Our 2021 Seminar Series… insert description here
Turner Wyatt is a social entrepreneur focused on climate change via food waste prevention. He is the Co-founder and CEO of the Upcycled Food Association, which aims to prevent food waste by growing the upcycled food economy. Turner began his fight against food waste in the food rescue movement, where he served as the Co-founder and Executive Director of Denver Food Rescue. In 2015, he was appointed by the Mayor of Denver to serve on the Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council where he assisted the City and County of Denver in creating policies to make a more sustainable and just food system. Turner is co-founder and Board President of Fresh Food Connect a nonprofit technology company focused on creating a market for home grown food. Turner is the recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Colorado, as well as the Waste360 40 Under 40 Award, and the Top 20 Emerging Leaders in Food and Ag award. Turner is based at 9,000 feet above sea level in Crested Butte, Colorado, where he spends his days off skiing, running, and climbing. https://www.upcycledfood.org/ https://www.turnerwyatt.com/
A Columbus native, Susan Swinford took the reins of Food Rescue US – Columbus just before the Covid-19 shutdown necessitated a rapid recalibration of how to fight food insecurity and food waste. In the midst of a pandemic, this effort takes many forms and requires many adaptations, whether empowering volunteers to deliver meals prepared by local restaurants and funded with emergency grants or .working with community service leaders to revamp food distributions with social distancing. Susan recruited Emily Rials to join her as assistant site director shortly after concluding Food Rescue’s work with the WAITT initiative, which provided food to 20,000 central Ohioans. Together, Susan and Emily have coordinated the distribution of over 2.5 million pounds of food through the USDA Farmers to Families Program, while also expanding the day-to-day food rescuing opportunities and outreach available to Food Rescue volunteers through the organization’s website. Their focus is minimizing food waste by diverting excess food away from landfills and onto the plates of food-insecure families, using the Food Rescue model to reach and empower communities and individuals outside (or with less access to) Columbus’s existing food support network.
