Virtual Vegan Culinary School Launches to Train Chefs in the Future of Food

On May 8, new vegan culinary school The Future Food Institute (FFI) will open enrollment to its first course, Foundation: Phase 1. Founded by renowned plant-based chef, educator, and author Matthew Kenney, FFI is a new virtual culinary learning center designed to train both home chefs and culinary professionals. The course is offered at an introductory rate of $350 and features 100 lessons with extensive visual features such as step-by-step video tutorials, virtual cooking lessons, photography, and infographics, as well as a curriculum of original recipes designed specifically for this course such as Mushrooms Escabeche, Butternut Mac N’ Cheese, and Superfood Power Truffles. 

Students will learn a variety of skills which will be applied in creating their own recipes and multi-course menus. Designed in a sequential lesson format—complete with instructor feedback, exams and final projects, through which students can progress at their own pace—students will have one year to complete the course after which they will be awarded a certificate of completion by Kenney and FFI. Eventually, Kenney will expand FFI with additional courses, subscriptions, and live classes.  

Kenney opened cooking school Matthew Kenney Culinary 15 years ago and while FFI is a new iteration, it revolves around the same mission. “Our perspective on the future of food hasn’t changed, in that we always believed a plant-based diet was the only logical choice for an aligned planet,”  Kenney told VegNews. “However, recent events have only made the need for a healthy food supply chain even more obvious. We are hopeful that society embraces this opportunity to change the way we cook and eat and joins together toward building a more sustainable future.”

In addition to FFI, Kenney is working on a number of new projects in 2020 under his Matthew Kenney Cuisine (MKC) brand, including opening four new locations of pizzeria Double Zero (in Boston, MA; Baltimore, MD; Brooklyn, NY; and Philadelphia, PA); debuting new Italian vegan restaurant BAIA in San Francisco; and launching the Double Zero Pizza frozen food line in retail stores in Fall 2020.