Food Waste Intelligence

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?

After a lengthy Covid-related break, Leanpath was pleased to join numerous colleagues, partners and food system changemakers for the ReFED 2022 Food Waste Solutions Summit in Minneapolis last week.

We would like to share our congratulations to the ReFED team for an expansive, exceptionally well-curated session that covered multiple sectors and themes (consumer change, climate, capital, DEIJ, health, innovation, etc.) while underscoring the need for urgent action to halve food waste in accordance with the 2030 United Nations’ goal.

The action focus at the summit was clear. Upon entering the venue, participants were greeted with several inspirational messages on large banners drawing from the ReFED Insights Engine and the Roadmap to 2030. One message reminded everyone that “Food waste is a solvable problem. Here’s how to do it.” Another noted, “No Time. No Food to Waste. What actions will you take to promote the key insights and learnings from the Summit?”

In keeping with that inspirational framing, below are five (non-exhaustive) key takeaways from the summit.

Your kitchen is nearing the end of a busy service and it’s been a long day. Your culinary team is short staffed. Everybody is drained and looking forward to heading home. But there’s still food to be served, and breakdown and clean up still have to be done. 

There are many food waste critical control points within a kitchen: the end of service is one of the most important. What happens in this short span of time, when staff are often distracted, can have a large impact–positively or negatively–on your food waste prevention efforts. 

The key to avoiding this excess waste is to have a plan for the end of service and communicate it to the culinary team. Here are the key elements of a waste-aware end-of-service plan.

Six years ago, recognizing the need to drive increased focus on the global food waste challenge, Leanpath partner Compass Group launched an educational campaign designating the last Wednesday in April as Stop Food Waste Day.

Coming just days after Earth Day–with this year’s theme of “Invest in our Planet”–the timing couldn’t be better, because reducing food waste is one of the single most effective levers that the world has to transform the food system. It also is key to accelerate progress toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and stem climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, however, it is hard to ignore the financial burden the foodservice industry, and consumers in general, are facing. Global food commodity prices hit an all-time high in March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 

Stop Food Waste Day 2022 is a good time to remember that while food waste prevention is one of the most actionable initiatives kitchens can do for the environment, it is also one of the most impactful initiatives for a kitchen’s bottom line.

Hello everyone and happy Earth Day. I'm Andrew Shakman, Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Shakman.

I have one simple thought and request for you as we collectively reflect today on the changes needed to sustain our planet.

My request: please don’t underestimate the importance of food waste.

When Earth Day was founded 52 years ago, food waste prevention was not a central concern. But this year, the newest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change references food waste 125 times.

And there’s a reason for that.