The inaugural Princeton Food Systems Lab will take place on Friday, September 18, 2026, at Princeton University. Scheduled just ahead of Climate Week NYC, the founding workshop will serve as a timely Princeton-based conversation on one of the climate agenda’s most practical and underexplored levers: the food decisions made every day by institutions.
This invitation-only workshop will bring together a small group of food systems leaders, practitioners, researchers, operators, entrepreneurs, and policy thinkers for a focused, systems-level exploration of how institutional and commercial food decisions can better serve people, communities, and the planet.
We are living through a period of major food-system change. Artificial intelligence, GLP-1 drugs, climate pressure, supply-chain disruptions, tariffs, changing consumer behavior, public health concerns, and growing awareness of food waste are reshaping the way institutions think about food. Yet many organizations still struggle to make food decisions that are better for health, climate, operations, culture, and long-term resilience.
The first Princeton Food Systems Lab will examine elements of systems behind institutional food: procurement, menus, catering, food waste, contracts, incentives, behavior change, operations, policy, and organizational decision-making. While food systems are often discussed broadly, this workshop will focus on the high-leverage decisions made by institutions—universities, companies, healthcare systems, restaurants, caterers, public agencies, and other large-scale food environments—that shape what food is purchased, served, consumed, wasted, recovered, and valued.
The goal of the Princeton Food Systems Lab is to identify the highest-leverage opportunities to redesign institutional food systems so that better decisions become easier, more attractive, and more scalable. Participants will work together to map key blockers, incentives, and decision points; surface promising solutions; and help shape a concise set of findings that can inform institutional strategy, public policy, climate action, and the broader national food systems conversation.
Please direct all questions to conference organizers at maen@princeton.edu.
This event is not open to the public.
Sponsorship of an event does not constitute institutional endorsement of external speakers or views presented.
Agenda
Friday, September 18, 2026
Pre-Event Conversation: Princeton Community Session
The Future of Food Systems
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
A Princeton community conversation for students, faculty, and campus partners featuring a food systems leader and Princeton alumna, Ida Posner. This session will explore why food systems leadership matters now and how students, institutions, and practitioners can help shape the future of food, climate, and public impact.
Friday, September 18, 2026
Welcome Lunch
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Participants gather for lunch and introductions. Each participant will be invited to share their work, what brings them to food systems change, and where they believe they are making a meaningful contribution.
Opening Framing: Why Institutional Food, Why Now
1:00 PM – 1:30 PM
The session will frame the purpose of the Princeton Food Systems Lab, define the focus of the first workshop, and establish the group as a founding working circle. The opening discussion will center on a core question: what would it take to make better institutional food decisions easier, more attractive, and more scalable?
Discussion I: Blockers and Incentives
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Participants will identify the most important barriers and incentives shaping food decisions across institutions, including procurement, menus, contracts, portioning, donations, disposal, kitchen operations, cultural norms, policy, and financial models. The goal of this session is to develop a shared map of the key blockers and incentives, then prioritize one or two problems with the greatest potential for systems-level change.
Discussion II: Opportunities and Solutions
2:30 PM – 3:30 PM
Building from the first discussion, participants will explore solutions with the highest potential return across climate, health, cost, operations, culture, and institutional adoption. The session will focus on both practical near-term opportunities and larger redesign ideas worth developing further.
Synthesis: Emerging Findings and Levers for Change
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM
Participants will summarize key insights, identify emerging themes, and discuss what could become publishable or useful to the broader food systems field.
Blue-Sky Session: Redesigning the Food System
4:00 PM – 4:30 PM
The workshop will close with a forward-looking discussion: if one major constraint could be removed, what would participants redesign first? This session is intended to end the day with imagination, clarity, and shared momentum.
Closing Reception and Bites
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
An informal closing reception for continued conversation, connection, and celebration of the founding Princeton Food Systems Lab.
Logistics
The workshop is scheduled just ahead of Climate Week NYC, allowing participants who may also be traveling to New York to begin the week with a focused Princeton-based conversation on food systems, climate, and institutional change.
Organizers of this event have timed sessions to allow participants to choose to overnight in either vibrant New York or bucolic Princeton.
Princeton University provides a wide range of planning suggestions on its website. We have highlighted the most useful information here. Specific details about session locations and the like will be provided to confirmed participants prior to the event.
Transportation to Princeton University
Princeton is accessible by four international airports; Newark and Philadelphia are the nearest. Please note that Princeton University is located approximately 1-hour away from Newark or Philadelphia by car, contingent on traffic.
New Jersey Transit operates local train routes in the area.
Princeton University is easily accessible from the New York metropolitan area via NJ TRANSIT's Northeast Corridor line. NJ TRANSIT trains passing through Princeton Junction provide direct service to New York City and Newark Liberty International Airport.
Amtrak trains connect Princeton Junction to NYC, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston and the broader region. Amtrak also has frequent service to Trenton (Trenton Transit Center) located 10 miles from campus, where you can get a taxi to campus.
A train known locally as “The Dinky” connects campus (Princeton Station at Alexander Street) to the Princeton Junction station. A southbound transfer to the SEPTA regional rail Trenton Line train at Trenton provides service to Philadelphia.
After taking the train to the Princeton Junction stop, take the Princeton Shuttle (the "Dinky") train for a five-minute ride to Princeton Station, located on the university campus.
Campus is located in Princeton, N.J., approximately one mile west of U.S. Route 1.
In addition to Uber/Lyft, traditional car service is available in the area through A-1 Limousine or Gem Ground Transportation.
A visitor parking permit is available for free for use in the Stadium Drive Garage. Follow the link, select the first date you will be on campus and enter your email address and the details of your vehicle and license plate. Two shuttle routes serve the Stadium Drive Garage during the day.
Time table for garage to McCosh/Robertson: Route #1 and Route #4
Time table for McCosh/Robertson to garage: Route #1 and Route #4
Between 7pm and midnight, you should board the Route #5 - Evening circulator and ask the driver to stop at the Stadium Drive garage.
For more information, including a full shuttle map and schedule, please see the Princeton University Transportation & Parking website.
Accommodations
In addition to the Nassau Inn, Peacock Inn, and the Graduate Hotel in the heart of downtown Princeton, we suggest attendees book their accommodations at the Hyatt Regency Princeton, a short complimentary shuttle away from the System Summit events.