USAID’s Kitchen Sink: A Food Loss and Waste Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Our latest episode is with Ben Collier, CEO of Farmlink, which connects farms with surplus to food banks to feed people in need and reduce carbon emissions. Ben shares the history of Farmlink and how they are rebranding food waste as “abundance,” which is explored in their short film by the same name: “Abundance: The Farmlink Story.” Together, Ben and Nika explore the role of food rescue organizations in the effort to reduce food waste. We end the episode by looking ahead at future opportunities for large scale produce rescue.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Ken Baker, Culinary Director for Rethink Food, which aims to bridge the gap between excess food and food insecure communities by preparing restaurant-quality meals from food that has been rescued from going to waste. Together, Ken and Nika share their experiences in the restaurant industry and the important decisions restaurants make to balance food waste and profits. Ken discusses how Rethink Food transforms excess into access in food insecure communities by providing nutrient dense, culturally relevant meals. We conclude with a discussion of how to shift the narrative around food waste.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Chris Somogyi, CEO of EverCase, a novel technology to reduce FLW by improving cold chain technology. Together, we discuss the challenges and opportunities in climate-smart cold chain and how to catalyze innovation and new technologies to reduce FLW.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Amanda Brondy, Vice President of International Projects at the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA). Together, we discuss how the work of GCCA contributes to FLW reduction, the importance of investing in climate-smart cold chain in emerging countries, and the opportunities for collaboration between cold chain companies and food banks to reduce FLW.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

As we celebrate the fourth International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste today, it is important to highlight the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) theme “Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Taking Action to Transform Agrifood Systems.” Today’s special episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink FLW Podcast explores the economic case for FLW: what are the economic impacts, what are the trade-offs, and how can we achieve the economic benefits of reducing FLW. In this episode, FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero Cullen is interviewed by USAID Senior Science Advisor and FLW Co-Lead Ahmed Kablan. Together, we discuss the argument for investing in FLW reduction and the considerations for return on investment. We conclude our episode by announcing FAO’s new Food Loss App (FLAP), which can help farmers identify problem areas for food loss and offer videos and technical information to provide solutions to reduce FLW.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

This month, USAID is hosting a Food Loss and Waste Theme Month on Agrilinks to recognize the fourth International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste (FLW) and elevate the global conversation on FLW. To celebrate FLW Month, the USAID Kitchen Sink Podcast is publishing two special episodes in September. Our first episode is with Dana Gunders, Executive Director of ReFED, a unique organization with a large network collaborating across the food system to reduce FLW. Dana provides a “pulse check” on what is happening in the domestic FLW space and the role that ReFED plays. Together, we discuss what makes ReFED unique and how this model could be replicated in the countries in which USAID works. We conclude our conversation by discussing the importance of private sector investment in FLW reduction.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

In this month’s episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast, Anesu Mawire, Project Development Specialist in the Regional Economic Growth Office and Feed the Future Coordinator for USAID South Africa, speaks with Mandla Nkomo, Chief Growth Officer at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture’s Central Africa Hub. Anesu and Mandla discuss value addition at source and how this practice can reduce food loss and waste. Food is often produced at far distances from where it is consumed, so processing it where it is produced, or “at source,” can help protect the safety and quality of the food as it moves across the supply chain. By improving food safety, value addition at source can prevent food loss and waste. Anesu and Mandla also discuss how women and youth can be engaged in value addition at source and the importance of increasing access to finance. 

Are you interested in participating in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink to share how you are tackling FLW by preventing, inspiring, and repurposing? Please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time (or food) to waste!

As the UN Food Systems Summit Stocktaking Moment concludes in Rome, we must continue to shine a light on the problem of food loss and waste (FLW) that strains our food systems and our climate. As the world faces the two interconnected crises of a changing climate and food insecurity, one-third of the global food supply is wasted or lost, severely hampering our efforts to end hunger, fight malnutrition, and mitigate climate change. Rotting food also emits methane – a powerful greenhouse gas with 84 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. As a result, FLW contributes approximately 8-10% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. If FLW were a country, it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world after the U.S. and China. UNEP estimates that FLW is associated with methane emissions near 50 Mt/yr2. This is why we need to act now, initiatives to reduce food loss and waste are critical to combat climate change and improve the overall health of our environment.

This month’s episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast features a discussion on FLW’s contribution to methane emissions with Malick Haidara, Senior Climate and Energy Advisor and Methane Coordinator at USAID, and Eleni Michalopoulou, a Research Associate at the Stockholm Environment Institute and co-author of the UNEP Global Methane Assessment. Eleni shares the link between FLW and methane as well as the major findings of the UNEP Global Methane Assessment. Malick shares USAID’s efforts to mitigate methane emissions, through the food systems and agriculture, waste and landfill management, and energy pathways. Malick and Eleni conclude their conversation with a discussion of the role of the private sector in reducing FLW and accomplishing the Methane Pledge.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Walker Lambert of Pierce Mill, part of the consortium for the Feed the Future food safety program Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Foods (EatSafe), which operates in Nigeria and Ethiopia and aims to increase consumer demand for safer food in the traditional markets, where millions of people buy and sell food every day. Progress in food safety efforts, such as utilizing best practices to increase food safety, can simultaneously decrease food waste and loss generated in local markets. As part of EatSafe’s programmatic design, uncovering stories from people living in and around the target markets is essential; EatSafe discovered these stories, which cross borders between food safety, loss and waste, through a technique called story sourcing. These stories shined a light on nuances of the community and the relationship to the market that more formalized data collections missed. Join us as we delve into this compelling story and its implications for food safety, and food loss and waste around the world.

Read up on all of the stories collected by EatSafe: eatsafe-storysourcing.org

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Adil Daniel, Food Security and Water Stewardship Coordinator of the Food and Markets Program of WWF Pakistan. Adil shares the work WWF Pakistan has done to measure FLW and inform policy. We explore how WWF Pakistan conducted baseline measurements of FLW among tomatoes and rice using questionnaires and interviews. Adil explains how WWF Pakistan has advocated for FLW policy through workshops, consumer awareness campaigns, and other social media platforms.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!