2023 Food Waste Solutions Summit

Not all food waste is created equal. Despite meat not being the largest contributor to food waste — five percent in comparison to fruits and vegetables which constitute more than a third of total food waste  — specific meats such as beef, veal, and lamb are responsible for the majority of GHG emissions caused by waste due to overgrazing, methane emissions, and fossil fuel use. Where does waste in the meat industry occur, and what can be done to address this? Majority of waste takes place during slaughtering and further losses occur down the chain during retail as well as at the consumption stage. That said, strides have been made to reduce waste in this sector. Come hear from industry leaders about new innovations, the growing momentum to address these challenges, and the success stories around reducing meat waste. 

You can't manage what you don't measure. Across the food industry, food waste reduction is often buried in operational budgets, where it is accepted as the cost of doing business. Over time, more and more business leaders are recognizing that reducing surplus food  is an opportunity to contribute to social and environmental goals, while also improving their bottom lines in the process. To support decision-making, how do we generate accurate and reliable data on food loss and waste measurement?  This session will examine how food businesses can successfully build toolkits by providing a comprehensive overview of the various methods and tools available for measuring, estimating, and predicting food waste along the supply chain. This workshop is tailored towards individuals or groups who work at food businesses and are responsible for measurement, as well as those who want their food businesses to measure food waste but don't know how. The workshop will begin with a brief overview of ReFED’s Food Waste Monitor and Solution Database tools — as one methodological example— and then break out into small group discussions where participants will get crash courses in particular food waste measurement methodologies from leading experts. Participants will rotate to different tables every 20 minutes to learn about different methodologies with the ultimate goal of establishing a community of practice to help reduce barriers to entry.