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“A third of food that is produced is not eaten.” Globally, staggering amounts of food are wasted every single day, in large part because of the fact that the processes that are used to make everything from beer to cheese often result in byproducts that are discarded despite the value they still hold. Alongside the fact that nutritious products are not ending up in their intended destinations (i.e. in human beings) in a world rife with food insecurity, this is a crisis that is having a detrimental environmental impact due to the high levels of greenhouse gasses that are emitted from decaying food. Thankfully, it is also one that is entirely capable of being resolved.
The idea of upcycling, which Daniel Kurzrock happened upon as he was looking for better things to do with the “brewers spent grain” (BSG) from his home-brewed beer business than throw it away, is what forms the foundation of his company, Upcycled Foods, Inc. By turning it into consumables like energy bars and loaves of bread, Daniel and his team are chipping away at the 20 billion pounds of BSG that ends up as animal feed or in landfills around the US every year.
After listening to this episode, you’ll have a deeper understanding of the environmental footprint of food waste, the challenges that Upcycled Foods, Inc overcame to effectively upcycle their BSG, and the enormous value of upcycling from a “better for you” and “better for the planet” perspective.
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Key Points From This Episode:
• How Daniel’s foray in the home-brewed beer industry led to the founding of Upcycled Foods, Inc. [0:00:32]
• Understanding the concept of upcycling and how Daniel has made it the basis of his business, Upcycled Foods, Inc. [0:05:58]
• An overview of the global food waste problem and examples of how it can be solved through upcycling. [0:07:51]
• The various challenges of upcycling “brewers spent grain” (BSG) from the brewing process and how Daniel and his team overcame them. [0:14:20]
• Daniel explains the health benefits of consuming products made from upcycled grain from the brewing process. [0:20:11]
• Why food waste reduction is one of the most effective climate change mitigation strategies. [0:23:20]
• Exploring the different levels of the Food Recovery Hierarchy and the environmental footprint of beer.
• Ethical and sustainable elements of the Upcycled Foods, Inc. business model of which Daniel is particularly proud. [0:34:34]
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Quotes:
“Beer is one of humanity's original products of the land.” — Daniel Kurzrock [0:02:25]
“[Upcycling] is about taking things from the path of least resistance and putting them into the path of highest value.” — Daniel Kurzrock [0:06:30]
“Globally, we’re wasting about one-third of food. So, a third of food that is produced is not eaten. In the US, it’s closer to 40%, which is the equivalent of leaving a grocery store with five bags and dropping two in the parking lot.” — Daniel Kurzrock [0:08:10]
“Food waste is a market failure. The market has failed to produce the outcome that is optimal for society.” — Daniel Kurzrock [0:11:53]
“Food waste reduction is widely recognized to be one of the top levers we have in the fight against the climate crisis.” — Daniel Kurzrock [0:23:45]
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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Upcycled Foods, Inc — https://upcycledfoods.com/
Upcycled Foods, Inc on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/company/upcycled-foods/
Upcycled Foods, Inc on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/upcycledfoodsinc/
Daniel Kurzrock on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielkurzrock/
ReFED — https://refed.org/
ReGrained Supergrain+ — https://www.regrained.com/
Food Recovery Hierarchy — https://www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/
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