Zero Waste, Big Impact: Dana Gunders on Setting New Standards in Food Conservation

In this episode, we sit down with Dana Gunders, President of ReFED and a renowned expert in food sustainability. Dana shares her path into the food waste sector, emphasizing the critical environmental and economic impacts of food waste. Under her leadership, ReFED has achieved remarkable milestones, such as a 25% reduction in surplus food among West Coast grocers, and has spearheaded innovative strategies. These include AI-enhanced demand planning, advanced markdown apps, and dynamic employee-driven initiatives. We explore how these efforts intersect with broader climate change policies and discuss both the potential economic benefits and the challenges ahead. Dana emphasizes the vital roles of public awareness and private sector engagement in reaching the ambitious goal of cutting food waste by 50% by 2030. Join us for a compelling conversation about transforming food waste challenges into opportunities for greater sustainability.

About Dana Gunders

Deemed "the woman who helped start the waste-free movement" by Consumer Reports, Dana Gunders is a national expert who has dedicated her career to helping industry, policymakers, and consumers activate solutions to reduce food waste. Her landmark 2012 report "Wasted: How America is Losing Up to 40% of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill" sparked a national dialogue about the consequences of food waste, and since then, she has continued to bring the issue to a wider audience through testimony before Congress, her Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook, and appearances in media such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Times Magazine, Fox News, Teen Vogue, PBS Newshour, and hundreds of other outlets. Before joining ReFED in 2019, she served as a founding Board member for the organization. When not worrying about it professionally, Dana spends far too much time convincing her two young kids to eat broccoli stalks and reinventing their uneaten lunches as family dinner.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to the Podcast

00:25 Meet Dana Gunders: Food Sustainability Expert

01:36 Dana’s Journey into Food Waste Management

03:34 The Birth of ReFed

05:02 ReFed’s Mission and Achievements

10:49 Innovations in Food Waste Reduction

14:45 Consumer Awareness and Behavioral Change

18:40 Food Waste and Climate Change

23:01 Economic Implications of Food Waste

26:21 Food Security and Food Waste

27:57 The U.S. Food Waste Pact

33:19 Challenges and Solutions in Reducing Food Waste

38:13 Personal and Professional Insights on Food Waste

43:47 Innovations and Future Directions

46:05 Conclusion and Final Thoughts