Our Vision
Our mission is to promote mutual understanding among people of different cultures through the power of global culinary exchange.
The Culinary Diplomacy Project is a chef-driven nonprofit organization that sends prominent chefs to destinations around the world as representatives of American culture and cuisine. We use food, the great common denominator, to connect and learn about the people we are visiting, while also sharing our own culture. Following each international trip, the chefs engage with American audiences by participating in events around the country designed to share their experiences.
Through these activities we act as a resource, build networks, and bring communities together in an effort to bridge the cultural divide one bite at a time.
What is Culinary Diplomacy?
Culinary Diplomacy has been defined by scholar Sam Chapple Sokol as, “the use of food and cuisine as instruments to create cross-cultural understanding in the hopes of improving interactions and cooperation.” Simply put, it’s the idea that food helps us to understand each other better and allows us to form bonds and break down barriers.
There are three different ways to engage in culinary diplomacy:
Government to Government
When governments use cuisine for diplomatic reasons such as state dinners or to soften negotiations over a more intimate shared meal.
Government to Foreign Public Engagement
When a government uses food as soft power diplomacy to encourage cultural exchange with citizens of another country.
Citizen to Citizen
When non-state actors engage in cultural exchange intended to improve cross-cultural relations.
