Rethinking Surplus: Innovative Solutions to Excess

Surplus is usually defined as what’s left over when the demand, or need, of a population has been met. However, in the context of the food system, this definition leaves us with more leftovers than answers. What might be referred to as surplus food faces a core contradiction: while approximately 35% of the food we produce goes to waste, about 50 million people in the U.S. are experiencing food insecurity. This number has increased from previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which begs the question – is it possible to have a food surplus when the need for nourishment is only going up?

This week, we rethink the meaning of surplus. We start off with a lesson on embracing the food sharing economy. Then, we walk through the process of upcycling leftover grain from breweries into crackers and learn about eliminating surplus in dairy production as a response to Covid-19. Last but not least, we look at an example of closed-loop manufacturing that turns surplus waste into a common household product.