Community Initiatives

Global Culinary Initiative

The LDEI Global Culinary Initiative is a chapter-led program that embraces diversity through the lens of food – the thread that connects cultures, lifestyles and traditions. Chapters that opt to participate in the Global Culinary Initiative tap into the diverse cultures in their own communities with educational programming and events that celebrate various cultures through their culinary traditions.

Green Tables

The LDEI Green Tables Initiative is a chapter-led program that was created to deepen the relationship between locally grown food at farms and gardens with school and community-food programs, restaurants and kitchen tables. Chapters that participate in Green Tables offer programs and events that unite communities with fresh, sustainable foods and foodways through cooking classes, demonstrations, tastings, community-gardening projects, farmers’ market programming and more.

Southern Food and Beverage Museum Culinary Library

In 2019, the Les Dames d’Escoffier Board designated the SoFAB (Southern Food & Beverage Museum) Culinary Research Center as the official repository for LDEI’s history, preserving the contributions of its members and housing records for future researchers examining women’s roles in the culture of food and drink.

The SoFAB Culinary Research Center serves as a library, archive and material culture collection that reflects the history of food and drink. The collections are publicly available on a noncirculating basis, and the library catalog is accessible online. Many scholars, students, journalists and the general public have used the online catalog to discover resources, leading them to visit the Research Center for further exploration. For more information, click here and contact Dame Liz Williams <lizwillia@gmail.com>