Food Tank’s Climate Week NYC 2026 Lineup, Explained
If you follow food systems work, you’ve probably noticed Food Tank’s name popping up everywhere each September. That’s not an accident. Climate Week NYC is one of the few moments each year when farmers, chefs, policymakers, and food company executives end up in the same room, and Food Tank has built its calendar around making that happen.
From September 19 to 25, 2026, Food Tank is heading back to New York for its annual Climate Week NYC programming, hosted at WNYC’s The Greene Space. It’s the organization’s biggest event of the year, and this guide covers what’s planned, who’s involved, and how to get in the room.
What Is Food Tank?
Food Tank is a nonprofit research and advocacy group founded by Danielle Nierenberg. Its mission centers on building a global community focused on safe, healthy food for everyone, from smallholder farmers to city dwellers. Rather than sticking to reports and webinars, Food Tank has become known for live events that pair policy conversations with storytelling, chef demonstrations, and even live music. Climate Week NYC is where that format gets its biggest stage.
What Is Climate Week NYC?
Climate Week NYC runs alongside the United Nations General Assembly each September, drawing thousands of business leaders, activists, and government officials to New York for a week of climate-focused programming. Food isn’t always the headline at Climate Week, but Food Tank has spent years arguing that it should be, since agriculture touches nearly every part of the climate crisis, from emissions to land use to water scarcity.
What’s Planned for 2026
This year’s series runs September 19 through 25 at The Greene Space and will feature panel discussions, networking receptions, live performances, and a film festival, alongside the food itself. Expect sessions on soil health, farmland conservation, food loss and waste, and the private sector’s role in climate action.
A few confirmed sessions:
- Putting Farmers First, in partnership with Whole Foods Market, on young farmers shaping the future of food.
- Solving Food Waste, with UNEP, Food Planet Prize, NRDC, and Restaurant Technologies, on food waste as a climate solution.
- Mission-Driven Brands Sustainability Summit, with Bel US, Bonterra, and Northstar Recycling, among others.
- People-Focused. Climate-Friendly. Food-Forward New York City, with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Food Policy.
- A Food and Agriculture Film Festival, closing out the week on September 25.
Confirmed partners so far include American Farmland Trust, the James Beard Foundation, Organic Valley, Stonyfield, NYU, and the United Nations Environment Programme, with more expected to be announced.
Last year’s event brought together more than 300 chefs, journalists, academics, CEOs, farmers, and advocates. Food Tank says this year’s lineup is aiming even higher.
How to Attend
Most Food Tank sessions during Climate Week NYC are invitation-based rather than open ticketing. If you want in, the path is straightforward: request an invitation, suggest a speaker, or ask about partnership opportunities by emailing Food Tank’s Events Director, Kenzie Wade, at kenzie@foodtank.com. Sessions are also listed individually on Eventbrite, where you can join a waitlist for specific events. Food Tank typically streams parts of the programming on its own site as well, so it’s worth checking FoodTank.com if you can’t make it to New York in person.
Why It Matters
It’s easy to treat climate conferences as background noise, another week of panels that don’t change much. What makes Food Tank’s approach different is the mix of people in the room. You get a farmer talking right after a Fortune 500 sustainability officer, and that pairing tends to surface ideas that a policy-only or business-only event would miss. Whether that translates into real change is a fair question, but the format itself is worth paying attention to if you work anywhere near food or climate.
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