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The team at MAD are certainly on a roll. After announcing recently that the organisation, started by Rene Redzepi in Copenhagen, is going to get involved in the food curriculum of Denmark, they have just followed up with the news of a partnership with Yale University for something called the MAD Institute.
The unique collaboration will see Yale University and MAD create what they’re calling a leadership institute for chefs, a place to “help create and curate new discussions among leading chefs as their influence continues to develop past the walls of the restaurant.”
The goal is to help chefs take further action away from the kitchen and it makes perfect sense as more and more chefs step outside their restaurants to undertake social, cultural and educational initiatives.
“Partnering with Yale is an opportunity to realise the potential we believe the chefs have to influence how we eat now and in the future”, said Redzepi. “Combining this with the university’s fantastic legacy and educational resources we think can provide a new knowledge base, one that has often been overlooked, that will reinvent the leadership role of chefs in initiating new conversations on topics like kitchen culture, sustainability, inclusiveness, and respect.”
Speaking about the interesting project, Jonathan Holloway, dean of Yale College, said: “Participants will leave the program with a compassionate understanding of the socio-economic, environmental, and health challenges facing food systems around the world, and be inspired to bring lasting change. This is also a unique opportunity for Yale students, who will play a central role in conducting the institute and employ proven and personalised co-mentorship models to inform and inspire the chefs.”
The first program from the collaboration is expected to start in 2016 with a pilot group of six to eight ‘top chefs and food leaders’ that will hep to build a curriculum - after this test period - the program will be implemented in 2017, accepting just 15-18 participants every two years. What is already promising to be the most sought after food program in the world.
The MAD Institute at Yale will begin with a pilot program in 2016: a group of 6 to 8 top chefs and food leaders that will test and build the curriculum in an intensive weeklong summit. In 2017 the program will be extended to two weeks and expand to host 15 to 18 participants every two years chosen through an application process.
