By Cierra Lannon

Charlotte will host the 2026 ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit May 19-21 at The Westin in Uptown Charlotte.

For ReFED, a leading nonprofit in the food waste movement, Charlotte is a place to gather people from all parts of the food system in a region that shows both the challenges and opportunities of tackling food waste.

“The ReFED Summit is the big tent for the food waste movement,” says Nate Clark, communications manager for ReFED. He points out that the summit’s purpose is to bring together focd businesses, academics, policymakers, food recovery groups, and technology providers who might not usually work together. 

Despite this, the ReFED Food Waste Solutions Summit is open to anyone interested in reducing food waste, whether or not they work directly in the food waste sector. The three-day summit will include a number of sessions lead by various food system leaders, decision-makers discussing various food waste topics, including one led by noted chef and food advocate Andrew Zimmern.

Last year’s summit was held in Seattle, Washington. Moving the event cross-country to Charlotte reflects the steps North Carolina has taken in this field with programs like Use the Food NC, which aims to reduce landfill waste, lower methane emissions, and improve food donation systems. Charlotte itself has become a major hub for food distribution and logistics while dealing with urban food insecurity. ReFED sees those overlapping realities as central to the national conversation around wasted food.

According to ReFED, about one-third of all food in the U.S. is wasted, and one in seven Americans faces food insecurity. Still, only around 12 percent of food that could be donated actually is, which ReFED leaders see as a huge missed opportunity.

“You can’t suddenly divert all wasted food overnight,” Clark says. “But food recovery can play a massive role in closing the gap.”

This challenge is especially important in the Southeast, where issues such as transportation, uneven infrastructure, and varying state policies make food recovery more difficult. North Carolinians alone generated 2 million tons of food waste in 2023, costing the state $12.4 billion.

The summit’s focus on “solutions” is intentional. Although more people are aware of food waste than they were ten years ago, ReFED leaders say it’s time to move from just talking about the problem to taking real, measurable action.

ReFED often refers to the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Wasted Food Scale,” which prioritizes preventing food waste, then feeding people, feeding animals, using food for industry, composting, and, finally, sending food to landfills as a last resort. ReFED believes the best food system is one where everyone works together across this whole scale.

This systems-based approach shows up at the summit, which brings together everyone from composting operators to AI software companies. ReFED calls itself “solutions agnostic,” meaning it judges strategies by their real impact, not by any particular belief or theory.

A key part of this work is ReFED’s Insights Engine, a data platform that tracks food waste across the U.S. and looks at the economic and environmental benefits of different solutions. Organizers say that any major solution advocated for at the summit is supported by research and cost-benefit analysis.

Technology is changing how people talk about food waste. Summit sessions will examine how artificial intelligence can support inventory management, demand forecasting, and food recovery logistics. At the same time, shifts in consumer habits are creating new opportunities for restaurants and retailers.

ReFED points to research showing that 60 percent of American diners would choose restaurants with flexible portion sizes. This is important because plate waste, or uneaten leftovers, accounts for about 70 percent of restaurant food waste.

Today, more people are using GLP-1 medications, which often lower appetite and change how people buy food. ReFED says that 75 percent of GLP-1 users would prefer flexible portion sizes, which could help restaurants cut waste and better meet customer needs.

In the end, ReFED wants people to leave the summit feeling empowered, not just informed. With about 70 million tons of food wasted each year in the U.S., ReFED hopes attendees will walk away with useful tools, data, and partnerships to help lower that number.

“When it comes to sustainability issues, everyone eats,” Clark says. “Food waste is something everyone can do something about.”

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