The Food and Society Initiative is directed by Dr. Suzannah Gerber, Faculty Fellow at the Auster Center and a leading innovator at the intersection of food science, nutrition research, and real-world commercialization.

The initiative focuses on translating emerging food technologies—including cellular agriculture, alternative proteins, and novel food systems—into products and practices that are scientifically rigorous, culinarily compelling, and culturally accepted. It integrates culinary development, sensory evaluation, consumer behavior research, and clinical nutrition trials to move discoveries from the laboratory to the marketplace and the policy table.

The global food system is undergoing a fundamental shift. Cellular agriculture, plant-based proteins, and novel protein sources represent some of the most significant—and contested—developments in food science today. Getting them right requires more than good science. It requires understanding how consumers decide what to eat, how products earn culinary credibility, and how policy and communication shape what ends up on shelves and dinner tables.

The Food and Society Initiative is tackling all of these dimensions—combining product development and sensory testing with consumer research and market analysis to help translate promising food technologies into solutions people will actually choose.