Plenary Sessions

Video Message from Gina McCarthy and Tom Vilsac to FRS Attendees

Federal Initiatives on Food Efficiency and Recovery - Video Recording

Monday, Nov 16                 1:30 – 3:00

Federal government representatives will highlight initiatives related to food loss and waste efforts.  Join Summit participants with a Federal Call to Action on reducing wasted food.

Speakers: Mathy Stanislaus - Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, U.S. EPA

Barbara Ekwall - Senior Liaison Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Video Part 1Video Part 2

Industry Initiatives on Food Recovery - Video Recording

Monday, Nov 16                 3:30 – 5:00

Leadership in food recovery is coming from a powerful coalition of industry actors representing food manufacturers, retailers, and restaurants.  This session will feature an overview of industry initiatives under the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, followed by a panel discussion sharing perspectives on how we advance food recovery.

Moderator: Scott Mouw - State Recycling Director, NC DEQ

Speaker: Gail Tavill - Vice President, Packaging and Sustainable Productivity, Conagra Foods, and Chair, Food Waste Reduction Alliance

Panelists:   Ian Olson - Director, Sustainability Strategy and Restaurants, McDonalds

Michael Hewett - Director of Environmental and Sustainability Programs, Publix

Christy CookDirector Sustainability Performance and Field Support, Sodexo

Circles, Cycles, and Pyramids - Video Recording

Tuesday, Nov 17                 8:30 – 9:45

The practice of source reduction, food rescue and donation, and recycling of nonedible food has evolved in the 15 years since the traditional food waste management hierarchy in the form of an inverted pyramid was created. How can the experiences and knowledge gained to reduce wasted food throughout the food supply chain — from production to consumption to resource management — inform the way we present the fundamental message of food recovery and recycling? What would happen, for example, if we used the “circular economy” model?   Or a food system life cycle approach where there is no “waste” to dispose? Panelists provide a variety of perspectives.

Facilitators:Nora Goldstein - Editor, BioCycle

Nina Goodrich - Executive Director, GreenBlue's Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Panelists:  Susan Robinson - Federal Public Affairs Director, Waste Management, Inc.

Andrew Shakman - Co-Founder and CEO, LeanPath

Kathleen Salyer - Deputy Director - Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, U.S. EPA

Mapping Our Way Forward on Food Recovery - Video Recording

Wednesday, Nov 18         1:30 – 3:00

This session will present a brief summary and main take-aways of the Food Recovery Summit sessions.  Panelists will identify and address the key next steps in food recovery and help outline future work to accelerate progress.

Moderator: Michelle Heelan - ICF International Facilitator

Panelists: Mathy Stanislaus - Assistant Administrator - OSWER, U.S. EPA

Scott Mouw - State Recycling Director, NC DEQ

John Laughead - Sustainability Program Manager, Delhaize America

Dana Gunders - Staff Scientist, Food and Agriculture Program, NRDC

Paulette Dunn - Executive Director, Loaves & Fishes

Karen Hanner - Managing Director Manufacturing Product Sourcing, Feeding America

Wayne Koeckeritz - President, Food Waste Disposal, LLC

Breakout Sessions

Campaigns to Create Big Picture Awareness

Tuesday, Nov 17 10:15 - 11:45

Food waste and recovery is becoming a very prominent issue, driven in part by organizations and individuals who have been working hard to create awareness. This session will feature some of the most important efforts to raise the public profile of food efficiency and to rally us to action.

Moderator: Richard Chesley, South Carolina DHEC

Speakers:    Dana Gunders - Natural Resources Defense Council

Cheryl Coleman - U.S. EPA

Barbara Ekwall - Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN

Successful Commercial/Institutional Collection Partnerships

Tuesday Nov 17 10:15 - 11:45

This session will focus on building successful partnerships to help establish collection from commercial and institutional food waste generators. Learn what drives generators to divert food, how collection is set up, how contracts work, and what other pieces fell in place to make these diversion programs a success.

Moderator: Peter Klaich - Rubicon

Speakers:  Jen Jones - College of Charleston

Wayne Koecheritz - Food Waste Disposal

Maggie Dangerfield - Charleston County School District

Gary Bilbro - SMART Recycling, Inc.

Nick Jonjevic - Burtons Grill, Mt. Pleasant

Regulations and Optimizing Food Recovery

Tuesday, Nov 17 10:15 - 11:45

Safe and effective food recovery requires permitting and regulatory oversight. Appropriate regulations are crucial to the development of infrastructure and programs to divert food discards from disposal. This session will cover how different regulatory approaches can positively affect food recovery efforts.

Moderator: Ron Vance - U.S. EPA

Speakers: Jana White, South Carolina DHEC

Nicole Civita - University of Arkansas School of Law

Emily Broad Leib - Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic

John Fischer - Mass DEP

Recovering Food From Residential Sources

Tuesday, Nov 17 1:15 - 2:45

Households generate as much as 300 - 400 pounds of leftover food per year. How can this material be collected and put back to beneficial use? This session will present an overview of community residential food recovery programs and what makes them successful.
Moderator: Nora Goldstein - BioCycle

Speakers:  Rick Lombardo - Nature-Tec

Justin Senkbeil - CompostNow

Gemma Evans - Howard County, MD

Carla Bitz - Calgary, CA

Processing of Commercial and Institutional Food Discards – Generators’ Perspectives

Tuesday, Nov 17                 1:15 – 2:45

Once discarded food is collected, it must be managed through on-site or off-site processing.  Speakers in this session will discuss various methods of managing separated food discards in commercial and institutional settings, sharing experiences with different approaches and tips on what factors to consider in choosing the best options.

Moderator: Jana White - South Carolina DHEC

Speakers:    Kim Brunson - Publix

Jona Gallagher - Enviropure

Christy Cook - Sodexo

Cheri Chastain - Sierra Nevada

Composting of Food Discards

Tuesday, Nov 17                 1:15 – 2:45
Composting is a key food recovery technology, but it must be done properly and with a valuable end-product in mind. This session will explore the details of successful food composting, including the importance of clean feedstocks, how to optimally conduct the composting process, and how to ensure the production of high quality compost.
Moderator: Patrick Brownson - South Carolina DHEC
Speakers: Craig Coker - Coker Composting
Jen Maxwell - Appalachian State University
Jim Lanier - Earth Farms
Ned Foley - American Biosoils and Compost
Food Rescue and Donation Please Participate in the Session Survey Click HERE

Tuesday, Nov 17 3:15 - 5:00

Discussion will focus on major barriers in food rescue and donation.  A variety of perspectives will be represented, including: local and large businesses, food donation organizations and facilities, growers and academia.  Challenges and options of food donation will be addressed and solutions outlined.  Participants will be able to contribute to session direction and conversation topics by completing the on-line survey in advance of the Summit.

Moderator: Chris Beling - U.S. EPA - Region 1

Speakers: Kimberly Reynolds - Publix

Jill Staton Bullard - Interfaith Food Shuttle

Karen Hanner - Feeding America

John Masters - One80 Place

Nicole Civita - University of Arkansas School of Law

Emily Broad Leib - Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic

Kate MacKenzie - City Harvest

The Business of Food Recovery

Tuesday, Nov 17 3:15 - 5:00

For large-scale food recovery to be feasible, the business of preventing, collecting, and processing food discards needs to work. This session will address everything from basic economics to financing and sound business planning in building a long-term and sustainable (and profitable) food recovery infrastructure.

Moderator: Jay Bassett - U.S. EPA Region 4

Speakers: Sarah Vared - MissionPoint Partners

Andrew Shakman - LeanPath

Fred Atiemo - Self-Help Credit Union

Joseph McMillan - Atlas Organics

Noel Lyons - McGill Environmental

Alan Johnson - Quasar

Campaigns to Engage Consumers

Wednesday, Nov 18 8:30 - 10:00

As they become aware of food waste and recovery issues, average citizens can play a huge role in achieving solutions. Speakers in this session will share examples of successful efforts to engage citizens and to help them participate in solutions in their role as consumers.

Moderator: John Laughead - Delhaize America

Speakers: Chris Beling - U.S. EPA

Laura Fuller - United Nations Environmental Programme

Ali Schklair - National Consumers League

Jimmy Nguyen - USDA

Regan Hill - Ad Council

Local and State Programs - Paving the Way to Increased Food Recovery

Wednesday, Nov 18 8:30 - 10:00

This session will feature a panel discussion focusing on how state and local governments help create a favorable environment for successful food recovery. State and local leaders will discuss how they use grants, technical assistance, networking, and mandates to develop infrastructure and robust diversion programs.

Moderator: Leanne Spaulding - US Composting Council

Panelists: Eric Gerringer - Orange County, NC, long-time diversion program in place

Christine Moskos - Charleston County, SC

Jorge Montezuma - NC DEQ

Ian Jurgensen - Orlando, FL

Chantal Fryer - SC Dept. of Commerce

Digestions of Food Discards

Wednesday, Nov 18 8:30 - 10:00

Anaerobic digestion is attracting more attention as an effective means of capturing the energy value of recovered food. How does AD work and where does it fit in the hierarchy of food recovery techniques? This session will share examples and details of successful us of AD in address food discards.

Moderator: Craig Coker - Coker Composting and Consulting

Speakers: Melissa Pennington - U.S. EPA
Ryan Begin - FEED Resource Recovery

Lauren Fillmore - WERF

Doug Ross - Freestate Farms

Scott MacDonald - Prince William County, VA

Grassroots and Community-based Initiatives in Food Recovery

Wednesday, Nov 18 10:30 - 12:00

Progress in food recovery and reducing food waste will come through the commitment and actions of a huge range of generators and other entities. This session will share the stories of organizations who are creating and rallying people to effective food recovery and waste reduction initiatives.

Moderator: Scott Mouw - NC DEQ

Speakers: Regina Northouse - Food Recovery Network

Brenda Platt -ILSR

      Nina Goodrich - GreenBlue's Sustainable Packaging Coalition

The Role of Animal Feeding in Food Recovery

Wednesday, Nov 18 10:30 - 12:00

Feeding animals represents a cost-effective option for many food waste generators. How do the logistics of animal feeding work and where does it fit in the overall efforts of food recovery? This session will feature an inside look at the role of animal feeding as a key strategy in the diversion of food from disposal.

Moderator: Kim Brunson - Publix

Speakers: Matt Hedrick -Organix

Thomas Harrison - Valley Proteins

John Laughead - Delhaize America

Michael Martin - 

Kevin Yon - Yon Family Farms, Ridge Springs, SC

Compost/Digestate End Use

Wednesday, Nov 18 10:30 - 12:00

Once a food-based compost has been produced, are there good markets for it? Digestion processes also result in a by-product that needs a viable use as well. This session will explore effective development of value-added markets for compost and digestive, which helps then improve the overall economics of food recovery.

Moderator:  Jorge Montezuma - NC DEQ

Speakers: Noel Lyons - McGill Environmental

Al Rattie - US Composting Council

Alan Johnson - Quasar

Dave Thornton - Clemson University


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