Simran Preeti Sethi

Journalist, Academic and Consultant
Journalist & educator
Journalist & educator

Simran Sethi is a journalist and educator focused on food, sustainability and social change. Named one of the “50 Most Influential Global Indians” by Vogue India and the “environmental messenger” by Vanity Fair, Simran has written for outlets including The Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, The Washington Post, Guernica and The Guardian. She was designated one of the top eight women saving the planet by Marie Claire, and is the author of “Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love”—named one of the best food books of 2016 by Smithsonian—about the story of changes in food and agriculture told through bread, wine, chocolate, coffee and beer. She is the contributing author of “Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy,” winner of a 2008 Axiom Award for Best Business Ethics Book.

Simran is the creator of The Slow Melt, the first podcast on the cultural and environmental stories behind chocolate and the winner of the 2017 SAVEUR award for Best Food Podcast. She is also a contributor to the National Public Radio program Good Food, and was one of the first inductees into Heritage Radio Network’s Hall of Fame.

Simran is a fellow at the Institute for Food and Development Policy in Oakland, USA, and visiting faculty in Italy at John Cabot University in Rome and the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo. Simran is a former visiting scholar at the Cocoa Research Centre based at the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, where she completed training on chocolate making and the sensory analysis of cocoa. She has also completed sensory training in honey at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), the largest public research institution in Italy.

She has spoken on five continents on topics ranging from the loss of agrobiodiversity to sustainability in fashion and sports, at events including WOMAD, the World Cocoa Conference, the United Nations Global Landscapes Forum and the Commonwealth Club, and lectured at institutions ranging from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to the Sydney Opera House.

Simran is the former environmental correspondent for NBC News, which included contributions to CNBC, MSNBC, TODAY and Nightly News. She has produced environmental programming for PBS and Sundance Channel, and was the host of the EMMY award-winning documentary “A School in the Woods.” She holds an M.B.A. in sustainable business from the Presidio Graduate School and graduated cum laude with a B.A. in sociology and women’s studies from Smith College. In 2009, the College awarded her the Smith College Medal.

AGENDA