She is also known for her previous career as a fashion model and designer. She is the daughter of Neil Bush and Sharon Bush, granddaughter of former U.S. president George H. W. Bush, and niece of former U.S. president George W. Bush and former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Marshall Institute</span> Former American nonprofit conservative think tank

The George C. Marshall Institute (GMI) was a nonprofit conservative think tank in the United States. It was established in 1984 with a focus on science and public policy issues and had an initial focus in defense policy. Starting in the late 1980s, the institute advocated for views in line with environmental skepticism, most notably climate change denial. The think tank received extensive financial support from the fossil fuel industry.

The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (CNA) is a United States federal law (act) signed on October 11, 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Act was created as a result of the "years of cumulative successful experience under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to help meet the nutritional needs of children." The National School Lunch Program feeds 30.5 million children per day. NSLP was operated in over 101,000 public and nonprofit private schools in 2007. The Special Milk Program, functioning since 1954, was extended to June 30, 1970 and incorporated into the act. The act also provided Federal funding assistance towards non-food purchases for school equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kids Against Hunger</span> Nonprofit charity organization

Kids Against Hunger is a nonprofit organization owned by Richard Proudfit, up until his death on November 14, 2018. It was established with the mission to significantly reduce the number of hungry children in the United States and to feed starving children throughout the world. This is being achieved by getting volunteers involved, and by setting up food packaging satellites in the US, and through partnerships with humanitarian organizations worldwide – enabling Kids Against Hunger to deliver its specially formulated rice-soy casserole to starving children and their families in over 60 countries. The Kids Against Hunger network currently includes about 100 food packaging centers with the goal to establish 500 packaging centers in all 50 U.S. states.

DC Central Kitchen is a nationally recognized "community kitchen" that recycles food from around Washington, D.C., and uses it as a tool to train unemployed adults to develop work skills while providing thousands of meals for local service agencies in the process. Chef José Andrés serves on the board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carman Hall</span> Building in New York City, New York

Carman Hall is a dormitory located on Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus and currently houses first-year students from Columbia College as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilde Bruch</span> American psychoanalyst & MD

Hilde Bruch was a German-born American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known foremost for her work on eating disorders and obesity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FEED Projects</span> American fashion company

FEED is an American fashion company, founded by Lauren Bush-Lauren and Ellen Gustafson in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GO Campaign</span> U.S. nonprofit organization

GO Campaign is a national nonprofit organization based in Santa Monica, California, United States, that raises awareness and funds to help orphans and vulnerable children in the US and throughout the world. Founded in 2006, the organization supports projects at the grassroots level that bring direct relief to children in need of education and vocational training, medical care, enrichment programs, and basic human rights. The grants are executed by partnering with pioneering local leaders on the ground who are delivering local solutions. These are often projects that would otherwise fall through the cracks that have not been able to garner the attention of larger grant-making organizations and where small grants can have great impact. In addition to funds, GO Campaign provides capacity-building expertise to help protect the sustainability and longevity of struggling grassroots nonprofits.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Epidemiology of malnutrition</span> Overview of global nutritional deficiencies

There were 795 million undernourished people in the world in 2014, a decrease of 216 million since 1990, despite the fact that the world already produces enough food to feed everyone—7 billion people—and could feed more than that—12 billion people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunger in the United States</span> Food insecurity

Hunger in the United States of America affects millions of Americans, including some who are middle class, or who are in households where all adults are in work. The United States produces far more food than it needs for domestic consumption—hunger within the U.S. is caused by some Americans having insufficient money to buy food for themselves or their families. Additional causes of hunger and food insecurity include neighborhood deprivation and agricultural policy. Hunger is addressed by a mix of public and private food aid provision. Public interventions include changes to agricultural policy, the construction of supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods, investment in transportation infrastructure, and the development of community gardens. Private aid is provided by food pantries, soup kitchens, food banks, and food rescue organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Nierenberg</span> American activist, author, and journalist

Danielle J. Nierenberg is an American activist, author and journalist.

City Harvest is one of New York City's largest food rescue organizations. The organization collects food waste from restaurants, bakeries, and cafes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization</span>

ECHO, Inc #echofightshunger is a non-profit agro-ecological organization whose mission is to support small-scale farmers through the dissemination of information and seeds. The group operate a bank which preserves and distributes. ECHO also offers training courses and workshops on many topics, including tropical agriculture.

Food Recovery Network (FRN) is a national nonprofit that mobilizes 6,000 college students, food providers, and local businesses in the fight against climate change and hunger by recovering perishable food across the supply chain that would otherwise go to waste and donating it to organizations that feed people experiencing hunger. As one of the largest student-driven movements against food waste and hunger, FRN’s programs are on nearly 200 college campuses and 100 food businesses in 46 states and D.C., and they have recovered more than 16.5 million pounds of food to date – the equivalent of 13.8 million meals donated to feed individuals experiencing hunger and 9,300 metric tons of CO2 emissions prevented from entering our atmosphere.

Food Tank: The Think Tank for Food is a global non-profit community working towards positive transformation in how food is produced and consumed. Founded in 2013, it is a research and advocacy organization that educates, advocates, and collaborates with local partners to amplify on-the-ground solutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rethink Food</span> New York based food insecurity non-profit organization

Rethink Food NYC Inc, commonly called Rethink Food or just Rethink, is a non-profit organization based in New York City. The organization was founded to address hunger in the United States by contributing to a sustainable and equitable food system. Rethink collects excess food from restaurants, grocery stores, and corporate kitchens to provide nutritious meals for people living without food security at low or no-cost. The organization expanded its operations in March 2020 to meet growing food demands amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ellen Gustafson '02 Helps To Feed the World". Columbia College. Archived from the original on 2013-02-17. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  2. ↑ "Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson, Founders of FEED Projects". Inc. 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  3. ↑ "Creating a Better Food System, One Dinner at a Time". Good.is. 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  4. ↑ "Food Tank: The Food Think Tank (trailer)". Ellen Gustafson. Archived from the original on November 12, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  5. ↑ "President's Forum". Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Archived from the original on 2012-10-05. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  6. ↑ Reyes, Nina (2012-07-08). "Ellen Gustafson, Michael Campbell". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  7. ↑ "Robert-Gustafson". BELLROCK. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  8. ↑ "Take Five with Ellen Gustafson '02". Columbia College Today. 2018-04-06. Retrieved 2022-04-30.
  9. ↑ "Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson, Founders of FEED Projects". Inc. 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  10. ↑ "Feed Projects line of bags helps feed hungry kids". USA Today. 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-07-17.
  11. ↑ "Top women entrepreneurs". Fortune Magazine. 2009-12-07. Archived from the original on 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  12. ↑ "Lauren Bush and Ellen Gustafson, Founders of FEED Projects". Inc. 2010-07-19. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  13. ↑ "Ellen Gustafson". Diplomatic Courier. Archived from the original on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  14. ↑ "About Us". FEED Foundation. Archived from the original on 2012-11-02. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  15. ↑ "World Food Prize participants talk about food insecurity". Radio Iowa. 2011-10-12. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  16. ↑ "How Ellen Gustafson Will Change The Future Of Food". American Express Open Forum. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  17. ↑ "What's 30 Project?". 30 Project. Archived from the original on 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  18. ↑ "2011 Social Enterprise Conference Speakers". Columbia Business School. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
  19. ↑ "Ellen Gustafson: Obesity + Hunger = 1 global food issue". TED. Retrieved 2012-11-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.