Circular Table Break Down Part 1.

"You See Trash, I See Value" - Valarie Wimes

"X Billionaire could end World Hunger"

"People are starving overseas"

"People are starving in America"

"People lack access to healthy foods"

"I live in a food desert"

These are comments we've all heard or even said. Yet, I've always thought, "What about the food going in the trash?"

We pay to produce food. We pay to get it to the store. We pay to dispose of it—both literally and environmentally. Last year, it is estimated that the U.S. wasted around 120 billion pounds of food, representing over $400 billion in lost value.

The Challenge of Food Waste

So, I asked, "What can we do about it?"

In 2024, I thought I would get the chance to tackle this issue through my consulting firm, which had the City of Austin as a client for Community Resilience. However, the city didn't control the food system. Half the people who needed help didn't think assistance was meant for them. Salaries hadn't caught up to post-COVID prices for anyone without a corporate job. Long story short, it didn't happen with the City of Austin, but my curiosity never left.

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LA STRONG

When a crisis occurs, everyone tends to have each other's backs a bit more than usual. For a couple of months, all hands were on deck. We leveraged social media, spreadsheets, and even a few new apps. But I knew it would eventually slow down. It always does. Money from everywhere was redirected to fire relief, and then the opportunity came.

I reached out to the funder and explained that I had a dormant nonprofit sitting on the shelf for a year. I could register it in California the next day if they wanted to invest in a sustainable system leveraging surplus food—what most call food waste. California Senate Bill 1383 was already pointing toward this.

I laid out the opportunity: address environmental issues (methane is worse than carbon), explore a new workforce model, and see if this could genuinely respond to the food affordability crisis. I aimed to serve those who don't qualify for assistance but still fall through the gaps.

I was clear: I wanted to utilize the food, not just redistribute it. This meant navigating more health and legal complexities. Receiving the maximum allotted amount as a technically new nonprofit was essential for freedom and time to map the landscape.

While I waited for a reply—about six weeks—I didn't sit idle. I began building out how it would be done and assembling the team to execute it.

They said, "Let's do it." Then, they went silent for another month and finally dropped the money all at once.

Key Takeaways

• Food waste is a systems failure, not a behavior problem. I was intentional about not blaming individuals. Solving a behavior problem scares funders. Solving a systems problem attracts them.

• Circularity isn't just an environmental idea—it's an economic one. Ensuring that things turn into other things creates value instead of waste. Just identify where the value lies.

  
  

• Shoot your shot, but back it up. I tied the idea to existing legislation and research before I ever made the ask. Fixing my eyes back on LA occurred once I saw SB 1383 passed in the California Senate.

  
  

• Work in the quiet. I didn't wait for the green light. This time, I knew it was going to happen.

  
  

• One door closing isn't the end. Austin wasn't the place. LA was... and it came with more money and time flexibility. If you care enough, space will open.

  
  

• Assess the risk, then decide. I understood why others hadn't done this at scale. The reward was too big to ignore. In the proposal, I planned for why someone might say no.

  
  

• By the way, we had no issues even managing 12 types of allergens at a given time.

  
  

If I were a billionaire, I'd invest in building infrastructure out of this leakage. Unfortunately, we aren't billionaires, but that doesn't mean we can't do this together. If you can, please join us in supporting Sameritan's work here.

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In the end, we can all contribute to transforming broken public systems into practical, circular solutions. Together, we can help our communities become self-sufficient and resilient, ultimately making our own services unnecessary. Let’s take action and make a difference!