Sam Kass

“The Last Supper” is a dinner concept showcasing ingredients that experts predict will not be widely available for our children and grandchildren (and potentially some in our lifetime). These ingredients include coffee, wine, chocolate, clams, oysters, mussels, scallops, crab, shrimp, lobster, many nuts etc.

Working with a local chef or catering company, Sam Kass will design a menu with these ingredients to make the menu your own and relevant to the local place. He also highlights dramatic regional disruptions that are coming to areas that have produced a certain crop for generations where they will no longer be able to support that crop. (Georgia peaches for example)

Sam will speak at the opening of the dinner, explaining what is happening in the intersection of food/ag/climate and highlighting what’s at stake. He will also talk about the solutions that are emerging which he firmly believes are absolutely critical and maybe our best hope of staving off the worst impacts of climate. He will end on a hopeful note, helping to bring an emotional connection to these issues which has been lacking.

Making healthy choices is far easier said than done. As the director of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign, Sam Kass garnered acclaim for his leadership at the forefront of the First Lady’s national, multifaceted initiative to encourage healthy eating and exercise for all Americans—and people are listening.

An innovative take on the modern “keynote”, Kass delights and informs audiences, taking them behind the scenes of what it was like to serve as a public face for “Let’s Move!”, and more. From replacing the “food pyramid” to reshaping food labels, Kass is able to address the significance of specific policies he not only helped to shape, but acted persistently on to enact. He is credited for advancing policies through Congress at unprecedented speed. Audiences are captivated by his candor, entertaining narratives, and unique analysis of today’s health climate and food systems. Additionally, Kass can explore the impact that sustainability, wellness and health care policies have in workplace environments; tips and tricks to setting up both home and work environments for success in endeavors towards healthy living; and incentives that organizations can establish for their employees.

Sam Kass understands that health care remains one of the leading costs corporations face today. Infusing wit and candor to captivate audiences with personal stories from inside the White House, Kass offers unique and informative perspectives on the tools and initiatives organizations can implement today to combat these losses. As the former executive director of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign and former senior White House policy advisor for nutrition policy, Kass worked with both Congress and the private sector to shape strategic national policies and launch a global discussion. He firmly believes for corporations to successfully address the related costs of health care, executives must first instill a higher value on both employee and customer health. He addresses wellness issues that directly impact your bottom line and explores opportunities that exist for your organization by way of the latest up-and-coming health care developments. Having been a driving force at the forefront of health policy in the United States and an enduring catalyst for global change, Kass earnestly speaks to the issues that bear most on your audience in this thought-provoking and informative presentation.

People strive to eat well and be environmentally conscious, but many of us wonder how one family can actually make a difference. In this keynote, Sam Kass breaks down the impact you can have by choosing the right foods for your health and for the environment. He shares the philosophy and stories of helping the Obamas create the right habits in their home (in Chicago and the big white one), with tips for shopping and setting up your kitchen to support healthy, environmentally friendly eating. Sometimes going organic, local, and so forth is not realistic, and that’s OK – it’s all about choosing and doing a little better, and how those choices add up to big change.