Each year, American consumers, businesses, and farms spend $218 billion a year growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that is never eaten. That’s 52 million tons of food sent to landfill, plus another 10 million tons discarded or left unharvested. Food waste is responsible for roughly the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as 37 million cars. At the same time, one in seven Americans is food insecure. The concept of “waste” is changing, and companies are embracing the circular economy where unused or discarded products can be reused to make new products. In the food industry, entrepreneurs are stepping up to seize opportunities. They are developing solutions bringing efficiencies to the supply chain (upstream) and reducing food waste (downstream). They are also using less water and energy, as well as looking for new solutions to soil improvement. In this discussion and presentation from seven local start-up companies, guest speakers will try to explain the systemic causes of food inefficiencies and define what it means to move toward "zero food waste." They will also showcase innovations and talk about new opportunities in manufacturing, farms, and upcycling. **Startup Exhibitors:** [AdaViv](https://www.adaviv.com/) [Cambridge Crops](https://www.cambridgecrops.com/) [GreenChoice](https://www.greenchoicenow.com/) [Magnomer](https://www.magnomer.com/) [New Bedford Port Authority](https://portofnewbedford.org/) [Shameless Pets](https://shamelesspets.com/) Photo from Han Cheung's video ["Tracing Dining Hall Food Waste"](http://Tracing Dining Hall Food Waste). CC 2012