2023 Food Waste Solutions Summit
May 16-18, 2023 | St.Louis, MO
Leigh Prezkop
Senior Program Specialist for Food Waste
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
Bio:
Leigh Prezkop is a Senior Program Specialist for Food Waste with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the world’s leading conservation organization combining a foundation in science with innovation to meet the needs of both people and nature around the globe. Leigh joined WWF is 2016 and manages the food loss and farm-level work in the greater food loss and waste portfolio. Leigh’s expertise includes agriculture and food systems, urban agriculture, small-scale aquaculture, and environmental public health. Previously, Leigh worked as a farmer and fermenter for medium-scale vegetable farms and urban-farm production companies. Leigh also served in the United States Peace Corps in Zambia as a Rural Aquaculture Promotion Extension Agent, teaching locals how to construct and maintain small fish farming operations. She earned her Masters in Public Health focusing on Environmental Health Science and Policy from The George Washington University and holds a BA in Communications from Sonoma State University.
Interview
What is the one thing you want Summit attendees to focus on in 2023?
I’d love to for Summit attendees to focus on measurement of waste and loss throughout the whole supply chain and how/what doors that opens for reduction, diversion, and prevention through collaboration and transparency. I’d also love for Summit attendees to focus on the role of nature and biodiversity in food waste prevention as well as food insecurity and sustainable diets.
What motivates you personally to work on food waste-related issues?
What motivates me to focused on food waste-related issues is our partnerships and relationships with growers and suppliers, and finding a solution that benefits both nature and people. Growers and suppliers work to supply healthy and nutritious food to their customers, and so seeing it go to waste is not ideal. Additionally, the precious resources used to grow that food, are also being wasted. It motivates me to support growers in finding solutions, and understand what’s happening in their fields so they can streamline operations to reduce loss and waste. Growers are the foundation of our food system.