Culinary Tastemakers Spotlight: Dana Cowin

In our latest Culinary Tastemakers Spotlight, we are thrilled to feature Dana Cowin, visionary founder of Progressive Hedonist. As the former Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine, Dana has been long been a leading voice in the world of travel, culture, and the culinary arts. Today, she’s continuing to drive change through Progressive Hedonist, a platform dedicated to sparking meaningful conversation and highlighting people, places, and ideas that promote sustainability, foster connection, and inspire action in the face of today’s climate challenges. 

Through her work with Progressive Hedonist, Dana explores how we can bring joy, optimism, and small changes to the table when tackling larger environmental challenges. She champions sustainable actions, shines a light on how optimism can fuel transformation, and explores how the power of food can fight climate change. Since SIMPLi’s inception, Dana has been a source of inspiration for our team, and we are thrilled to spotlight her work and share her mission of turning awareness into action! Read on for our full interview! 

From being Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine to starting a brand consultancy to launching Speaking Broadly and now Progressive Hedonist, you’ve had the opportunity to meet many individuals and have many experiences throughout the course of your career. How did those chapters and moments influence and lead to the founding of Progressive Hedonist?  

Progressive Hedonist is like a stew made up of all the juicy bits and pieces of my career and personal aspirations. PH prioritizes telling stories of places, products, individuals and ideas that nourish the planet and people, which is similar to the work I did at Food & Wine magazine. PH hosts gatherings with chefs around the country to galvanize the pre-existing local food community, which is similar to the events I held after the publication of my zine, Speaking Broadly. PH aims to uplift and connect people to combat the sense of isolation and despair that so many of us feel, which is rooted in the coaching work I did with women in hospitality. My hope is to empower and delight, which is a through line of all the chapters of my life.  

Can you share an impactful moment or experience that shaped your perspective on food or the culinary arts?  

One of the most impactful moments of my food career was eating at Rene Redzepi’s restaurant, Noma, in Copenhagen, soon after he opened. His cuisine was becoming known for its hyper local approach. I was excited to visit and also a bit trepidatious since it was December. With this philosophy, I imagined that the restaurant in winter would be a bit dour and earnest.  

Instead, it was serene, stylish and sophisticated, an ideal backdrop for food that was playful, interesting and thought-provoking. I didn’t love every dish, but I did appreciate every current of thought that flowed through the courses. In one meal, Rene forever changed what I had perceived as “edible.” He made me realize how random and limited our palate and ingredient pantry is, how much potential there is if we open our mind to all growing things around us.  

From your perspective, what role does the culinary industry play in addressing climate change and our food systems, and how can chefs and culinary tastemakers help lead the charge in sparking changes?  

The culinary industry can play an outside role in addressing climate change. As you probably know, the food sector is responsible for 30-34% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste in landfills accounts for 17% of U.S. methane emissions. Methane has eighty times the warming potential of CO2. By quickly reducing landfill methane, we can buy time to tackle other sources of greenhouse gas emissions. 

While this is daunting, it also means everyone who eats and/or cooks can play a role in mitigating climate change through their everyday choices. I find this truly exciting. Farmers, chefs, consumer packaged goods creators, and producers can lead the way by bringing ingredients to market that are nutrient-dense and nourishing the soil instead of degrading it. Chefs can bring their creativity to these extra nutritious dishes to make them more enticing. Together we can make a huge impact. 

Your work encourages learning new practices and ways of thinking to take action. What are some sustainable practices you incorporate in your own kitchen or home that others can adopt for themselves?  

I’m trying and learning new practices all the time that can positively affect our living environment. It’s a train journey, not a parachute landing! I started by tackling food waste because it is tangible and there are so many big and small benefits. Living in a NYC apartment, I was very late to composting. In my first attempt, I stored rotting food in my freezer, but after suffering some egregious tears in the compost bag and leaks, I set up what my daughter calls a “countertop rot pot” to hold compost until I can take it to the city compost bin.  

Second, I began to shop for my fridge and pantry instead of the grocery store aisles. As chef Blake Spalding of Hell’s Backbone Grill told me, “cook what you have, not what you want.” This changed everything. I used to open the fridge and groan, after seeing nothing I wanted to eat. And now I open the fridge and challenge myself to put together a delicious meal without buying anything new. The bonus, of course, is that I’m saving money and innovating. 

Leftovers from restaurants have become the most fun additions–sometimes if there’s sauce left over from a dish like Thai green curry, I’ll use it to revive and spice up limp vegetables for a stew.  

Once I got into the Progressive Hedonist mindset, I began to re-consider every part of my kitchen. I banned paper towels. I’m about to do a plastic cleanse. I am considering getting rid of my (beloved, old) gas stove. It’s endless & fun. 

In the face of climate doom, we often hear that people feel easily overwhelmed, unsure of what to do, and how they can have an impact. What would your advice be to those who may feel stuck and unsure of what action they can take, or how they can make a difference?   

I launched Progressive Hedonist precisely because I felt a sense of overwhelm and paralysis. I get it. So I applied the same approach to climate as I apply to other important parts of my life, like trying to figure out what to do with my career after I left Food & Wine magazine. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. So I just started doing something, something that felt good and right and true. And it’s the same with climate. We don’t have certainty about anything in the future, knowing that, where do you begin? I began with no waste, and also with buying ingredients that help sustain the local food web, nourish the soil and me and my family. It’s definitely better for the planet and supports people who are doing difficult, sometimes unrecognized, work for the greater good. 

I discovered that doing just one thing leads to another to another and then all of a sudden, you’re not stuck any more, but instead becoming a leader among friends in a new way to consume.