The future of food is here, and it’s decidedly female. The editors of Food & Wine and Fortune magazines teamed up to spotlight women entrepreneurs, activists and leaders in the food world who’ve worked in the past year to transform the way people dine. Twenty earned a spot on their Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink 2016 list.
Here are five standouts from the report by Food & Wine and Fortune (which, like TIME, are owned by Time Inc.).
Emily Broad Leib

At the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, Leib is tackling the enormous problem of wasted food, which crowds landfills and leaves many hungry, by trying to change legislation around the way food is labeled. “We want to make labeling laws clearer, so when people pick up a yogurt, they know when it’s OK to eat it and when to throw it out,” she tells Food & Wine and Fortine. It may also make perfectly fine food easier to donate.
Betsy Babcock

From a quaint seven-chicken experiment at a B&B grew an empire of eggs. On the pasture of Handsome Brook Farm, Babcock raises chickens with organic feed and helps other small farms do the same.
The 5 Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink

The future of food is here, and it’s decidedly female. The editors of Food & Wine and Fortune magazines teamed up to spotlight women entrepreneurs, activists and leaders in the food world who’ve worked in the past year to transform the way people dine. Twenty earned a spot on their Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink 2016 list.
Here are five standouts from the report by Food & Wine and Fortune (which, like TIME, are owned by Time Inc.).
Monica Garnes

Garnes heads up produce for Kroger, and under her leadership, the grocery chain bought from 27% more local farmers in the past five years. “Now we can tell our customers exactly who raises their vegetables, which is pretty darn exciting,” she tells Food & Wine and Fortune.
Kavita Shukla

Shukla helps fight food spoilage with her invention of FreshPaper, naturally antibacterial sheets infused with herbs to help produce last four times longer.
Mackenzie Barth & Sarah Adler

The two college pals founded Spoon University, a recipe website and digital media training program for young people who want to make good food—and good content around it.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington
- Meet the 2025 Women of the Year
- The Harsh Truth About Disability Inclusion
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Cecily Strong on Goober the Clown
- Column: The Rise of America’s Broligarchy
Write to Mandy Oaklander at mandy.oaklander@time.com