Dr. C.J. Sentell

Food Policy and Social Determinants of Health Advisor

Dr. C.J. Sentell is the CEO of The Nashville Food Project. Before joining the Food Project, C.J. served as the Executive Director of FORGE, a community development financial institution (CDFI) dedicated to supporting farmers and rural entrepreneurs. As the curriculum director for Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food, C.J. helped launch the first culinary school in the U.S. based on a full food systems approach to culinary education, and prior to that helped found the Grass Roots Farmers’ Cooperative. An alumnus of Hendrix College, C.J. holds an M.Phil. in the history and philosophy of science from University of Cambridge and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. 

A farmer himself, C.J. has studied food systems in multiple countries and across multiple traditions, including his doctoral research on the relationship between freedom and food, slavery and agriculture. Other scholarly interests include social and political theory (esp. social determinants of health, biopolitics, race, and democracy), environmental ethics, and the American philosophical traditions. Born on a nut farm north of Shreveport, Louisiana, C.J. has lived in Nashville for more than 20 years, and currently lives with his wife and three children in Bellevue.