2023 Food Waste Solutions Summit
May 16-18, 2023 | St.Louis, MO
Hayden Danksky
Executive Director
Boulder Food Rescue
Bio:
Hayden Dansky (they/them/theirs) is a cofounder and co-Director of Boulder Food Rescue, a nonprofit that works to create a more just and less wasteful food system through the sustainable redistribution of healthy food, decreasing barriers to access and building community-led and participatory food access programs that support the inherent leadership of individuals within the community. They are also a cofounder of Food Rescue Alliance, a national resource sharing and social impact network of food rescues organizing to advance health equity and participatory grassroots systems of food access. Outside of food systems work, they have helped to create Denver Doikayt, a Jewish activist group working on Indigenous solidarity projects, Boulder Food Not Bombs and an LGBTQ+ housing cooperative. They are an alumni of the Chinook Fund Giving Project that fundraises for economic and racial justice organizations. Beyond organizing, Hayden spends time writing and performing poetry, supporting transgender people in recovery, and being obsessed with animals.
Schedule
Wednesday, May 17th
1:30pm - 2:30pm
Feeding the Megaphone: How to Increase Community Voice and Participation in Food Rescue
Breakout Session (Running Concurrently)
Conversations about addressing food waste often leave out the communities that are receiving and distributing the food. This results in a hyper-focus on addressing food waste from a logistics-only standpoint and assuming the food will automatically be eaten by people receiving it. Without input from community members on their needs, an entire half of the equation is missing, which doesn’t address the food waste problem holistically and causes harm to communities receiving food. It’s important to consider community-based solutions, cultural needs, and relationships that cannot be automated if we want to better solve the food waste crisis. Join this discussion with Boulder Food Rescue, Hole Food Rescue, and Food to Power to explore how localized, diverse, and community-driven solutions, return power, choice, and control back to the people most impacted by hunger and food waste, allowing for solutions that better meet people’s food needs.
Interview
What is the one thing you want Summit attendees to focus on in 2023?
Including community members' (people who receive food) voices, decisions and needs in solutions to food waste.
What motivates you personally to work on food waste-related issues?
The climate crisis disproportionately affects communities who are already disproportionately affected by white supremacy and capitalism. Working on food waste initiatives reduces strain on our climate while giving us access to a resource (food) that can be used to not only feed people but build connections, relationships and power.