SWANA

Jam Session

Hungering to Understand Food Waste Players and Policies (1 CEU)

Wednesday, August 22
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Exhibit Hall Theater & Cafe 150

Running a successful food diversion program means digging in to practices, policies, rules and regulations. During this session, you’ll learn about benefits like tax credits, legal concerns around donations (the U.S. Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act), barriers of getting food to people who need it, success and challenges of food waste landfill bans, and downstream policy concerns. Bring your challenges for how to feed your community—body and soul.

Who should attend: Federal, city and state officials; solid waste management districts; food banks; health departments; food waste generators.

By attending this session, you will be able to:

  • Have a conversation with key stakeholders in the food waste policy area
  • Articulate the link between policy making and implementation
  • Know more about federal, state and local food waste policies

Jamie Zawila, Consultant, Resource Recycling Systems

Jamie Zawila

Jamie Zawila is a consultant with Resource Recycling Systems. She utilizes over 18 years of experience working with solid waste management districts to develop and update solid waste and recycling plans. She strives to understand each community, county or district goals, address policy issues, provide data analysis, and develop plans compliant with state regulations and goals. Her background in solid waste consulting and as an environmental specialist in the planning unit of the Ohio EPA provides experience in solid waste and recycling planning, communications, and analytics—all of which are influential in guiding districts through the planning process, program development, and program implementation. Ms. Zawila holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Cincinnati.

Darby Hoover, Senior Resource Specialist, Food & Agriculture Program, Natural Resources Defense Council

Darby Hoover

Darby Hoover is a Senior Resource Specialist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. She specializes in issues related to wasted food prevention, composting, anaerobic digestion, zero waste, recycling, and sustainable packaging. Ms. Hoover’s previous work includes helping to manage NRDC’s sustainability initiatives with sports and entertainment organizations, including Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, the Academy Awards, and the GRAMMY Awards. Her publications include NRDC’s “Estimating the Quantities and Types of Food Waste at the City Level,” “Guide to Composting at Sports Venues,” and “Game Changer: How the Sports Industry is Saving the Environment.” Darby received her bachelor's degree from Stanford University and her master's in Energy and Resources from U.C. Berkeley.

John Fischer, Branch Chief, Commercial Waste Reduction & Waste Planning, Massachusetts DEP

John Fischer

Biography forthcoming.

Eric Weiss, Senior Consultant, Brickner & Bratton, Inc.

Eric Weiss

Eric Weiss is a Consultant II with Gershman, Brickner & Bratton, Inc. (GBB), a national solid waste management consulting firm. At GBB, he has worked with public and private sector clients to provide data analysis, modeling and forecasting, solid waste systems engineering, research and outreach support. Prior to joining GBB, he graduated from Lehigh University with an integrated degree in engineering and arts and sciences, with core competencies in environmental engineering and environmental journalism. His passion for eliminating food surplus led him to understand that it is possible to create value from all types of waste materials. As a consultant, he works to learn the most effective ways to accomplish this for his generation and the next. Mr. Weiss is a member of the SWANA Mid-Atlantic Chapter and remains an active alumni through Lehigh’s sustainability affinity program. As a young professional in the solid waste management industry, he looks forward to learning something new every day about transforming waste to resource.

Hotel Info

Gaylord Opryland Hotel

Gaylord Opryland Hotel
2800 Opryland Dr, Nashville, TN 3721

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