Services Clients and Testimonials Meet John Turenne About Sustainable Food Systems Homepage
Clients and Testimonials
Our experience and knowledge show in our clients' success and enthusiasm
John Turenne received the 2005 Farmland Preservation Pathfinder Award for Outstanding Individual from the Connecticut Working Lands Alliance. The award recognizes John's work with the Yale Sustainable Food Project and his efforts to develop a model for institutional purchasing of sustainable foods. (Sept. 21, 2005)
The following is a list of some of the organizations we have had the privilege to work with.
Alice Waters
Executive Chef and Owner – Chez Panisse Restaurant and Foundation
“Congratulations to John for positively touching many lives. He has that ability to keep it growing and is a great source of knowledge and inspiration to any client wishing to enhance or pursue more support for locally grown.”
David A. Yandow
VP – The Fowler & Huntting Company
“John’s culinary knowledge and leadership qualities are tremendous assets to us. His years of dedication in the business are clearly recognized through the quality of his work and attitude.”
Christopher Bracken
President – Culinary Concerts, Inc.
“This is a ground breaking program that completely changes the conventional campus food system from sourcing to service. John promises to be a key person in the development of this new and evolving revolution in food service.”
Seen Lippert
Former Chef – Chez Panisse
“John Turenne has the incredible capacity for listening to the people around him and for engaging them with great warmth and generosity. This is a great asset for any organization working towards change.”
Melina Shannon-DiPietro
Director – Yale Sustainable Food Project
“His unique blend of experience with sustainable food, campus dining and fine dining make him one of the few people who truly understand what it takes to bring a sustainable food program from an idea to a reality.”
Sue Small
Regional Brand Manager – Aramark
“Sustainability is the gospel for the future of the food service industry, and John is the apostle. I've seen him in action, sharing his passion, skills and resources with students, school administrators and cafeteria managers. His inspiration keeps me believing that we really can change cafeteria culture and clean up school food!”
Amy Kalafa
Film Producer – HHC
“John Turenne is at once a gifted chef and food expert, and also a master administrator and manager. He could take ideas and ideals about fresh, local, and organic meats and vegetables, and turn them into splendid meals – prepared for over 300 people – every single day. Such a project required the visionary gifts of someone like Mr. Turenne: he was constantly at work sourcing the seemingly unattainable foods; in helping to design recipes and menus that could feasibly be prepared on a massive institutional scale; in coordinating a very large staff that prepared and served the food; and in general overseeing the entire operation. Despite the enormity of his responsibilities, he is invariably enthusiastic and energetic, clearly loving every aspect of his vocation”
John Rogers
Master – Berkeley College at Yale University
"John's expertise in the field of sustainable foods is clear. During Brown University's Local Food Forum, four days of workshops and discussions on where food comes from, John was able to contribute valuable information focused on connecting farmers and institutional buyers. As the director of Farm Fresh Rhode Island, I am pleased to know that John has decided to share his wisdom of sustainable food systems with the rest of the nation."
Louella Hill
Director – Farm Fresh Rhode Island
“Today the Sustainable Food Project is a wildly popular institution at Berkley College, and plans are underway to implement the model throughout Yale’s dining halls. Through his work, John Turenne has established a well-designed, thoroughly tested and successful model for a locally-grown menu in a mainstream institutional foodservice operation that appeals to the tastes of student customers and supports the viability of local agriculture.”
Elizabeth Wheeler
Director of Development – Connecticut Farmland Trust
Excerpt from Glynwood Center Harvest Award Nomination
“I want to thank John for what has been a terrific course – entertaining, informative and fun! I would highly recommend the Cooking 101 course to every senior at Yale as being the best value and most fun class I’ve ever had!”
Manique Wijewardena
Yale Class of 2003
“After happily making my way through a plate of food that could easily grace a 5-star restaurant, I thought about the leadership and organizational skills that contributed to making our AAU luncheon so memorable. Harvard, Duke, Stanford and MIT, among many others had a taste of Yale that will not easily be forgotten.”
Lauralee Field
Office of VP & Secretary – Yale University