5 Things We Learned from the 2025 Chef Action Summit

On April 6, 2025, 308 attendees and speakers gathered in Asheville, North Carolina for the James Beard Foundation’s third Chef Action Summit (CAS). Held every other year, CAS features experts across the culinary, policy, and advocacy sectors in a series of keynotes, panels, and workshops designed to equip attendees with the knowledge and tools to navigate the shifting political and economic landscape. This year, programming focused on critical industry topics including tariffs, climate change, sustainability, resiliency, immigration, and hunger and nutrition policy. Here are five key takeaways from the 2025 Chef Action Summit.

1. Communication is Key for Anticipating Challenges

Chefs are in constant dialogue with farmers, co-ops, and purveyors, but now is the time to deepen those exchanges, said Adrian Lipscombe, chef-owner of 40 Acres Project, JBF Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership alum, and JBF Chef Bootcamp alum. About mitigating the impacts of tariffs, Lipscombe said, “Stay connected with your suppliers to anticipate price changes and shortage[s]. We worry about what’s happening right now, but we have to start looking into the future. We have to be advocates again. We’re more than just chefs for people, too, and this is affecting everyone.” Furthermore, conversation among industry peers can become a catalyst for change—Lipscombe spoke about the power of building a chef alliance or consortium to help negotiate better pricing as a group.

Liaising with staff is also paramount to creating a positive workplace culture as well as foreseeing employee needs. David Viana, executive chef and owner of Back & Forth Hospitality and JBF Chef Bootcamp alum, spoke about the imperative for consistent communication to help staff stay motivated and prevent boredom, which he said is toxic for a business. “We do monthly check ins. Like ‘What skill set do you want to learn? What are you working towards? What is your goal?’” he said. “When we know your goals, we can manage you personally and help you get to where you want to go, help you learn the skill set you want to learn.” 

2. Relationship Building Is Chefs’ Secret Sauce

From the kitchen to Capitol Hill, chefs and restaurant owners can use their relationship-building skills to deepen connections that can foster future change. “We’re in the relationship business and that is our superpower,” said James Beard Award nominee® Cheetie Kumar, chef-owner of Ajja, JBF Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership alum, JBF Chef Bootcamp alum, and vice president and board member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition. During a panel on navigating the current political climate, Kumar encouraged attendees to build relationships with any politicians willing to work with them. Even if that representative isn’t currently in the majority or elected, she pointed out, one never knows when they might be in office or in a position to help further your agenda.

3. Care Is a Primary Organizing Principle

“We are not a food business that happens to employ people. We are a people business that happens to serve awesome food,” said Molly Irani, co-owner and chief hospitality officer of Chai Pani Restaurant Group, and the James Beard Award–winning restaurant Chai Pani. This organizational principle is the lens through which she and co-owner Meherwan Irani, James Beard Award semifinalist® executive chef and JBF Chef Bootcamp alum, filter all business decisions. During the panel Hospitality and Care: Building New Models for Industry Resilience, the notion of care became especially apparent as Molly discussed the hours, days, and weeks in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated Asheville and other parts of Western North Carolina last September. Molly shared that when employees work in an environment in which they feel cared for, it helps the team stay resilient and show up for work.“We should all be pushing to pay as much as we can. But [a dollar an hour more] will not prevent the overwhelm when that natural disaster hits,” she said. “What prevents it is feeling cared for. And love is contagious.” 

4. Lean into Local and National Chef Networks

Building and leveraging one’s chef and hospitality network is key to putting advocacy work into action. James Beard Award winner® Mary Sue Milliken, chef-owner of Mundo Management Group, JBF Chef Bootcamp alum, and JBF Trustee, underscored the importance of relying on national networks. “Sometimes, what I ask a politician is ‘What do you need to get this across the finish line?’” she said. “Is there a chef that I could call in Colorado or in Maine, or somewhere that [I] could find a partner for you on this bill that could then get you where you need to go to get something done and move forward on this issue?”

Local networks are equally important. Molly Nicholie, executive director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project (ASAP), talked about embracing place-based strategies and networks to build sustainable, local food systems. “Who are your people out there that are part of the food system that you may bring a complementary perspective to lend to that conversation?” she said. “Those other folks that you can work collaboratively with across different pieces of the food system to really make some incremental change right there in your community.” Nicholie encouraged attendees to think about how leaning into your values and goals can not only help chef-owners develop these reciprocal relationships but also reevaluate what success looks like.

On the final day of CAS, attendees were grouped into regional breakout sessions to develop advocacy campaigns where they could rally around collectively and in their own work following the Summit. Together, they discussed the issues that are most pressing in their communities; developed mini campaigns with key messages, strategies to reach stakeholders, and next steps; and presented them on the Summit main stage. Through this work, attendees had the opportunity to practice refining their policy priorities and translating the learnings gathered throughout the CAS panels into action.

5. Break Down Barriers to Build Bridges

James Beard Award nominee® Ashleigh Shanti, chef-owner of Good Hot Fish and JBF Chef Bootcamp alum, took a cue from fellow panelist David Viana's playbook at Back & Forth Hospitality, where there’s no delineation between front and back of house and employees benefit from a shared tip structure. “It was so important to me to create an environment where people were not able to say, ‘That's not my job’ or even have that thought,” she said, giving the example of a line cook taking time to feed a pastry chef’s sourdough culture. This exchange of practices demonstrates how transparency among peers can impact restaurant operations and workplace culture. It also emphasizes the importance of connection in the chef community, spurring chef-owners' ability to discover allies and resources.

Over the course of the Summit, the speakers, panelists, and attendees spoke repeatedly about building resilience, whether in the context of navigating daily restaurant operations or impacting policy changes to ensure equitable and sustainable food systems. These five takeaways from CAS can help chefs mobilize and run businesses that can weather any storm, be they literal or metaphorical.Programs like CAS are just one of the many ways that chefs, restaurant operators, and industry stakeholders can get involved with JBF and become effective changemakers to ensure a future culinary industry where all can thrive.