CRRA 2023 Conference and Trade Show

Associate Director, Food Recovery Initiative

Susan has co-authored two recent reports: Making the Most of Surplus Food in Santa Clara County and Opportunities for Preventing and Recovering Wasted Food from Businesses and Institutions (commissioned by StopWaste in Alameda County).

Prior to joining Joint Venture, Susan ran Infinite Table, a consultancy supporting efforts to create regenerative food systems, fight food waste and tackle climate change. She also recently completed a research fellowship at Project Drawdown.

She has served in a board/advisory capacity to Zero Foodprint, Berkeley Food Network, the James Beard Foundation Full Use Kitchen Initiative, and on the NCRA Zero Food Waste Committee.

Innovations for Making the Most of Surplus Food

The presentation will focus on how Joint Venture supports county and regional efforts to expand, strengthen and promotion innovation in the areas of food waste prevention and food recovery. Through its management of the Santa Clara County Food Recovery Program and supplemental funding focused on capacity enhancements, Joint Venture works to expand the solution set as part of a county-funded umbrella initiative "Making the Most of Surplus Food," described in the 2022 report of the same name: https://jointventure.org/images/stories/pdf/Making-the-Most-of-Surplus-Food-in-SCC-2022-06-30.pdf.

The initiative builds on the collective experience and insight of two regional bodies convened by Joint Venture — the Silicon Valley Food Recovery Council and the Santa Clara County Food Recovery Steering Committee — to advance innovative solutions. The solutions tackle some of the more challenging areas of food recovery, such as recovering prepared foods, leveraging existing infrastructure, and alleviating pain points in the logistics and economics of food recovery. The presentation will feature details about a variety of pilots and projects being developed by Joint Venture that test new ways to bring recovered food directly to people facing food insecurity and to make food recovery more viable and efficient for businesses and institutions covered by SB 1383. 

Attendees will learn how SB 1383 is spurring innovation in a county like Santa Clara which has a fairly robust and mature food recovery and organics recycling sector, and come away with ideas for innovative solutions for preventing food waste and promoting food recovery.

Program Manager

Ciara's career reflects a lifelong commitment to building resilient regional food systems, strengthening food security, and reducing waste in the food sector. She most recently served as Regional Food Systems Coordinator at the Safe & Abundant Nutrition Alliance in Colorado and co-founded UpRoot Colorado where she worked to reduce on-farm agricultural surplus and increase regional food security through gleaning, Farm to Food Pantry programming, and innovative farm labor solutions, among other initiatives. She holds a BA in environmental studies from Brown University. 

Innovations for Making the Most of Surplus Food

https://jointventure.org/images/stories/pdf/Making-the-Most-of-Surplus-Food-in-SCC-2022-06-30.pdf The presentation will focus on how Joint Venture supports county and regional efforts to expand, strengthen and promotion innovation in the areas of food waste prevention and food recovery. Through its management of the Santa Clara County Food Recovery Program and supplemental funding focused on capacity enhancements, Joint Venture works to expand the solution set as part of a county-funded umbrella initiative "Making the Most of Surplus Food," described in the 2022 report of the same name: https://jointventure.org/images/stories/pdf/Making-the-Most-of-Surplus-Food-in-SCC-2022-06-30.pdf.

The initiative builds on the collective experience and insight of two regional bodies convened by Joint Venture — the Silicon Valley Food Recovery Council and the Santa Clara County Food Recovery Steering Committee — to advance innovative solutions. The solutions tackle some of the more challenging areas of food recovery, such as recovering prepared foods, leveraging existing infrastructure, and alleviating pain points in the logistics and economics of food recovery. The presentation will feature details about a variety of pilots and projects being developed by Joint Venture that test new ways to bring recovered food directly to people facing food insecurity and to make food recovery more viable and efficient for businesses and institutions covered by SB 1383. 

Attendees will learn how SB 1383 is spurring innovation in a county like Santa Clara which has a fairly robust and mature food recovery and organics recycling sector, and come away with ideas for innovative solutions for preventing food waste and promoting food recovery.