The MAD Symposium is an annual symposium held in Copenhagen, Denmark consisting of presentations from chefs, farmers, academics, thinkers, and artists. The event is hosted by MAD Food Organization, which was founded in 2011 by Danish chef René Redzepi, of the acclaimed Copenhagen restaurant Noma. The two-day symposium takes place inside a circus tent on the grounds of Refshaleøen, along the city's waterfront. The audience for MAD consists predominantly of chefs, aspiring cooks, farmers, journalists, and other foodservice professionals. The event has been described as "a mashup of TED, Burning Man, and SXSW" and "The Food World's G-20".
Contents
Philosophy
MAD's mission statement is "to expand knowledge of food to make every meal a better meal; not just at restaurants, but every meal cooked and served. Good cooking and a healthy environment can and should go hand-in-hand, and the quest for a better meal can leave the world a better place than we found it. MAD is committed to producing and sharing this knowledge and to taking promising ideas from theory to practice." In describing the reasons for MAD's existence, Redzepi has said, "The role of the chef is evolving and developing into a position of influence — one that impacts the manner in which people and food professionals consume and connect with food. Such responsibility requires education, an elevation of awareness, and social maturity. MAD recognizes that the modern chef is faced with challenges and responsibilities that go far beyond supplying simple sustenance for the duration of a single meal. Accordingly, the symposium aims to feature speeches from speakers of different disciplines in order to expose numerous perspectives on food and culture. MAD wants those who attend the symposium to return to their kitchens and communities and reflect on what they have seen and heard. There are new questions we now know to ask, so we can become more inquisitive, imaginative, and knowledgable." At the end of the MAD4 Symposium René Redzepi stated that MAD's new mission would be to take all the knowledge it had gained, and start to act. Since then it has begun work on several major projects including publishing, event hosting, and collaboration with major organizations like the World Bank.
Organization structure
MAD is a not-for-profit grassroots operation. Since starting out with a single employee using a borrowed desk in a tiny office on the fringes of Copenhagen, MAD has grown to comprise a small, full-time team — now with office space to call their own — and collaborators spread throughout Europe, Australia, and the United States. The team is made up of: Mark Emil Tholstrup Hermansen (head of development), Arielle Johnson (head of research), and Mikkel Westergaard (manager of the VILD MAD program), and Ben Mervis (creative development).
MAD4
The fourth MAD Symposium took place on 24 and 25 August 2014, and co-curated by D.O.M. chef and founder Alex Atala. This year's theme is "What is cooking?". The event was completely sold out, and speakers included:
MAD3
The third MAD took place on 25 and 26 August 2013, and was co-curated by Momofuku chef and founder David Chang and the editors of Lucky Peach magazine. The theme of the symposium was "guts." MAD3 Speakers:
MAD2
The second MAD took place on 1 and 2 July 2012. The theme of the symposium was "appetite." MAD2 Speakers:
MAD1
The inaugural MAD took place on 27 and 28 August 2011. The theme of the symposium was "vegetation." MAD1 Speakers:
MAD Mondays
In an effort to stir debate on a local level and include those outside of the restaurant trade in the MAD community, the organization stages MAD Mondays, a series of panel discussions on food culture. Held throughout the year, these are intimate, collaborative gatherings during which the panel and audience together engage a specific theme.
In March 2014, MAD hosted a New York City edition, its first outside of Copenhagen. The talk was titled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Being a Chef,” and took place at the Drawing Center, featuring Peter Meehan as moderator and Mario Batali, Gabrielle Hamilton, Bill Buford, Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr as panelists.
MAD Institute at Yale University
The MAD Institute at Yale University, will be a new educational institute for chefs. This program, to be held annually at Yale, will help create and curate new discussions within the chef trade as it continues to develop past the walls of the restaurant. The goal of the program is to equip chefs with the tools they need to take actions that can impact their communities, cities, countries and the rest of the world. The MAD Institute will lead conversations on topics like kitchen culture, sustainability, inclusiveness, and respect. The educational program will reflect the realities of a changing profession and a changing world, offering new ideas on how to overcome its obstacles as well as ways in which we can harness its potential. “Yale is excited to partner with MAD to inspire a new era of leadership in food,” says Jonathan Holloway, dean of Yale College. “Participants will leave the program armed with a compassionate understanding of the socio-economic, environmental, and health challenges facing food systems around the world, and inspired to bring lasting change.” The MAD Institute at Yale will begin with a pilot program in 2016: a group of six to eight top chefs and food leaders that will trial 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 chosen through an application process.
MADFeed
The MADFeed is a new online publication that extends the MAD conversation throughout the year. The platform hosts news and video from MAD events, original articles from the MAD team exploring the past, present, and future of food, and essays and columns from a wide range of voices, including chefs Dan Barber and Margot Henderson, musician James Murphy, and artist Olafur Eliasson.