2023 Food Waste Solutions Summit

May 16-18, 2023 | St.Louis, MO

Patience Kabwasa

Executive Director

Food to Power

Bio:

Patience Kabwasa has lived in Colorado for the past 24 years and is the Executive Director of Food to Power, a non-profit whose mission is to cultivate a more equitable food system in the greater Colorado Springs region.As a non-profit leader and community advocate, Patience is passionate about economic justice, education and criminal justice reform. She has more than 15 years of experience partnering and organizing with communities to build and maintain community gardens, improve community safety, make policy recommendations to the Board of Education for Colorado Springs School District 11, increase fresh food access, advocate for affordable housing and houseless solutions and increase voter registration and turnout.Since 2019, Patience has served on the board of directors for the Citizen’s Project, a Colorado Springs based non-profit which is a  fearless, bold advocate and engaging voice that empowers and challenges our entire community to embrace equity, inclusion, and justice.  Prior to 2019 Patience has served the community in various capacities through volunteer work in many different organizations whose focus is to amplify the voices of those who are most at risk for neglect.She is a community food equity educator and has been a guest speaker at conferences such as the  Pikes Peak Foodshed Forum, Colorado College, & University of Colorado - Colorado Springs, & Forward Food Summit. She holds an  A.A. from Pikes Peak Community College, is a 2018 graduate of the Center for Creative Leadership training, and a 2019 Aspen Ideas Health Scholar. She is a 2021-22  CIviCO Governor’s Fellow and is currently working towards my B.A. in Strategic Communications from the University of Colorado - C.S.But her most important role is Mama, to 3 spirited teenagers/young adult.

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.

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