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John Turenne
President & Founder
Sustainable Food Systems, LLC
December 30, 2014

John is both professional and remarkably humble. He worked for a large food service company for decades, working his way up through both the kitchen and the office until he became the Executive Chef at Yale University. Not long after he started at Yale, he got a call from the President's office requesting that he meet with a parent who was concerned about the dining options. That parent was Alice Waters.

After their meeting, John completely embraced his new education in sustainable food. He experienced many challenges in the process of converting one of the dining halls over to more sustainable practices, the largest of which is being required to meet the bottom line, which results in limiting the amount of choice offered. But his greatest triumph was when he got a call from the dining hall alerting him that 'we have a problem'. It turned out that students were making fake IDs to allow them access to eat at that dining hall (it was open only to students who lived in that college building). That's when he knew they had created something worthwhile - and that he had a calling to change the way we provide institutional food service in this country.

Since John has started his own company, he's helped several large clients transform their food service. Most notably, he and his team did the behind-the-scenes implementation for the Huntington, West Virginia school that was featured on Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, and worked with the Obama Administration to develop the USDA's Chefs Move to Schools Initiative.

When did you know that you wanted to work in food?

When I was a kid, my father was concerned that his son wanted to watch Julia Child - The French Chef on television instead of Batman. When it was time to begin thinking of colleges, I visited Johnson & Wales University School of Culinary Arts. I had been cooking in restaurants while in high school, so I had a respect for the industry, but I guess seeing the chefs in their whites and tall hats, and their passion for preparing good food convinced me this was the field for me.

How did you get your current good food job?

After spending 25 years working for big food and focusing my skills on bottom line - financial profit and loss - I experienced a food epiphany that completely changed my perspective. Having been asked to change the food service program at Yale University into a more sustainable food focus,  I came to realize food shouldn't be about 'dollars and cents', it truly should be about 'common sense'.  So I left the corporate food service world and founded a food service consultant company that addresses Good Food.

How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?

Managing conventional food service operations taught me the business basics such as human resources, financial performance monitoring, and systems thinking. No matter the type of food service program, these basic business principles are still the foundation for an effective and efficient program.

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?

I'd say the biggest obstacle was getting over the fear of cutting the cord with a company I had worked with for 25 years and go out on my own. End result?  I've never had a more rewarding job.  No, it's not making me financially rich, but knowing I'm making the world a better place through better food is priceless.

What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?

Well, this may be a bit self-serving, but I feel the institutional food service industry (schools, hospitals, colleges) are in dire need of food service professionals who understand the importance of good food and are willing to go to any length to change the system.

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

The knowledge that my efforts have converted someone's view on food.  Knowing that someone else has really 'gotten it'.  That they truly understand the impact food has on so much and so many and they themselves become a disciple for change.

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