Food Is HealthIn partnership with
Bristol Myers Squibb
Bristol Myers SquibbFood Is HealthBristol Myers SquibbSeeding Change · A Life Science Cares convening
November 10, 2026Bristol Myers Squibb
What if food is where we begin to change everything?
Bristol Myers Squibb
3401 Princeton Pike, Lawrence Township, NJ 08648
Life Science Cares
In partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb
San Diego
Every decision about food is also a decision about health, the economy and the environment. Yet the institutions that make those decisions mostly work apart.
Not another conversation about what needs to change. A day dedicated to what we can change together.
Thank you to everyone who joined us in Lawrence Township on November 10. Here is some of what we heard from the stage.
About 47 million people in the U.S. live in food-insecure households. Counting its health and environmental costs, the true cost of the food system is an estimated $3.2 trillion a year. Sean set out five principles for acting on it: set the level of ambition high, keep it simple from the household's point of view, cooperate like never before, join up the funding, and pair systems thinking with action in 90-day increments.
These are the three drivers of food insecurity. The answer is a portfolio of evidence-based interventions, shaped by each community and measured in rapid cycles. And it is built on trust, because innovation moves at the speed of trust.
Green Bronx Machine has reached more than 429,000 students with indoor growing and hands-on learning. Montco Anti-Hunger Network's 75 providers have grown food distribution by 140% since the end of 2022. Benny's Food Pantry at City College grew into a five-site network whose campus gardens have passed 1,000 pounds of produce.
SNAP provides about nine meals for every meal from emergency food. Support for healthy school meals for all has risen to 79% of voters and 92% of parents.
The panel called for fewer, longer partnerships, measured by outcomes, not reach. New Jersey asked philanthropy to match a $1 million state commitment, and it did. The state's Office of the Food Security Advocate has grown its funding from $1 million to $9 million.
The convening was the start, not the finish. The work now runs through three check-ins, one after another: about 300 days from the room to results.
Participants take their commitments back to their organizations, confirm owners and scope, and secure the support to move forward. Then everyone reconnects online.
Test, remove barriers and show a first proof: a visible result, with the data behind it.
Show progress toward scale and build a roadmap for action, ready to bring to senior leaders across the partners.
Keynote speaker
“The way we design food systems of today will shape the future we inherit.”
An internationally recognized systems leader known for brokering partnerships that turn fragmented efforts into working coalitions across government, business and community. The UN Deputy Secretary-General asked him to chair the Innovation Lever of Change for the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.
On the day, Sean was on stage, hosting and keeping everything moving. His Echo still has time for your questions: his thinking on food systems, and what we heard on November 10, in his own words.
Pick a question to start, or ask your own. Sean's Echo is an AI built from Sean's own words, and he approves the answers it gives in his name. It shares his perspective on food systems and does not give medical or nutrition advice.
The question for the day
What can we do together that none of us can do alone?
It opened the keynote and ran through all six breakout rooms. Each room left with a commitment and a first proof it can show within 90 days, from the school lunch tray to good food that would otherwise go to waste. We have some exciting outcomes to share in the coming weeks.
Our sponsors
Seeding Change was made possible by the generous support of our sponsors.
