On May 12, Leanpath Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Shakman delivered the closing keynote address at the 2022 ReFED Food Waste Conference. "Unfortunately," he states, "the scale of our movement does not yet match the scale of the food waste problem." Reflecting on 18 year of driving food waste change, Andrew identifies the limiting beliefs that are holding us back--and how we overcome them. Watch the video above or read the following transcript.
After this fantastic conference, everyone should be armed and ready to drive change. And I hope we’re seeking not just any change: We want meaningful change. Big change. Fast change.
As skilled change agents, it behooves us to anticipate obstacles that might lie ahead. So, today I’ll be sharing a few observations about overcoming challenges, based on many years working on food waste.
Food waste is clearly a compelling topic. We all know it’s a ”no brainer”, the very definition of a nexus issue. Unfortunately, the scale of our movement does not yet match the scale of the food waste problem. And this is not for lack of effort or lack of progress - this conference is testament to the collective advancements we are making. Progress is absolutely afoot.
But I’ve observed myself, and have discussed with some of you, that this fight often feels difficult. More difficult than it should be given the magnitude of the problem. This has caused me to reflect on a central question, closely linked to our conference theme: What stands in the way of this movement achieving greater scale, at a faster pace?