The NYC Summit on Food Waste and Food Loss was incredibly inspiring, thank you to all who participated, shared, and tuned in!
We heard from more than 35 incredible speakers including Dan Barber, Dickie Brennan, Questlove, Tim Ma, Haile Thomas, Marion Nestle, Roy Steiner, Rhea Suh, Ben Tinker, and many more among an all-star lineup of conversations moderated by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, and more!
575 people from across the country attended, including representatives from food waste and food loss organizations in New York and beyond, city and state elected officials, journalists, and students. 62,340 people viewed the free live stream throughout the day, and the #foodtank hashtag trended on Twitter.
Questions from the audience sparked engaging dialogue among our diverse speakers and panelists. They helped generate new ideas and spark action towards combating food loss and food waste from within communities, cities, and governments.
In case you missed it, you can watch the full summit on youtube here and here.
The morning sessions began with a welcome and introduction from Pamela Morris, the Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development and Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank. Danielle then launched the Summit with a Fireside chat with Dan Barber, Chef and Co-Founder of Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, discussing why food waste is an issue we can solve and the role of chefs in sustainability.
Tobias Peggs, Co-Founder and CEO of Square Roots, spoke about the necessity of putting the farmer at the center of the food system before Julia Moskin, Reporter from the New York Times, moderated another Fireside chat featuring Roy Steiner, Managing Director for Food of The Rockefeller Foundation, and Rhea Suh, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
An inspirational and engaging Fireside Chat featuring Questlove and Haile Thomas, Founder and CEO of HAPPY (Healthy Active Positive Purposeful Youth), and spotlight from Homa Dashtaki, Owner of White Moustache Yogurt, led up to the first panel of the day, which wrapped up the morning sessions. Bryan Walsh, Former International Editor of Time Magazine moderated a conversation about the role of restaurants and companies fighting food waste between Dickie Brennan, Owner and Managing Partner of Dickie Brennan & Company, Brad Nelson, Vice President of Global Operations Discipline Leader from Marriott International, Marco Canora, Chef and Founder of Brodo, Katherine Miller, Vice President of Impact at the James Beard Foundation, Dadisi Olutosin, Co-Founder and Chief Culinary Officer of Plated Food Groupe, and Joe Folds, President of Pacific Foods.
The afternoon sessions began with a spotlight on Sheryll Durrant of the International Rescue Committee and New Roots Farm Coordinator. Caity Moseman Wadler, Executive Director of Heritage Radio Network, then moderated a panel on solving food loss on the farm between Rafael Flor, Director of YieldWise at The Rockefeller Foundation, Marie Haga, Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, Tobias Grasso, North American President of Food Care at Sealed Air, Elizabeth Mitcham, Director of the Horticulture Innovation Lab and Postharvest Specialist for the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis, Jane Ambuko, Senior Lecturer and Head of Horticulture for the Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection at the University of Nairobi, and Jack Algiere, Farm Director at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.
Before a spotlight on Sandy Nurse, Founder and Co-Director of BK ROT, Danielle and Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, engaged in a stimulating Fireside chat about the importance of policy to address the systematic challenges around food loss and food waste.
The afternoon continued with a panel on improving food recovery, moderated by Ben Tinker, Supervising Producer, CNN Health, and included André Thompson, Director of Food Programs at New York Common Pantry, Bonnie McClafferty, Director of the Food Value Chain at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Elizabeth Balkan, Director of Food Waste at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Robert Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of Rescuing Leftover Cuisine, Karen Hanner, Vice President of Manufacturing Partnerships at Feeding America, and Chris Cochran, Executive Director of ReFED.
The day concluded with a Fireside chat featuring Tim Ma, Chef and Owner of Kyirisan, and Gabriele Corcos, Host of Extra Virgin, moderated by Charles Passy, Reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
The Summit presented a diverse range of perspectives on food loss and food waste, leaving participants inspired and with tangible action steps to bring back to their communities.
It’s not too late to attend a Food Tank Summit in person. On November 14th we head to San Diego and tickets are now on sale. We promise an incredible agenda focusing on Growing the Food Movement. Stay current on FoodTank.com and on Food Tank’s Facebook page.
We are grateful for our wonderful event partners and sponsors, which included New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development; Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center; Rethink Food Waste Through Economics and Data (ReFED); Natural Resources Defense Council; the Fink Family Foundation; The Rockefeller Foundation; Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN); Driscoll’s; Edible Manhattan; Food For All; the Food Recovery Network; Great Performances; Mother Jones; Nature’s Path; Niman Ranch; Organic Valley; and Sealed Air.
