About Robert T. Valgenti
Robert T. Valgenti is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Lebanon Valley College. He has studied at the College of the Holy Cross, Oxford University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, DePaul University, and Università di Torino as a Fulbright Scholar. His research interests cover contemporary Italian philosophy, hermeneutics, biopolitics and the philosophy of food, with recent publications on the work of Roberto Esposito, Gianni Vattimo, Nietzsche, and the philosophy of humor. He is the director and founder of E.A.T. (engage, analyze, transform), an undergraduate research group at Lebanon Valley College whose interventions aim to improve the ethical, environmental, cultural and nutritional profile of the college dining experience. He is a member of The Menus of Change University Research Collaborative and a desk editor for the journal Gastronomica.
The Menus of Change University Research Collaborative is a working group of leading scholars, sustainable food managers, foodservice business leaders, nutritionists and executive chefs from invited colleges and universities who are working together to move college diners toward healthier, more sustainable, plant-forward diets. MCURC’s vision is to collaborate on research and education so that young diners can be empowered to make healthy and sustainable choices that support their own lives and the life of the planet. This is a big ask; but, the potential for transformation and innovation on a planetary scale is modeled every day through the collaborations we encourage and support across various sectors on university campuses. The fulcrum for these collaborations is the idea of the college dining hall as a living laboratory—one that leverages the insights of top researchers, the experience and expertise of culinary professionals, the opportunity within scalable economies, and the potential of college students whose choices will shape the foodscapes of the future. More than merely prepare students for the challenges they will face in the coming decades, the MCURC aims to educate students who can and will transform the way we eat in the future.
Robert Valgenti would like for us to change the way we eat “for the environment, for the betterment of the planet, for the betterment of each other, one delicious bite at a time.” Human eaters share a common experience of taste, where the taste of food drives our ability to make our food choices. However, Valgenti also recognizes humans have the ability to choose foods that are better for our health and environment because of our ability to be susceptible to foods with excessive fat, sugar, and salt. He believes change is likely possible if we could use the positive power of food and culture to encourage our best scientific practices and eating behaviors for our health and for our shared future on this planet.
At the Menus of Change University of Research Collaborative (MCURC), the members are finding a correction, instead of an alternative, for eaters of today and potential eaters of tomorrow. MCURC was begun by the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Nutrition. Their goal is to advance better food and menu development at the intersection of health, sustainability, culinary insight, and next-generation business strategy. To be able to feed a prospective 9-10 billion people in 2050, MCURC’s vision includes collaborating with research, education in support of culinary-centric, evidence-based food systems innovation within and beyond universities. By bringing together Senior University Administrators, Dining Directors, Nutrition and Sustainability Managers, Chefs, and Academics to collaborate across fifty-seven campuses, the MCURC is searching to succeed with a cross-disciplinary approach to tackle the problem. Its model relies on scientific method and is data-driven, understands that knowledge and data are not enough because human eating is a cultural experience, therefore, they believe in leading with taste, which could be subjective and difficult, but something which is possible to overcome.
By aiming to challenge global eating behaviors at the local level, Valgenti believes in re-writing the menu through the focus of taste, Valgenti explains to achieve a unified goal we must appeal to the diversity of those experiences. He adds the taste differences are not the obstacle, but the accelerant for innovation for change and for hope. The approach includes achieving global goals through local points of contact, value the social and cultural context of research, leverage multiple of skills, the type of knowledge and points of intervention, and lead with taste and aim for transformation. The new theme of taste is where we all make the first contact with food. Leading with taste empowers the chefs, provides opportunities through administration and institutions that support us, leverages the research of academics and scholars and it connects with the students through future desires. Global change is made possible through the coordination of the differences, knowledge, and insight, that comprises the living expertise of those involved in the food systems through the local people.