Tim West

Tim West is a social entrepreneur, futurist, and chef who believes in feeding people sustainably. His mission began after falling ill with food poisoning during his freshman year of college from fast food, which led him to discover the slow food movement. Since then, he has become a leading figure in the food industry, earning recognition from Zagat and TEDx, among others. Tim's career as a chef began after studying at the Culinary Institute of America and working as a banquet tournant at the St. Regis Hotel in New York. He co-led The Edible Education Project, teaching cooking and farming classes to children and senior citizens with dementia before being appointed a U.S. Delegate to Slow Food's Terra Madre in 2008. Subsequently, he led the development of the Environmental Performance Advisory Subcommittee on Food at the University of Massachusetts to reduce carbon emissions.

Tim's interests range from plant-based foods, personalized nutrition, gut health, micro-biome, AI, plastics, packaging innovation, and permaculture. True West Ventures, his consultancy and educational events firm, has worked with some of the world's largest corporations, including Verizon Media, Nestle, and General Mills, advising startups and placing executives, among other things. He co-created food hackathons to build out the global food entrepreneurial ecosystem and served as Culinary Engineer at flagships @ Facebook, bettering the workplace food experience. Tim serves as Global Ambassador of the Future Food Institute, overseeing corporate innovation strategies and supporting community events worldwide.