Sign up for our awesome New York Tech Events weekly email newsletter.     LOCATION EVENT DETAILS Food Waste has been identified as one of the most crucial environmental & social challenges of this century. According to Project Drawdown, "the food we wasteis responsible for roughly 8 percent of global emissions." The USDA estimates that in the US alone, we toss out more than $160 billion in food every year. The department recently setthe first-ever national food loss & waste goal, calling for a reduction of 50% by 2030. But rapid innovation is needed if we are to make a dent in the status quo & reach such an ambitious target.In partnership with The CleanWeb NYC, this speaker series & panel discussionwill explore these innovations within the world of food waste. Recognizing that innovative business models can fall all along the technology spectrum, we want to know: How are businesses in this space innovating to create models that can sustain their efforts? How have these organizations adapted their strategies based on prior shortcomings? What fundraising challenges and/or solutions have presented themselves? How much of a focus is being put on scalability & replicability? Confirmed speakers include: Celeste McMickle, founder, Celestial Solutions Sashti Balasundaram, founder, WeRadiate Robert Lee, founder, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine Amanda Weeks, founder, Industrial/Organic Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli, Operations Director, Common Ground Compost Sources: Project Drawdown | NY Times | USDA