Reclaiming food waste with Jasmine Crowe-Houston of Goodr (2022)
Sep 14, 2023
45:43
auto_awesome Snipd AI
Jasmine Crowe-Houston, founder of Goodr, discusses solving the food waste problem by delivering unused food to those in need. They talk about the challenges of logistics, launching as a for-profit organization, and the corporate focus on sustainability. The podcast explores the origins of Sunday Soul's initiative to feed the homeless with dignity, the shocking statistic of 40% food waste, and the issue of lack of access to food for those in need.
Read more
AI Summary
Highlights
AI Chapters
Episode notes
auto_awesome
Podcast summary created with Snipd AI
Quick takeaways
Goodr works with businesses to deliver surplus food to local nonprofits, aiming to reduce food waste and provide for those in need.
Jasmine Crowe-Houston chose to build Goodr as a for-profit organization to offer a financially sustainable solution to waste management and hunger issues.
Deep dives
The Problem of Food Waste and Hunger in the United States
In this podcast episode, Jasmine Crow-Houston discusses the issues of food waste and hunger in the United States. She highlights the fact that while there is an abundance of food produced, 40% of it goes to waste. She emphasizes that there is enough food to feed every American, but many people still experience hunger. Jasmine shares her inspiration for starting Gooder, a company that works with businesses to redirect surplus food to those in need. Through technology and logistics, Gooder helps businesses reduce their food waste and ensures that the excess food gets delivered to nonprofits. The goal is to eliminate food insecurity by reducing food waste by 15% and providing food to 25 million Americans.
Building a For-Profit Solution to Food Waste
Jasmine explains why she chose to build Gooder as a for-profit company rather than a nonprofit. She saw that businesses were already paying to dispose of their excess food, so she positioned Gooder as a waste management provider with a sustainable solution. By charging businesses for the food pickup and delivery service, Gooder provides an efficient and financially sustainable model. Jasmine discusses the challenges she faced in building a technology platform and a network of vehicles and drivers to handle the logistics. She also addresses the criticisms she received and reiterates the importance of using technology to solve the problems of food waste and hunger.
Expanding Nationwide and Making a Significant Impact
Jasmine shares her plans for the future of Gooder, including expanding the company's reach to more cities and states. She discusses partnerships with organizations like Sedexo Magic and highlights the significance of changes in legislation that make it illegal to throw away excess food in some states. Jasmine envisions a future where Gooder has a presence in every state and reduces food waste by 15%, which would provide enough food to feed 25 million Americans. She emphasizes the importance of leveraging technology to make a positive impact and expresses her commitment to solving the issues of food waste and hunger.
Millions of Americans don’t have enough to eat — a startling fact considering 40% of the food produced in the U.S. gets thrown away. And a lot of that food… from restaurants, supermarkets, office buildings and more… is perfectly safe to eat. What’s worse is that this discarded food waste produces harmful methane emissions that contribute to global climate change.
Jasmine Crowe-Houston is an entrepreneur who became obsessed with these problems. In 2017, she founded Goodr, which works with businesses to take unused food and deliver it to those who need it. Instead of paying waste management companies to throw surplus food into landfills, businesses can work with Goodr to deliver that food to local nonprofits that get it to people in need.
This week on How I Built This Lab, Jasmine talks with Guy about solving the logistical challenge of delivering surplus food to people experiencing food insecurity. Plus, the two discuss Jasmine’s decision to launch Goodr as a for-profit organization, and the growing corporate focus on sustainability that’s led to Goodr’s rapid growth.
This episode was produced by Katherine Sypher and edited by John Isabella, with music by Ramtin Arablouei. Our audio engineer was Neal Rauch.