Chef and social entrepreneur, David Hertz is co-founder of Gastromotiva, an NGO which, since 2006, has been empowering people in vulnerable situations through professional kitchen training and sustainable nutrition and food education.
During the 2016 Olympic Games, David opened Refettorio Gastromotiva, a zero-waste school restaurant, in collaboration with chef Massimo Bottura and journalist Alexandra Forbes.
In 2018, he co-created and co-founded the Social Gastronomy Movement, a community that encourages and engages all actors in the food chain to address complex social issues such as hunger, malnutrition, food waste, poverty and social inequality
In 2020, with the arrival of the pandemic, he reinvents Gastromotiva’s operating model and impact. A food bank was launched at the Refettorio Gastromotiva to extend support to the underprivileged population. The Social Gastronomic Kitchens project was created, opening 130 kitchens in 9 Brazilian states.
In 2022, he co-founded the organization Pact Against Hunger, and serves as a board member of the movement.
At the helm of his organization for 18 years, he has already won several awards, including the Best NGO award, for his work using the power of food to transform the lives of people living in vulnerable communities.
David believes that together, we can feed humanity with humanity.
