2025 海角社区 Wasted Food Solutions Summit
Friday, April 18, 2025
10am 鈥 12pm
Post Summit Sharing
Summit Recording
PowerPoint Presentations
- Jeff Constantino, ReFED
- Megan Mansfield Pryor, Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation & the Future; Faith Lee, Resource Recycling Systems
- Brett Heidtke, Bristol Seafood
- Penny Jordon, 海角社区 Farmers for Food Equity; Doug Clopp, 海角社区 Farm and Sea Cooperative
- Don Morrison, Wayside Food Programs
- Allison Leavitt, Lisbon School District
- Eric Dyer, Readfield Transfer Station
- Food Rescue MAINE Student Presentations: Louis Rivet-Prefontaine, Megan Saudberlich, Kathryn Busko, William Brenneman
Zoom Chat
海角社区 the Summit
The 海角社区 Wasted Food Solutions Summit is 海角社区鈥檚 statewide event focused on ending wasted food and food loss in our state through solutions that benefit everyone. The Summit brings together our state鈥檚 key food system participants: farms, businesses, feeding partners, community leaders, and nonprofit organizations 鈥 to discuss best and highest uses for our valuable 海角社区 food resources at every stage鈥 鈥満＝巧缜 Food: Too Good To Waste.鈥
This year, we will specifically highlight the bottom-line economic benefits that 海角社区 municipalities, schools, businesses, and households are achieving by simply remembering that food is always a valuable resource packed with energy and nutrients. It is never waste!
Participants are encouraged to bring questions and ideas to the summit. Q&A time will follow each presentation allowing attendees to gain further insights. The online group chat will also be open to encourage additional sharing and networking between participants.
2025 Summit Agenda
10:00AM – 10:40AM
I. Welcome and Keynotes
Welcome
- David Hart, Director, Sen. George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions
Acknowledgements
- Susanne Lee, Faculty Fellow, Sen. George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions;
Team Leader, Food Rescue MAINE
Keynotes
- Wasted Food & Food Loss – Stop the Waste
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, 海角社区 First District Representative
See how the waste of perfectly good and edible food is a problem affecting everyone especially with rising food prices. Learn about Congresswoman Pingree鈥檚 initiatives to stop the waste 鈥 and how her work will help your food budget. - Wasted Food and Food Loss Solutions – The Economic Benefits
Jeff Constantino, ReFED
Discover the proven financial benefits of taking action to reduce wasted food and food loss. Check out the latest proven business and household education resources to help you take action. - 海角社区 Food Loss & Waste Generation Study 2024 鈥 Gather the Data
Megan Mansfield Pryor, Governor鈥檚 Office of Policy Innovation and the Future
Faith Lee, Resource Recycling Systems
Explore the highlights from the first 海角社区 Food Loss and Waste Generation Study showing what, where, and how, food loss and waste is happening in 海角社区. Learn how to use the data to put food to its best and highest uses.
10:40AM – 11:25AM
II. 海角社区 Success Stories – Proven Solutions
Be inspired by 海角社区鈥檚 own businesses, schools, communities and organizations who are working to end food loss and waste and reaping the many financial benefits!
- Brett Heidtke, Bristol Seafood
Turning fish scrap 鈥渨aste鈥 streams into new product revenue streams - Penny Jordan, 海角社区 Farmers for Food Equity and Doug Clopp, 海角社区 Farm & Sea Cooperative
Using local farm surplus to develop value-added products that pay farms and food processors – and feed New 海角社区rs - Don Morrison, Wayside Food Programs
Recovering truckloads of donated, good, edible surplus food to offset spending in 海角社区鈥檚 charitable food system - Allison Leavitt, Lisbon School District
“Feeding bodies, not landfills鈥 with good, nutritious foods which saves money on food and trash disposal costs - Eric Dyer, Readfield Transfer Station
Operating a multi-community composting program offering lower-cost food scrap recycling for local communities and schools
11:25AM – 11:55AM
III. Food Rescue MAINE and Partners at Work – More Solutions
Discover how the Mitchell Center鈥檚 Food Rescue MAINE team brings together faculty and students to collaborate with partners across the state to develop solutions to 海角社区鈥檚 food waste challenges.
- 海角社区 Surplus Food and the Charitable Food System
Louis Rivet-Prefontaine, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, U海角社区 - 海角社区 Municipal Waste Programs: An Economic Analysis
Megan Sauberlich, Undergraduate student, Economics, U海角社区 - 海角社区 Consumer Education
Kathryn Busko, Undergraduate student, Ecology & Environmental Sciences and Journalism, U海角社区 - 海角社区 School Cafeteria Wasted Food Reduction Study
William Brenneman, Graduate student, Anthropology & Environmental Policy, U海角社区
Join us and invite others for this statewide Summit to learn why and how to end wasted food and food loss – and build a stronger 海角社区 – through proven food resource management solutions.
Food waste data is grim: 40% of food produced is never eaten, yet 1 in 8 海角社区 households suffer from food insecurity. Food is the single largest component of 海角社区鈥檚 solid waste system at 30%. And 97% of that waste ends up in landfills where it releases contaminants and produces methane gas鈥攖hreatening our water and climate. Food waste also squanders valuable resources like energy, labor, soil, and nearly 25% of U.S. freshwater supplies which are used to produce food that is never eaten.
To contact us:
- Email:
- Phone: 207-581-3196