Chantal Engelen
Transform your event with Chantal Engelen!
Booking Chantal makes your event unforgettable.
For everybody. In every aspect.
Looking for inspiration?
Looking for a speaker to inspire and motivate your audience to embrace sustainability and leadership in (food) transition? Chantal Engelen is the speaker you need!
Vital ideas and solutions
Chantal’s mission is to change the food system and helps companies move forward with their role in this food transition. She tells stories of hope, connects people to make more impact together. And she helps food changers with their plans and ensures that as much energy as possible goes to those already working on the food chain of the future.
Hope
In her work for Peas Of Me, but also as a speaker, she wants to give positive stories the stage. Because so much good is already happening, she wants to focus on that.
Whether organizing a conference or a small internal meeting, Chantal’s personal and vulnerable approach ensures that participants not only listen, but are inspired to take immediate action.
Looking for inspiration? Looking for a speaker to inspire and motivate your audience to embrace sustainability and leadership in (food) transition? Chantal Engelen is the speaker you need! Vital ideas and solutions Chantal’s mission is to change the food system and helps companies move forward with their role in this food transition. She tells stories of hope, connects people to make more impact together. And she View more…
What is Chantal talking about?
How can we work towards the future of the food chain? Through her experience with Peas of Me and her personal developments, Chantal has gained many insights about the food transition that she shares in her engaging keynotes.
Here you will find some of her keynotes. Customization is always an option, please ask about the possibilities.
A Peas of My Day
It can be different: my life as a storytelling nomad
What does two years of traveling in a camper among food changers look like, and how did I get here? How do you go from a business, rental home, and marriage to a nomadic life. With a glimpse into my personal journey ,let yourself be inspired to live your life from your heart and help change the world.
Format: Lecture
Let Yourself be Inspired by Peasmakers
Inspiring stories from food changers
The change we are looking for has long been underway, these ‘Peasmakers’ – farmers, makers, and companies – are just doing it, for a sustainable and future-proof food system. I will take you on an imaginary journey in my camper, filled with real stories and inspiration from people who are changing the world with their hearts. Perhaps you will become a Peasmaker after this inspiring lecture too!
Format: Lecture
How to Become a Peasmaker
An interactive custom workshop for food changers
I do not believe in failure. I believe in the courage to follow your heart and ideals against all odds. That doesn’t mean you won’t encounter obstacles on this path. You might need some guidance and tips. During this workshop, I will share lessons and successes from the food world and address your questions, because by building on each other’s knowledge, we can go further together.
Format: Workshop
A Peas of My Day
It can be different: my life as a storytelling nomad
What does two years of traveling in a camper among food changers look like, and how did I get here? How do you go from a business, rental home, and marriage to a nomadic life. With a glimpse into my personal journey ,let yourself be inspired to live your life from your heart and help change the world.Format: Lecture
Let Yourself be Inspired by Peasmakers
Inspiring stories from food changers
The change we are looking for has long been underway, these ‘Peasmakers’ – farmers, makers, and companies – are just doing it, for a sustainable and future-proof food system. I will take you on an imaginary journey in my camper, filled with real stories and inspiration from people who are changing the world with their hearts. Perhaps you will become a Peasmaker after this inspiring lecture too!
Format: Lecture
How to Become a Peasmaker
An interactive custom workshop for food changers
I do not believe in failure. I believe in the courage to follow your heart and ideals against all odds. That doesn’t mean you won’t encounter obstacles on this path. You might need some guidance and tips. During this workshop, I will share lessons and successes from the food world and address your questions, because by building on each other’s knowledge, we can go further together.Format: Workshop
“With Peas of Me, I demonstrate that even as an individual, you can make significant changes when you work from your heart.”
Chantal Engelen is a consumer behavior specialist, storyteller, nomad, speaker, and advocate for a sustainable food system.
Chantal grew up among farms in a small Brabant village where her parents ran a restaurant. Here lay the root of her love for good food, her connection to nature, and her fascination for sustainability. She has long been aware that our food system needs restructuring.
“As a child, I did not understand why people made such a mess of things; how we have complicated the system to the point where simple solutions to food and climate problems seem impossible.”
She first studied Nutrition & Dietetics and then Consumer Behavior at Wageningen University, where she graduated on the subject of ‘sustainable consumer behavior’. After that, she worked for several large companies like Unilever and Dr. Oetker, but she became increasingly disillusioned with the ways of the modern food industry.
In 2012, she founded Too Good to Waste and in 2014 Kromkommer. How crooked is it that fruits and vegetables that do not meet the ‘right’ appearance standards are considered waste? By conducting campaigns and making crooked vegetable soup, she tried to change that.
Then her life changed significantly in a short time. The business model of Kromkommer proved unsustainable, her marriage fell apart, and COVID broke out. After a period of reflection, she made a drastic decision.
“I didn’t want to live like everyone else anymore. I wanted freedom, to travel, to meet people, and to go where my heart and energy would take me. I terminated my lease, sold my belongings, and bought a camper.”
This marked the beginning of Chantal’s nomadic existence and a new challenge, Peas Of Me. In her camper, Chantal stays for short periods at the farms, orchards, and lands of food changers. She works alongside them and tells the stories of these ‘Peasmakers’.
Moreover, she actively accelerate the food transition by helping new pioneers. She does this by sharing her insights, lessons, and struggles – and those of other ‘Peasmakers’ – with budding food pioneers, one-on-one and as a speaker for a broader audience.
Chantal Engelen is a consumer behavior specialist, storyteller, nomad, speaker, and advocate for a sustainable food system. Chantal grew up among farms in a small Brabant village where her parents ran a restaurant. Here lay the root of her love for good food, her connection to nature, and her fascination for sustainability. She has long been aware that our food system needs restructuring. “As a child, View more…
“The power in the food chain is incredibly unevenly organized.”
“So much good is already happening; that’s what I want to focus on, not on doomsday scenarios.”
Moral Compass for Real Change
How do you turn the food system upside down when the major powers in the food industry usually have the upper hand? Although farmers spend the most time and attention on the product and bear the greatest risk, they have the least power in the chain.
“They are dependent on the whims of supermarkets and the prices they are willing to pay. The power in the food chain is unfairly distributed.”
While there is a small shift towards sustainability among supermarkets and food producers, Chantal believes the chance is small that they will truly change course in the short term. Nevertheless, she also believes that it is precisely the moral compass of individuals and small initiatives that will ultimately trigger a tipping point if they begin to pool their knowledge and strengths.
Through the 60 farmers and companies that Chantal has visited, helped, and whose stories she has shared, she tries to expedite this tipping point. Because she is convinced that every individual can be the beginning of a larger change.
“My business has stopped, but I don’t see it as a failure. The knowledge I gained from this I now share with new pioneers, giving them a better starting point to succeed. We can build on each other’s knowledge to reach even further.”
With Peas Of Me, Chantal has revitalized her mission to change the food system and helped various companies progress. But it has brought her much more than that. Through her experiences and the realization of everything that is going wrong, she had developed a negative view of humanity. Now, she is convinced that ‘most people are good,’ as she quotes Rutger Bregman.
“Everything you see in the media can paralyse you. Through all the wonderful people I have been able to sit with at the kitchen table over the past few years, the beautiful places I have seen, I look to the future with hope.”
In her work for Peas Of Me and also as a speaker, she wants to give positive stories the stage; because so much good is already happening. That’s what she wants to focus on.
Chantal as a Speaker
Would you like to book Chantal as a speaker for your event? Inquire about the possibilities and her availability.
Why do you want Chantal to speak at your event?
1. Personal and Vulnerable
Chantal’s mission stems from her personal crisis and the search that followed. This makes her story highly relatable and identifiable for anyone who feels that the current system is not right.
2. Different from the ordinary
Stopping your business, choosing to follow your heart, and the accompanying uncertainty, divorcing, terminating your rental contract, and buying a camper to choose a nomadic life, Chantal’s story is anything but conventional. All the more inspiring!
3. Narrative
It is Chantal’s own story that initiated her journey, but it is the stories of other pioneers in the food industry that weave her mission and message into a coherent whole. Her group of Peasmakers grows every day, and their stories inspire you to become one too.
4. Hopeful
Do you sometimes feel paralyzed and helpless due to the injustice and illogic in our food system? Chantal takes you on a journey in her talks in her camper and lets you see the world through her eyes. A world full of people who dedicate themselves heart and soul to better nutrition, with respect for nature.
5. Passionate
On stage, Chantal brings not just her own passion but also that of all the companies she has visited over the past few years; that is infectious.
1. Personal and Vulnerable
Chantal’s mission stems from her personal crisis and the search that followed. This makes her story highly relatable and identifiable for anyone who feels that the current system is not right.
2. Different from the ordinary
Stopping your business, choosing to follow your heart, and the accompanying uncertainty, divorcing, terminating your rental contract, and buying a camper to choose a nomadic life, Chantal’s story is anything but conventional. All the more inspiring!
3. Narrative
It is Chantal’s own story that initiated her journey, but it is the stories of other pioneers in the food industry that weave her mission and message into a coherent whole. Her group of Peasmakers grows every day, and their stories inspire you to become one too.
4. Hopeful
Do you sometimes feel paralyzed and helpless due to the injustice and illogic in our food system? Chantal takes you on a journey in her talks in her camper and lets you see the world through her eyes. A world full of people who dedicate themselves heart and soul to better nutrition, with respect for nature.
5. Passionate
On stage, Chantal brings not just her own passion but also that of all the companies she has visited over the past few years; that is infectious.
Interview with Chantal Engelen
For Good: What does that mean to you?
“For me, it is a livable and pleasant future for all living beings, where the connection between people, animals, and nature is the starting point; nature as the foundation for everything we do.”
Do you have hope for the future?
“Absolutely, so much is already happening that we simply do not see. Doomsday scenarios generate more clicks, but the change is already underway. That’s what we need to focus on. All those small fires together can become one big blaze.”
Walk the talk: how are you of value?
“I tell stories of hope, connecting people to make a greater impact together. I help food changers with their plans and ensure that as much energy as possible goes to those who are already working on the food chain of the future.”
Do you have an example or source of inspiration?
“Nature. When I’m uncertain, the forest or the beach clears my mind, providing inspiration and peace. All wisdom can be found in nature, but you must dare to trust it, to want to see and feel it.”
What do you admire most about food changers – the ‘Peasmakers’?
“That they dare to just do it, pursuing a goal with passion. They are not deterred by those who say it cannot be done; they keep pushing through regardless.”
For Good: What does that mean to you?
“For me, it is a livable and pleasant future for all living beings, where the connection between people, animals, and nature is the starting point; nature as the foundation for everything we do.”
Do you have hope for the future?
“Absolutely, so much is already happening that we simply do not see. Doomsday scenarios generate more clicks, but the change is already underway. That’s what we need to focus on. All those small fires together can become one big blaze.”
Walk the talk: how are you of value?
“I tell stories of hope, connecting people to make a greater impact together. I help food changers with their plans and ensure that as much energy as possible goes to those who are already working on the food chain of the future.”
Do you have an example or source of inspiration?
“Nature. When I’m uncertain, the forest or the beach clears my mind, providing inspiration and peace. All wisdom can be found in nature, but you must dare to trust it, to want to see and feel it.”
What do you admire most about food changers – the ‘Peasmakers’?
“That they dare to just do it, pursuing a goal with passion. They are not deterred by those who say it cannot be done; they keep pushing through regardless.”
A selection of companies that Chantal Engelen already had impactful collaborations with….
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‘After an hour of answering questions, thinking out loud, asking through and dreaming a little, there were three big sheets of paper. Who are we? What do we want? And how? Structured thoughts, core values and short- and long-term goals on paper. Very nice to regularly mirror and remind myself. AND to work towards the dot on the horizon.’ – Marloe Niesten
Asparagus farm The Poshoof
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‘After several strategy sessions, we still found it difficult to succinctly describe our ‘why’, mission and goals without falling short of our overarching mission. After a short strategy session with Chantal, we managed to get this clear, including an illuminating and visual outline. In turn, we were able to use the input for our new brand design, among other things.’ – Tom Grobben
De Nieuwe Melkboer -
‘Chantal’s visit to Field 4 was an eye-opener for us. Her dynamic approach and keen insights inspired and motivated us to work towards new steps. The personal interaction provided insights we could apply immediately. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a fresh perspective and concrete improvements. It was a great week!’ – Melissa and Bear
Walnotenwalhalla Veld 4 -
‘At The Harvest, we know very well why we do things, but sometimes it is difficult to come up with a good story from that why. With Chantal, we were able to clarify this in a session lasting several hours. As a true storyteller, she knows how to effortlessly get to the core and translate it into a clear message. The commitment to The Harvest remained after the assignment, which is very valuable to me.’ – Wessel van Winden
Restaurant The Harvest
