Implementing and Expanding ReFED’s Influence to New and Existing Partners

Abstract

Food waste is an issue that has detrimental environmental impacts and is present throughout the entire food supply chain. Food is produced at increasingly high rates, meaning food production consumes a large amount of land, resources, and money while contributing to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Still, there are many communities that are food insecure across the globe. To address these issues and the larger climate crisis, ReFED, a national nonprofit, is working to end food loss and waste across the food system through data-driven solutions. ReFED was established in 2015 by over 30 organizations consisting of businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and government leaders seeking to reduce food waste. They constructed the first national economic study and action plan surrounding the food waste dilema called, “The Roadmap to Reduce Food Waste.” The action plan created transparency in waste flows, costs, and opportunities to form an efficient and sustainable food system by leveraging prevention, recovery, and recycling methods. The University of Michigan project team was responsible for utilizing their knowledge to identify and work with a variety of initiatives to increase both the number and diversity of stakeholders engaging in food waste reduction strategies. The project was divided into multiple phases. First, the team researched high potential opportunities for organizations willing to integrate food waste reduction strategies. Second, they identified key criteria for prioritizing the various organizational, membership, certification, standards, measurement, and educational programming opportunities. Third, they reached out to target organizations that were considered to have the greatest potential for partnership alongside ReFED. 17 out of the original 100 opportunities were deemed worthy of pursuing by ReFED. Of these 17 opportunities, roughly half are either considering or are already implementing ReFED’s specific recommendations. At a high level, a plethora of organizations that could improve their waste reduction strategies were considered. However, most organizations were not willing to collaborate even when the selection process for outreach was deliberate and thorough. Indeed, only nine out of the 100 original opportunities researched were interested in collaborating with ReFED. Consequently, ReFED has decided to create resource documents for organizations to learn from and to only pursue specific partnership collaborations if an organization reaches out to them directly.