From Laboratory to Table: How GOe is Building a More Just and Sustainable Food Future

In a world facing climate crisis, food insecurity, and growing health disparities, gastronomy might seem like a luxury concern. But at GOe, the Gastronomy Open Ecosystem in San Sebastián, food is understood as a powerful lever for social change and the foundation of a more equitable future. The question isn't whether food matters for justice and sustainability; it's how we harness culinary knowledge, scientific innovation, and community engagement to create systems that nourish everyone.​

The Basque Culinary Center has long championed what it calls "social gastronomy," the idea that chefs and food professionals have responsibilities extending beyond their kitchens. This philosophy is embedded in GOe's mission: to build "a delicious future" through gastronomy by leveraging talent, knowledge, and innovation to address the major challenges facing food systems.​

GOe's research focuses on five interconnected areas that directly relate to justice and sustainability: health, sustainability, digitalization, sensory innovation, and new product development. Within each area, the work balances technical innovation with ethical considerations, asking not just what's possible but what serves communities equitably.​

Perhaps no initiative better captures GOe's commitment to social impact than the Basque Culinary World Prize, a 100,000-euro annual award celebrating chefs who demonstrate how gastronomy can drive positive change. Now in its tenth edition as of 2025, the prize honors work in areas like culinary innovation, health, nutrition education, food access, sustainability, preservation of local food cultures, and social entrepreneurship.​

The 2025 winner, Leticia Landa, joins a roster of previous recipients whose work exemplifies food justice in action. José Andrés won for his humanitarian efforts, particularly through World Central Kitchen, which provides meals in disaster zones and conflict areas. Leonor Espinosa was recognized for her work with indigenous communities in Colombia, preserving traditional food knowledge while creating economic opportunities.​

These awards matter not just for recognizing past achievements but for shifting the conversation about what makes a chef successful. Excellence at the stove is celebrated, but so is the ability to use culinary knowledge to address hunger, preserve biodiversity, support marginalized communities, and create more resilient food systems.​

Sustainability as System Design

GOe Tech Center approaches sustainability not as a single attribute (organic, local, low-carbon) but as system-level design that considers the entire food value chain. This means asking how gastronomy can contribute to circular economies, biodiversity preservation, climate mitigation, and resource conservation while still delivering delicious, culturally meaningful food.​

One research direction involves adding value to agro-industrial by-products, transforming what would be waste into bioactive, healthy ingredients. Another explores alternative proteins and plant-based formulations that reduce reliance on resource-intensive animal agriculture without sacrificing taste or culinary versatility. The BIZI-DRINKS project develops functional fermented beverages aligned with healthy and sustainable eating trends.​

The Atlantic Gastronomy Project investigates the gastronomic potential of Atlantic regions (Spain, France, Ireland, Portugal), fostering innovation rooted in local products and traditions. This place-based approach recognizes that sustainability must work with existing food cultures, not impose uniform solutions across diverse contexts.​

GOe's health-focused research addresses a profound equity issue: how to create foods that support wellbeing for everyone, including those facing illness, limited mobility, or restricted diets. This includes developing culinary and nutritional solutions to restore the pleasure of eating for patients, exploring new textures, formulations, and ingredients with a sensory and organoleptic approach.​

Functional and fortified beverages designed to prevent or improve the progression of various diseases represent one stream of work. Research on "clean label" ingredients using bioactive compounds without artificial additives responds to both health concerns and consumer demand for transparency. The development of healthier formulations for common foods (gluten-free baking, reduced-sodium products, plant-based alternatives) makes nutritious choices more accessible.​

What distinguishes this work from conventional food science is the insistence that health-promoting foods must taste good or they won't be consumed consistently enough to make a difference. This chef-scientist collaboration ensures that nutrition and pleasure remain integrated, not opposed.​

Preserving Food Heritage While Innovating

GOe's commitment to justice includes preserving culinary heritage, particularly the knowledge of indigenous and traditional communities that industrial food systems have marginalized. The anthropology and sociology of fermented foods, for example, is a core component of the Food Fermentation master's program, recognizing that fermentation represents not just technique but cultural practice and identity.​

Projects documenting traditional Basque recipes, oral histories, and local products ensure that regional food knowledge is archived for future generations. The Mantala Basque Gastronomy initiative gathers the region's most knowledgeable chefs and producers to preserve traditional knowledge while encouraging evolution. This approach honors the past without treating it as static, recognizing that living cultures must adapt.​

The Basque Culinary World Prize winners often work at this intersection of preservation and innovation. Leonor Espinosa's work in Colombia involves documenting indigenous ingredients and cooking techniques, then creating restaurant dishes and product lines that generate income for indigenous communities while introducing urban audiences to flavors and traditions they might not otherwise encounter.​

Economic Development as Food Justice

The Basque Culinary Center, through GOe and its broader initiatives, has generated measurable economic impact: €228 million between 2012 and 2022, with a GDP contribution of nearly €125 million and a return to public administration of €39 million. This economic development matters for justice because it creates employment, supports small producers, and positions the Basque region as a leader in a growing sector.​

Culinary Action!, the startup accelerator operating from GOe, has supported nearly 100 food startups. Many address sustainability or health challenges: alternative proteins, food waste reduction, supply chain transparency, functional nutrition. By providing mentorship, funding access, and infrastructure (coworking space, prototyping kitchens, testing venues), GOe lowers barriers to entrepreneurship in food innovation.​

The economic impact extends beyond startups. Over 50 Basque Culinary Center graduates have opened restaurants in the Basque Country, some already earning Michelin recognition. These businesses create jobs, support local suppliers, and attract food tourism that benefits the broader economy. The model demonstrates that investing in gastronomy education and infrastructure generates returns that extend far beyond the sector itself.​

GOe and the Basque Culinary Center have made explicit commitments to gender equity and inclusive excellence. The organization works to build a feminist future where no one is left behind, expanding rights, power, and opportunities for all people. This includes empowering the next generation through education, promoting gender equality in professional kitchens (historically male-dominated spaces), and ensuring that research and innovation serve diverse communities, not just privileged ones.​

The International Advisory Board and prize winners reflect increasing diversity. Chefs like Pía León, Elena Reygadas, Manu Buffara, and Narda Lepes bring perspectives from Latin America and represent the rising influence of women chefs in reshaping gastronomy. Their presence signals that excellence is not confined to European culinary traditions or male leadership.​

Community Engagement and Public Access

GOe's architecture embodies its commitment to accessibility. The public plaza at the entrance welcomes citizens and Camino de Santiago pilgrims. The transparent glass façade reveals culinary innovation in action rather than hiding it behind institutional walls. The rooftop terraces and public restaurant integrate the building into neighborhood life.​

On October 17, 2025, GOe opened with a public event attracting over 1,000 visitors who toured facilities typically closed to non-specialists. This transparency reflects a belief that food innovation should happen in dialogue with the people it serves, not in isolation from them. The contemporary cafeteria on the ground floor and the restaurant on the top floor provide spaces where community members can experience the results of research and training.​

GOe's Global Network, starting with GIC Tokyo as the first international hub, creates pathways for knowledge exchange between regions. The partnership with Cambridge Innovation Center extends this reach, connecting food innovators across continents. GOe On the Road events in cities like London, Cambridge, and beyond bring the startup competition and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs who might not otherwise access them.​

This global-local approach recognizes that food challenges are simultaneously universal (climate change, malnutrition, sustainability) and deeply place-specific (cultural preferences, agricultural conditions, economic contexts). Solutions developed in San Sebastián may not transfer directly to Tokyo or London, but the methodologies, networks, and collaborative frameworks can.​

GOe's work on digital transformation in gastronomy raises important equity questions. Technologies like AI in restaurants, supply chain optimization software, and online platforms can improve efficiency and reduce waste. But they can also exclude small operators who lack capital for investment or technical literacy.​

The Digital Gastronomy Lab (LABe) addresses this by providing shared infrastructure where companies of different sizes can prototype and test technologies in a real restaurant context before committing to large investments. This shared-resource model democratizes access to innovation tools that might otherwise be available only to well-capitalized players.​

Measuring Impact Beyond Profit

GOe operates within a non-profit foundation structure, which shapes how success is defined. The mission prioritizes social impact, environmental sustainability, and knowledge generation alongside financial sustainability. This allows the organization to support research that might not generate immediate commercial returns but addresses important societal needs.​

The commitment to open knowledge sharing, visible through events, publications, and the GOe Community digital platform, reflects a belief that food innovation should be a common good, not proprietary information hoarded for competitive advantage. This ethos aligns with growing movements for open-source food innovation and collaborative problem-solving in the face of shared challenges.​

GOe's work embodies an essential insight: a sustainable and just food future must also be delicious, culturally rich, and joyful. People will not embrace alternatives out of guilt or obligation alone. They need foods that deliver pleasure, that connect to traditions, that make eating a source of connection rather than calculation.​

By refusing to separate sustainability from sensory delight, justice from culinary excellence, scientific innovation from cultural wisdom, GOe models a holistic approach to food's future. The work happening in these laboratories, kitchens, and classrooms in San Sebastián matters not just for the Basque Country but for anyone asking how we nourish ourselves and each other in ways that sustain both people and planet.