2019 Food Waste Solutions Summit

Ten years ago, ReFED's Roadmap to Reduce U.S. Food Waste set an ambitious vision for transforming the way America produces, manages, and thinks about food waste. Since then, the field has grown, solutions have scaled, and momentum has built in ways both measurable and inspiring. But with urgency still high and much work remaining, this opening session is as much about what comes next as it is about how far we've come. ReFED President Dana Gunders will set the stage with a look at the field's most meaningful accomplishments from the past year and the bright spots ahead on the horizon. A panel of founders/CEOs will share candid reflections on what it took to grow their solutions from early-stage ideas into mainstream impact—offering hard-won lessons on how innovation and investment align for success. And the session will close on a high note with the announcement of the newest grantees of the ReFED Catalytic Grant Fund, celebrating the next wave of solutions poised to move the needle in the decade ahead.

Food waste isn’t a single problem with a single solution—it’s a complex, interconnected challenge shaped by forces that cut across every sector, setting, and stakeholder. This session zooms out to examine the sweeping trends that are redefining what's possible in the fight against food waste, and how leaders across the field can harness them to accelerate impact. Artificial intelligence is transforming everything from demand forecasting and inventory management to consumer-facing apps and supply chain visibility—but realizing its potential while navigating its risks requires intentionality. And social media—now so embedded in daily life that many can barely imagine a world without it—is emerging as a powerful force for driving awareness, shifting norms, and inspiring action at scale. We’ll bring these threads together in a dynamic conversation about where the biggest opportunities lie—and how the food waste field can ride these megatrends rather than be left behind by them.

Welcome to North Carolina, a state with a food story that is richer, more complex, and instructive than most. This session uses North Carolina as a lens through which to examine food waste from angles that rarely share the same stage: we’ll share research on household food waste patterns across the state; shine a spotlight on Black farmers and cultural foodways and the role of heritage and community food traditions in shaping the broader food system; and host a conversation about how new policies ripple through food culture—and how food culture, in turn, shapes what becomes politically possible. From farm to kitchen to community table, North Carolina offers a vivid illustration of how place-based knowledge, cultural identity, and policy momentum can reinforce or undermine one another—and how you can move the needle when you take the whole picture into account.

Three days of bold ideas, candid conversations, and cross-sector connections—and here’s where we bring it all together. This closing session reunites some of the original architects of ReFED's first Roadmap to reflect on the journey from vision to impact and to share what they believe the next chapter must look like if we are to meet the scale of the challenge ahead. But this isn't just a look back. Drawing on the themes, tensions, and breakthroughs surfaced throughout the Summit, our closing panel will help attendees synthesize what they've heard and turn inspiration into intention and ultimately action. Through an interactive discussion designed to spark reflection and action, every person in the room will leave with concrete next steps—and a renewed sense of the collective momentum behind this work. This session is a reminder of how far we've come—and a challenge to make the next ten years count even more.