Dear ReFED Community,
This summer has been an exciting time of growth and progress, both for ReFED and in the effort to reduce wasted food at scale. We have developed new programs around food business engagement, capital and innovation, and are growing our team.
On Wednesday, ReFED, Food Tank, and Rockefeller Foundation are co-hosting Focusing on Food Loss and Food Waste: 2017 Food Tank Summit NYC. This one-day event features over 40 food system experts, entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, writers, chefs, nonprofits, businesses, and government representatives. The entire event was streamed on Facebook Live.
As we move into fall, look out for the release of our Stakeholder Action Guides for restaurants, retail, and foodservice companies and updates on the formal launch of our Funder’s Collaborative!
Sincerely,
Chris Cochran
Executive Director, ReFED
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ReFED in Action
On The Hill
Following the release of Opportunities to Reduce Food Waste in the 2018 Farm Bill, ReFED joined Food Policy Action, Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, and celebrity chefs in Washington D.C. to brief congressional representatives and staffers on the importance of addressing food waste through common sense policies. We discussed federal policy priorities, including date label standardization, increased on-farm food recovery, expanded donation liability protections, and support for organic waste bans.
Progress on Date Labeling Standardization
Current date labeling practices cause confusion, leading to an estimated 20% of consumer waste. ReFED’s Date Labeling Working Group consulted with more than 40 food safety experts to develop a beta version of a tool to promote the accelerated adoption of the Grocery Manufacturers Association and Food Marketing Institute’s voluntary commitment to standardize date labels by helping manufacturers determine which label to use for different products. Standardized date labels are expected to address over $2 billion of wasted consumer spending every year.
ReFED Expands
ReFED is excited to announce that our team is growing! We recently welcomed two new Fellows, Zoe Wong and Angel Veza. Zoe joins ReFED in support of our Capital & Innovation programs, and Angel is working on ReFED’s Stakeholder Action Guides. Welcome Angel and Zoe!
We look forward to expanding our team even further, and recently posted job descriptions for three new positions. Find additional details and application instructions below, and please share with any exceptional candidates in your network.
- Director, Capital & Innovation
- Manager, Capital & Innovation
- Manager, Communications
Updates from the ReFED Network
WASTED! The Story of Food Waste available on all platforms this fall
Anthony Bourdain, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Zero Point Zero Production illuminate the global issue of food waste in this feature-length documentary. As it journeys to educate viewers on opportunities for reducing food waste in our daily activities, WASTED! incorporates ideas and perspectives from world renowned chefs, grassroots activists, and food system experts, all committed to reducing food waste. See the film in theaters this fall, or host your own screening. Check out the official trailer!
Closed Loop Foundation awards funding to eight startups disrupting food waste management
The Closed Loop Foundationselected eight outstanding startups to receive a portion of $350,000 through their food waste solution search. Grantee projects range from converting post-consumer food waste into compostable bioplastic, to developing new consumer food products from byproductsof other manufacturing processes, to collection and processing systems for the restaurant and retail industries.
NRDC publishes update to landmark “Wasted” report
The new publication builds upon NRDC’s 2012 report that sparked national conversation on food loss and waste. The second edition of Wasted: How America is Losing up to 40 Percent of its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill highlights a number of corporate commitments, policy achievements, research publications, and action-oriented resources that have become available over the past five years, including ReFED’s Roadmap.
New study captures governmental approach to food waste
The Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health continues to produce valuable research on wasted food. Their most recent project looked at 93 governmental plans to reduce food waste, identifying trends and best practices. Check out all of the Center for a Livable Future’s projects on wasted food here.
Innovator Spotlight
ReFED’s Innovator Database is the largest and most comprehensive collection of innovations in food waste solutions. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Konstantin Zvereff, CEO and Co-Founder of BlueCart about strategies for effective food waste reduction.
ReFED:** If you had to pick one way to address food waste, what would you do or encourage others to do?
**KZ:**Pay attention to your own data. Your own data speaks volumes of what you can do. If you start looking at how much food you actually waste, you will start to be really sensitive. **It’s one of these data points that can move the needle across the entire industry.**You can make more money and operate in a much more sustainable way.
Learn more about what makes BlueCart an incredible innovator here.
Say Hello! Connect with ReFED at these Upcoming Events** Food Tank Summit
NYC - September 13
Don’t forget to join via Facebook Live!
ISWA World Congress and WASTECON 2017
Baltimore, MD - September 23-25
Environmental Grantmakers Association Annual Retreat
Seattle, WA - September 24-27
SOCAP17
San Francisco, CA -October 10-13
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2017 Conference & Expo
San Antonio, TX - October 15-18