Food Waste Reduction:
Philanthropy for People and the Planet
Tuesday May 14, 2024
12:00 – 1:30pm ET
Zoom meeting
Register Here
This is a funder-only event
Co-sponsored by The Posner Foundation, The Kenneth Goldman Donor Fund, Philanthropy New York, & Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders
Up to 40% of food in the United States is wasted along with all of the resources used to produce, distribute, and prepare it. Furthermore, food production and food waste disposal generate significant greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of the food supply chain. Meanwhile, millions of people struggle with food insecurity while good food goes to waste.
Food waste reduction offers philanthropy an opportunity to address many of our world’s existential challenges, including combating the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, improving environmental health protections, and fighting racial injustice. It is at the intersection of many other issues including food access, local food systems, and many more. Addressing food waste is a unique issue requiring both individual and systemic actions. Each of us has a role to play in solving food waste and now is the time to act.
Join us for a deep dive into the problem of food waste, where funding has been going, how local and national organizations are establishing innovative partnerships to address food waste, and why and where funders should get involved.
Learn
- Background and overview of the size of the food waste problem, current landscape of stakeholders and solutions, and challenges of adoption
- Connections between food waste and environment, health, neighborhood well-being, anti-hunger, food system, sustainability, climate change, and more.
- What areas would be most impactful in addressing food waste
- How philanthropy can advance food waste reduction solutions through their sustainable food grantmaking and examples of capital catalyzing change
Funders may also be interested to join the
upcoming CFF Roundtable on food waste, April 24th
Speakers
Andrea Collins is a Sustainable Food Systems Specialist with NRDC. She focuses on making our food system more efficient, sustainable, and equitable. She aims to reduce food loss and waste by helping to create strategies that can be implemented at various stages throughout the supply chain, including on farms, within cities, and by companies. She is the author of the 2021 report Feeding a City: Food Waste and Food Need Across America.
Alejandro Enamorado is a member of ReFED’s Capital, Innovation & Engagement team working to spur investment in the food waste sector. In his position, he leads a funder network solely focused on food waste (Food Waste Funder Circle), advises funders and food businesses, and builds relationships with startups and nonprofits.
More about the presenting organizations
Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) mission is to safeguard the earth – its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. NRDC has been a driving force for food waste reduction since the publication of our 2012 landmark report Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40 of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill. NRDC combines our strengths in research, advocacy, and program development at the national, state, and city levels to shift the status quo and ignite nationwide change.
ReFED is a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss and waste by advancing data-driven solutions. We’re doing it by fostering informed action – grounded in data, targeted to where it can benefit the most, and that’s coordinated across multiple stakeholders and evaluated to ensure success.