Futureproofing the Food System: The environmental impact of food systems takes center stage

14-Nov-2022 - Last updated on 14-Nov-2022 at 12:54 GMT

As international leaders gather in Egypt for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27) to discuss, for the first time, the impact of food and agriculture systems on the environment, industry stakeholders large and small already are fighting to mitigate the impact of their businesses by reducing food and packaging waste.

At FoodNavigator-USA’s digital summit – Futureproofing the Food System – this week (Nov. 15-17) food manufacturers ranging from established players including The Coca-Cola Co. and Del Monte Foods to emerging brands, including No Evil Foods and Renewal Mill are join industry analysts and trade groups to share strategies for reducing the environmental impact of food packaging and food waste.

During our panel Upcycling in Focus: From ‘Rescued Produce’ to Barley Milk from Brewer’s Spent Grains at 2:15 CT Nov. 17 moderated by Elizabeth Crawford, deputy editor for FoodNavigator-USA, Molly Laverty, senior manager, environmental, social & governance at Del Monte Foods, along with Caroline Cotto, co-founder and COO of Renewal Mill, and Turner Wyatt, CEO of the Upcycled Food Association will explore innovative ways to create value-added products and aspirational brands using by-products from food processes or ingredients that otherwise would be wasted.

They will share the extent of dangers posed to the environment and nutritional security by food waste and how upcycling would-be waste into nutritious components and products for human consumption is alleviating both.

In addition, they will discuss how to incorporate food waste reduction and upcycling into a viable business model, including the inspiration and market potential for their products, how they built reliable supply chains, how they communicate the benefits of upcycling and their products to consumers while simultaneously defending against greenwashing, and where they see the most potential going forward.

Their discussion about reducing food waste will complement another conversation about reducing packaging waste that will take place earlier in the day. At noon on Nov. 17 during the panel Sustainable Packaging … from Recyclable to Compostable to Re-Usable, to Edible Packaging our panel of experts will explore progress reducing the environmental impact of food packaging and what needs to change within the industry or at a regulatory level to make this happen.

The panel, moderated by Elizabeth Crawford, deputy editor of FoodNavigator-USA, includes Christine Yeager, director of sustainability at The Coca-Cola Co., John Hewitt, vice president of packaging sustainability at the Consumer Brands Association, Sadrah Schadel, CEO and co-founder of No Evil Foods, and Anne Greven, global head of FoodBytes! By Rabobank.

Learn more about each panel and register for the free Summit HERE.