USAID’s Kitchen Sink: A Food Loss and Waste Podcast

Our latest episode is with Walker Lambert of Pierce Mill, part of the consortium for the Feed the Future food safety program Evidence and Action Towards Safe, Nutritious Foods (EatSafe), which operates in Nigeria and Ethiopia and aims to increase consumer demand for safer food in the traditional markets, where millions of people buy and sell food every day. Progress in food safety efforts, such as utilizing best practices to increase food safety, can simultaneously decrease food waste and loss generated in local markets. As part of EatSafe’s programmatic design, uncovering stories from people living in and around the target markets is essential; EatSafe discovered these stories, which cross borders between food safety, loss and waste, through a technique called story sourcing. These stories shined a light on nuances of the community and the relationship to the market that more formalized data collections missed. Join us as we delve into this compelling story and its implications for food safety, and food loss and waste around the world.

Read up on all of the stories collected by EatSafe: eatsafe-storysourcing.org

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Adil Daniel, Food Security and Water Stewardship Coordinator of the Food and Markets Program of WWF Pakistan. Adil shares the work WWF Pakistan has done to measure FLW and inform policy. We explore how WWF Pakistan conducted baseline measurements of FLW among tomatoes and rice using questionnaires and interviews. Adil explains how WWF Pakistan has advocated for FLW policy through workshops, consumer awareness campaigns, and other social media platforms.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

To celebrate Stop Food Waste Day, our latest episode of the USAID Kitchen Sink Food Loss and Waste Podcast is with Pete Pearson, the Global Lead for Food Loss and Waste at World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Pete and Ahmed Kablan, Senior Science Advisor at USAID, discuss how addressing FLW can serve as a catalyst for sustainable food systems, forcing us to measure the impact of food systems on the environment. Pete shares the collaborative global network of WWF, which includes 80 offices worldwide. This network helps WWF tackle FLW to increase sustainability and preserve biodiversity. Lastly, we wrap up our episode with Pete’s wishlist of the top 2-3 advances he’d like to see in FLW and circular economy.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with David Davies, the founder of AgUnity, which is using smartphone technology to combat poverty and reduce FLW among smallholder farmers and their communities. David shares opportunities for tapping into digital and traceability technology to reduce FLW. We explore a case study of how digital technology can facilitate “triple wins” of increasing access to safe and nutritious food, safeguarding farmer livelihoods and profits, and reducing methane emissions by improving traceability across multiple agricultural supply chains. More information on AgUnity can be found in this short video.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode is with Thoric Cederstrom, Director of Research and Learning for Food Enterprise Solutions, which implements the Feed the Future Business Drivers for Food Safety (BD4FS) Project. BD4FS works with food businesses to adopt safer food handling practices to increase access to affordable, safe, and nutritious food. Thoric and Lourdes Martinez Romero, Senior Advisor in the USAID Center for Nutrition’s Food Safety Division, discuss the role of the private sector in reducing FLW and how improving food safety practices are a key part of this.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode with Jacob Ricker-Gilbert, Wyatt Pracht, and Patrick Ketiem of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Processing and Post Harvest Handling (FPIL) explores the role of youth in reducing food loss and waste. The speakers share findings from a recent project conducted in Kenya, an area where youth unemployment and smallholder farmers lacking access to agricultural inputs are two major challenges. To try and address these issues, the project conducted a randomized control trial with agricultural youth clubs to train 397 youths in business concepts, FLW reduction management and gender considerations; Youth were also linked with agricultural input suppliers and provided the opportunity to sell post-harvest inputs that included hermetic bags and low-cost moisture meters called hygrometers. The study increased access to inputs that help reduce FLW and increased the incomes of certain youth. The median youth who participated in the project gained an $10 additional monthly income. For more information, read the recent blog from FPIL.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

Our latest episode with Dina Esposito, who leads USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, explores the Agency’s prioritization of and approach to addressing FLW, which produces “triple wins” on climate, nutrition and food security, sustainable food systems, and economic development, especially in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the global food security crisis. Listen on as Dina and Ann Vaughan, Senior Advisor for Climate Change, share USAID’s FLW funding and programming that engages women and youth.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

The USAID Research Community of Practice Sub-Group on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) aims to share research and knowledge with USAID staff and implementing partners interested in the implications of and approaches to addressing FLW. In this episode of the monthly USAID FLW Podcast, Nika Larian, Food Loss and Waste Advisor at USAID, interviews Rusty Eason, a technical advisor with Brighthouse working with Food Enterprise Solutions with over 30 years of experience in the cold chain industry.

Rusty shares the important role that the cold chain plays in reducing FLW and the challenges that exist, including transportation, which is the “weak link” in the supply chain most likely to break the cold chain. We explore the business case for the profitability of investing in and implementing cold chain technologies.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

The USAID Research Community of Practice Sub-Group on Food Loss and Waste (FLW) aims to share research and knowledge with USAID staff and implementing partners interested in the implications of and approaches to addressing FLW. In this episode of the monthly USAID FLW Podcast, Kelley Cormier, Food Safety Division Chief at USAID, interviews Ignacio Gavilan of the Consumer Goods Forum. Ignacio shares his perspectives on the role of the private sector in reducing FLW and the potential trade-offs to be considered. Additionally, the importance of date labeling in FLW efforts is explored.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!

In this episode of the monthly FLW Podcast, Nika Larian, AAAS Fellow in the USAID Center for Nutrition, interviews Jagger Harvey, a Research Professor at Kansas State University and Director of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss (PHL-IL). This episode explores the work done under the PHL-IL to address food loss and waste. Jagger shares examples from the field that aim to improve food security and discusses the research gaps that remain.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian ([email protected]).

There’s no time to waste!