Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 461
Helping Bring Healthy Foods to Underserved Communities
T
he drive for Michel Nischan's tireless championing of a more sustainable food system
was a simple one: "I got it from my mom," he says. "She said, 'If you don't like how
something is, do something about. Change it.'"
The 2015 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year clearly took that to
heart. In his more than 30-year career as a chef, the Bridgeport, Connecticut-based Nischan
has accomplished quite a bit. He helped create the James Beard Foundation's Chefs Boot
Camp for Policy and Change, part of the nonprofit Chef Action Network, which can count
approximately 600 chefs as members.
In 2007, he co-founded Wholesome Wave, an organization that helps to provide farm-
fresh produce for low-income communities. The organization piloted the Double Value
Coupon Program at 12 markets in three states (California, Massachusetts, and New York)
and today, it has evolved into the National
Nutrition Incentive Network. Wholesome
Wave also launched the Fruit and Vegetable
Prescription Program and Healthy Food
Commerce Initiative, and was highly inf lu-
ential in the passing of the Federal Farm Bill.
H MANI ARIAN
MICH L
NISCHAN
PHOTO:
TOM
HOPKINS
22 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com
