Stop treating health as a trade-off

Bel Group CEO Cecile Beliot-Zind says the food industry wrongly opposes health and taste. The real challenge is combining them: making food nutritious, accessible, and desirable all at once.

“Healthy and delicious can coexist”

Babybel shows what balance looks like

Bel Group's small cheese snack combines convenience, protein, and joy. It proves that healthy food can be both nutritious and fun to eat, not a sacrifice.

“It's convenient, it's a great natural source of protein, because I play with the wax. It gives me joy”

The industry created desire for empty calories

Big food manufacturers scaled products full of fat and sugar at low cost, feeding the world unhealthy food. This approach hurts both the planet and people's health.

“We feed the world with fat and sugar at a low cost. It hurts the planet, and it hurts the health of the people”

Ethnic cuisines are healthier than people think

Chef Vikas Khanna challenges the stigma that ethnic food isn't healthy. Indian cuisine is based on Ayurveda and sustainability, and you don't need cream to make it delicious.

“Much of Indian cuisine is based on the principles of Ayurveda and sustainability”

Chefs must prove healthy tastes good

Chef Marcus Samuelsson says it's the chef's job to disprove the myth that healthy food can't be tasty. Healthy and delicious aren't either-or choices, they go together.

“Healthy and delicious can coexist. Healthy and delicious definitely can be celebrated together”

Low-income families face real barriers

Ertharin Cousin points out that cooking advice ignores reality: many families lack refrigeration, electricity, or gas. Making healthy food available means supporting the infrastructure people need.

“Everyone wants to put a plate in front of their child that is going to ensure that that child thrives. Not everyone has the capacity to do it”

We grow enough calories, not nutrition

The world produces enough food, but not enough nutritious, diverse options. Unhealthy food is cheaper and more available, leading to malnutrition and overconsumption of junk.

“We grow enough calories, but not enough food to support the nutritious, diverse diet that's necessary for the body to thrive”

Everyone must change the system

Fixing food requires action from ad companies, processors, retailers, policymakers, and consumers. No single group can solve this alone.

Food is joy, health, family, culture

The panelists ended by reminding us that food is more than nutrition, it's love, family, and culture. Healthy eating should feel like abundance, not deprivation.

“Food is joy. It's health. It's family. It's culture. It's love”