Please join us at the University of Pennsylvania on December 8 and 9 for The Last Food Mile – a conference dedicated to reducing food wastage and losses along the United States’ supply chain and to develop a more sustainable food system.
Across the globe, we waste between 30 and 50 percent of all food produced – well more than 1 billion tons of food annually. Such a staggering amount occurs despite the fact that nearly 1 billion people across the globe (including 50 million in the United States) are hungry, obesity rates continue to rise due to inadequate nutrition, competition for scarce resources is accelerated by a growing and increasingly affluent population, and concerns over the pollution of air, water, and soil continue to grow.
Indeed, food waste is central to the challenge of feeding 9 billion global citizens by 2050 in a sustainable manner, but there is tremendous opportunity at the global, national, regional, and local levels. Reducing food waste has important environmental benefits in terms of reduced pollution and reduced resource consumption, while capturing and redirecting excess food to hungry individuals creates important social and health benefits. Reducing food waste also results in financial benefits to forward-thinking organizations. Opportunities to reduce losses and waste exist all along the food supply chain, but much work needs to be done – and quickly.
Join thought leaders from industry, government, non-profits, and academia who will bring varied perspectives – as well as passion – to a detailed discussion of the challenges, opportunities, and innovations in reducing food waste in the U.S. Panel discussions at the conference will focus on consumers, industry, food recovery, and behavior change and will be supplemented by keynote presentations.
Speakers include:
- Kenneth Cassman, University of Nebraska, Professor of Agronomy
- Barbara Ekwall, Senior Liaison Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization, UN
- Jean Buzby, Chief of Diet, Safety and Health Economics, Economic Research Service, USDA
- David Galligan, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine
- Jihad Rizkallah, VP of Responsible Retailing, Ahold USA
- Dave Stangis, VP of CSR and Sustainability, Campbell Soup Company
- Yasmin Siddiqi, Global Marketing Director, DuPont
- David Masser, Sterman Masser Potato Farms
- Robert Giegengack, University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts & Sciences, EES
- Eugenie Birch, University of Pennsylvania, Institute for Urban Research
- Laura Abshire, National Restaurant Association
- Tom Quested, Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP)
- Jonathan Bloom, Journalist, Author of American Wasteland
- Andrew Shakman, LeanPath
- Tom O’Donnell, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- Steven Finn, ResponsEcology; University of Pennsylvania, Organizational Dynamics
- Jim Ferguson, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine
- Elise Golan, Director for Sustainable Development, USDA
- Bill Clark, Wharton Social Impact Initiative, former CEO of Philabundance
- Steven “Mike” Waldmann, Society of Saint Andrew
- Claire Cummings, Bon Appetit Management Foundation
- Doug Rauch, Conscious Capitalism, Founder of Daily Table
- Nora Goldstein, Editor, Biocycle
- Kathleen Sealey, University of Miami, College of Arts & Sciences, Biology
- Alan Kelly, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine
- Paul Rozin, University of Pennsylvania, School of Arts & Sciences, Psychology
- John Stanton, Saint Joseph’s University, Food Marketing
- Roni Neff, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Nicole Civita, University of Arkansas Law
- Zhengxia Dou, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine
An overview of the conference, and a link to the registration page, can be found here. A link to the agenda, with topics and speakers, can be found here.
Please join us in advancing initiatives to reduce food losses and waste across the U.S. supply chain!
Do you work on the front lines of food recovery efforts? Ask about a discounted rate at registration.
