2026 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit

May 19-21, 2026 | Charlotte, NC

The Westin Charlotte

Emcee

Chef, television host, influencer, entrepeneur, and zero-waste advocate Joel Gamoran returned to the Summit stage for the first time since 2019 as this year's emcee—and he kept the proceedings informative, inspiring, and fun.

Joel Gamoran

Founder

Homemade

Learn More

Speakers

Here are the food system experts, innovators, and advocates speaking at this year's Summit:

Andrew Zimmern

Chef, Restaurateur, Entrepreneur, Television & Radio Host

Ryan Begin

CEO & Co-Founder

Divert

Jennifer Bryan-Goforth

WSU Food Systems Consumer Education Specialist

Washington State University

Sara Burnett

Executive Director

ReFED

Jeana Cadby

Environment and Climate Director

Western Growers

Rebecca Chesney

Vice President of Sustainability

ISS Guckenheimer

Abby Fammartino

Co-Director

Menus of Change University Research Collaborative

Liz Fikejs

Senior Waste Preventiomn Program Manager

Seattle Public Utilities

Dana Gunders

President

ReFED

Megan Holler

Director of Food Recovery and Compost

Toward Zero Waste

Ayurella Horn-Muller

Food & Agriculture Writer

Grist

Kristen Lee

Director of Business Initiatives

ReFED

David Ly

Director, Business Initiatives

ReFED

Jo Marini

CEO & Co-Founder

Mothership Materials

Pete Pearson

Vice President Food, Food Loss and Waste

World Wildlife Fund

Joe Richardson

Founder

Lunch Out of Landfills

Minnie Ringland

Senior Manager, Climate & Insights

ReFED

Andrew Shakman

President & CEO

Leanpath

Leslie Soble

Senior Program Manager

Impact Justice (formerly)

Moody Soliman

CEO

Ryp Labs

John Stoddard

Associate Director of Climate and Food Solutions

Health Care Without Harm

Angel Veza

Director, Innovation Initiatives

ReFED

Demetrius Walker

Vice President of Retail Services

Food Lion

Christine Wittmeier

Organics Recycling Team Lead

North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

"This is an issue that should unite us all. There are countless reasons for each of us to commit to this cause, as it simply makes sense for our country to stop wasting food. And in doing so, perhaps—just perhaps—through the collaborations, partnerships, and connections you help facilitate, we can begin to rediscover the true meaning of community in this country."

Thomas J. Vilsack
Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture, at the 2024 Summit in Baltimore, MD

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