Future Fork with Paul Newnham

In today's episode, I’m joined by Jozef Youssef, multi-sensory chef and founder of Kitchen Theory. Jozef has spent over a decade designing immersive dining experiences guided by the science of how humans perceive flavour. Working alongside Professor Charles Spence, head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University, Jozef has also published more than 35 academic papers.

You'll hear why up to 90% of what we experience as flavour actually comes from smell rather than taste, the science behind why heavier cutlery makes a meal taste better and why people will pay more for it, and how a 40-minute sensory play session got a primary school boy with severe food anxiety to try spinach, asparagus, and beetroot for the very first time.

Resources and links:

• Kitchen Theory 

• Jozef Youssef on Instagram

• Kitchen Theory on Instagram

• Jozef Youssef on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn

In today's episode, I’m joined by Dr. Kemel Ghotme, a Colombian paediatric neurosurgeon who led the first neurosurgery-led resolution in the history of the World Health Organisation, a global mandate to fortify staple foods with micronutrients to prevent neural tube defects and other birth conditions. 

I spoke with Kemel in Geneva, where we were attending the third World Health Assembly since the resolution was unanimously adopted in May 2023.

You'll hear why patients living with spina bifida chose to advocate for prevention over treatment, how Colombia convinced 35 countries to unanimously adopt a global health resolution in record time, and why a six-dollar intervention is projected to prevent 200,000 birth defects a year.

Resources and links:

• Dr. Kemel Ghotme on Instagram 

• Dr. Kemel Ghotme on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn
  

In today's episode, Paul speaks with Priya Prakash, founder of HealthSetGo, a school health programme working across India to bring preventive healthcare, nutrition education, and basic health infrastructure to children who've never had access to it. 

You'll hear why the Indian cultural definition of "healthy" for children is a misnomer, Priya shares a personal story of bullying and self-discovery that led her to build HealthSetGo from scratch and how HealthSetGo’s new initiative  Gummies for Good is trying to end Hidden Hunger in India.

Resources and links:

• HealthSetGo website

• Priya Prakash on LinkedIn

• Priya Prakash on Instagram

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn
  

Dr Lawrence Haddad is the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), an international organisation working across more than a dozen countries to make nutritious food more available, affordable and desirable. 

In today’s episode, we explore the state of global nutrition in 2026.

You'll hear Lawrence's reflections on what David Nabarro would be telling the nutrition community right now, the surprising fact that five or six of the top ten risk factors for disease in most countries come down to what we eat and why GAIN is increasingly focused on small and medium businesses as the real engine of local food systems.

Resources and links:

• GAIN website

• Dr Lawrence Haddad on LinkedIn

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn

In today's episode, we're talking to Alesha Miller, Chief Strategy Officer at Digital Green — a tech nonprofit putting AI tools directly into the hands of smallholder farmers around the world. We explore how digital technology is reshaping agriculture from the ground up and why the world's 500 million smallholder farmers have been chronically under-served.

You'll hear how Digital Green's Farmer Chat app has already answered more than 10 million questions in farmers' own languages, why Alesha believes farmers will end up teaching AI more than AI teaches them, and the reason farmer protests are erupting in countries where data centres are now competing with farms for the same water.

Resources and links:

• Digital Green website

• Alesha Miller on LinkedIn

• Farmer Chat on Google Play

  
  

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn
  

Samir Wanmali is the WFP Regional Director for Asia-Pacific. With over 20 years of experience across food security, emergency operations and programme design, he has led responses in some of the world's most challenging contexts. Since November 2024, he has turned his attention to a region that feeds much of the world, yet where hunger and malnutrition persist in ways that are often overlooked.

In this conversation, we explore the contradictions at the heart of the Asia-Pacific food story, a region of extraordinary abundance and economic growth where 69 million people still can't find their next meal, and 1.7 billion can't afford a healthy diet.

You'll hear why climate shocks that were once considered once-in-a-century events are now happening every three years, how WFP is shifting from response to anticipatory action and the experience working with displaced communities in South Darfur that taught Samir the difference between giving people food and building something with them.

Resources and links:

• WFP website

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn
  

Jamie Drummond is the co-founder of ONE.org and the founder of Sharing Strategies — an organisation that brings together philanthropies, think tanks, campaign groups and international organisations to share collective intelligence on climate and development.

In this conversation, we explore why the money needed to solve the world's biggest problems already exists, and why it isn't getting to the right places.

You'll hear the story of how a documentary in northern Ethiopia sparked the Drop the Debt campaign, Jamie's case for why credit rating agencies are one of the most important and overlooked levers in global development finance, and the mountain of buttered potatoes on an Irish farm table that is his most enduring food memory.

Resources and links:

• Jamie Drummond on LinkedIn

• Sharing Strategies website

• ONE.org website

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn
  

Sophie Healy-Thow is an Irish food systems and nutrition advocate. She is the founder of Act4Food Act4Change, a global youth-led campaign. And currently serves as Food Systems Coordinator for Belfast City Council. She also sits on the Advisory Board of EAT and is a Lead Group Member of the UN's Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement.

We explore what meaningful youth engagement in food systems actually looks like, and why it so often falls short. 

You'll hear about the school science project that first launched her into food systems advocacy, why she believes cities are the next frontier of food systems transformation, and Sophie shares her candid thoughts on whether the UN is still relevant in the current global climate.

Resources and links:

• Sophie Healy-Thow on Instagram

• Sophie Healy-Thow on LinkedIn

• Act4Food Act4Change website

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn
  

In today's episode, we're talking to Sahar Parham Al Awadhi, an Emirati chef whose work is reshaping how Emirati cuisine is understood and experienced. 

We explore how culture, sustainability, and responsibility intersect in her work, and why she sees chefs not just as creatives, but as custodians of resilient food systems.

You'll hear about her commitment to elevating local ingredients and preserving food heritage, her upcoming restaurant that will bridge old and new Emirati cuisine, her refusal to do fusion because it compromises cultural integrity, and the Eid morning breakfast memory—sweet vermicelli noodles with saffron and cardamom—that connects her entire family after a month of fasting.

Resources and links:

• Sahar on Instagram

• Sahar on Linkedin

• Abra on Instagram

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn
  

Rasmus Munk is the chef and co-owner of Alchemist in Copenhagen, Denmark — a restaurant that has redefined what a dining experience can be. Ranked among the world's best restaurants, Alchemist serves a 50-course "holistic dining" experience across five hours, where every dish is designed to provoke thought, spark conversation, and challenge the boundaries between food, art, and social commentary.

You'll hear about his philosophy of leading with concept over ingredient and why that sets Alchemist apart from every other restaurant in the world, his work beyond the kitchen, and the simple childhood memory of picking strawberries with his grandmother that quietly shaped one of the most complex culinary minds on the planet.

Resources and links:

• Rasmus on Instagram

• Alchemist on Instagram

• Alchemist website

Connect:

• Future Fork podcast website

• Paul Newnham on Instagram

• Paul Newnham on X

• Paul Newnham on LinkedIn

• Disruptive Consulting Solutions website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub website

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on X

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on Facebook

• SDG2 Advocacy Hub on LinkedIn