2026 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit

Maria El Dahdah is a Food Waste and Food Insecurity Consultant with LIDD Supply Chain Consultants who specializes in data-driven analysis of food loss and waste across the supply chain. Her work includes leading research with ReFED to estimate food loss and waste in U.S. manufacturing and distribution, where she focused on establishing baselines, quantifying volumes lost, and distinguishing losses from primary through further processing using primary data, secondary data, and established methodologies.

In addition to this work, Maria has conducted end-to-end supply chain analyses to identify root causes of waste and evaluate reduction opportunities, including assessments of produce supply chains. She also works with food banks and emergency food organizations to analyze agricultural surplus and explore pathways to transform excess food into value-added products for human consumption, strengthening food recovery and redistribution systems.

Maria is a recent graduate of McGill University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics. She brings a strong analytical and systems-level perspective to food system challenges and is passionate about using data to reduce food waste, support food banks, and build more resilient and equitable food systems.