Education, Facilitation, & Public Speaking

I educate at the intersection of three spheres: Food & Cooking, Environmental Sustainability, and Human and Community Health.


Jenny Breen wearing a headset and speaking at an event about cooking with a cutting board of chopped vegetables on a table

Chef Jenny Breen speaks about food and food systems at the Food Ag Ideas week annual event hosted by Naturally MN.

I have over 25 years in the food industry and in community activism, and Master’s degrees in Education, and Public Health Nutrition; health and nutrition are integrated and threaded throughout all the content that Transforming the Table offers. 

I have over 20 years of experience presenting to a broad array of audiences including food and agriculture professionals and activists, educators, chefs and restaurateurs, healthcare and public health practitioners, school food service teams, and academics and their students.

I am a knowledgeable and engaging writer and speaker on several topics. I present informative talks that feel more like a conversation. I give people the tools and information to make choices that inspire and support a call to action – to improve our food system, our communities, our health, and the health of the planet.

As a fellow food educator, Jenny has been an important mentor to me. I’ve seen first-hand the way Jenny’s expertise as a chef and knowledge of healthy food translates into meaningful learning for students and educators alike!
— Ben Rengsdorf, ELL and Culinary Instructor, Roosevelt High School, Mpls

Pricing

Talks & Presentations

$400-$500
35-50 minutes

For small groups

Talks include a resource list, and discount code for a cooking for wellbeing class/workshop.

Workshops & Conferences

$1000
1.5 hours

For large audiences

Workshop/conference style with a cooking demo.

Facilitation & Systems Training

$50-$250/hour
(Sliding scale)

For organizations

General facilitation/systems training and technical assistance, including grant writing and planning.

Sessions & Topics

Presentations are a collaborative process and often involve cooking. The following are examples of topics that may be explored in presentations or workshops. There is overlap in the content for each topic.

Food & Community Health

  • The role of food and cooking in broader public health and social justice issues

  • The state of our food system, and what we can do about it

  • How to engage young people in food, cooking, and nutrition

  • Making changes in the organizational culture around food systems and nutrition

Culinary Nutrition

  • Mindfulness-the incredible power of our nervous system, breath, and attention to affect digestion, nutrient absorption, and stress

  • Macronutrients-the basic building blocks of our health, quality over quantity, and the relationship between nutritional and culinary function

  • Microbiome-role of gut health in brain/mind, skin, hair, body health

  • Regenerative Cooking for Human and Planetary Health

  • The critical role of cooking and food choice in overall health/wellbeing          

Food Systems & Food Justice

  • The relationship between food, human and environmental health

  • Food systems-how social determinants of health and industrial food production and consumption impact people and communities 

  • Food justice-why equity in our health and food systems is fundamental to healthier communities and better health outcomes

Grant-Funded Projects

A selection of grant-funded projects I have developed and/or worked on.

  • Harvest of the Month with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Minnesota Department of Education, University of Minnesota Extension

  • Farm to School projects with Minneapolis, St Paul, Robbinsdale, and statewide Public Schools

  • Food Justice projects and events with the Metro Food Justice Network and partner organizations

  • FCS (Family and Consumer Sciences) content creation, teacher training throughout Minnesota

Presentations & Speaking Engagements

A selection of presentations, speaking engagements, and events I have developed and/or worked on.

*National Collaborations

  • Minnesota Cares Statewide Wellbeing Conference 

  • Teaching Kitchen Collaborative Culinary, Best Practices, and Environment committees*

  • MOLN (Minnesota Organization for Leadership in Nursing) Statewide Conference