Panel discussion examines food utopias and the ethics of eating well

On October 2, the Kenan Institute for Ethics hosted a panel on food utopias with Ben Barker (Magnolia Grill), Josh Evans (Nordic Food Lab), Scott Howell (Nana’s Restaurant), Charlie Thompson (Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University), and moderated by Saskia Cornes (Duke Campus Farm). Nordic Food Lab, located in Copenhagen, has achieved worldwide reknown through its affiliation with Restaurant Noma, but it also serves a broader educational mission to highlight local, often marginalized or otherwise overlooked ingredients, by making them delicious. Issues explored included ethical supply chains and balancing a responsibility for public food education with a dedication to craft that leads to fine dining’s more elite audience.

The panel was co-sponsored by Humanities Writ Large and Duke Romance Studies, who are hosting Visiting Faculty Fellow Thomas Parker for this year’s Subnature and Culinary Culture project. Read our tweets from the panel via Storify.