Unwasted: The Podcast
81 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 105 ratingsNewsflash — We have a waste problem in this country.
Want proof? In the United States, about 40% of our food supply goes to waste. And that’s just food.
We know it's easy to get overwhelmed by how wasteful we are in modern America. Maybe what's missing is some hope, some inspiration, and a helpful way to get started on the path to a more sustainable lifestyle.
Welcome to Unwasted — a podcast all about inspiring everyone to live less wasteful, more meaningful lives.
Each week, we hear the powerful stories of people on a mission to end our addiction to waste. We’ll have conversations full of food-for-thought, fun facts, and actionable tips, tricks, and recipes that you can try at home.
Because while we all may not see eye to eye on everything, the one thing we can agree on, is that we only have one life, one planet, and it would be a shame to waste any of it.
So join us, every week, on Unwasted with Imperfect.
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Episodes
Re-thinking Sustainable Apparel with Jenny and Stephanie of Rewilder
March 30, 2020 08:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBSometimes the worst types of waste are the ones that are invisible to 99% of the population. While food and plastic are particularly visible forms of waste in modern America, have you ever wondered what types of waste the airbag, beer, and advertising industries are producing and what happens to it? In this episode, we sat down with Jenny Silbert and Stephanie Choi, the founder and head of marketing of Rewilder to learn how this extraordinary company came to be and how they're rethinking a...
Diving into sustainable seafood with Ren Ostry of Kitchen Catch
March 23, 2020 07:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBDid you know the majority of the American seafood diet consists of just 3 fish? The result is an industry that's driven by consumer demand instead of natural supply that is unsurprisingly depleting the oceans of wild tuna, salmon, and shrimp populations at an alarming rate and forcing unsustainable forms of aquaculture to try to take their place. What would a more sustainable seafood industry look like? Ren Ostry has built a career answering this question. Her business, Kitchen Catch, enco...
How to Make a Better Meal Plan With Alison Mountford of Ends + Stems
March 09, 2020 07:00 - 52 minutes - 36.4 MBResearch has shown that simply having a shopping list and meal plan every time you buy groceries results in easier meals, saving money, and less waste. So why is it that this is so hard for so many of us to do? Alison Mountford knows the answer all too well. After seeing how much waste was happening in people’s homes during her time as a private chef, she started a business to help empower people with meal plans to make cooking easier and less wasteful once and for all. In our inspiring c...
How to Make a Better Meal Plan With Alison Mountford of Ends + Stems
March 09, 2020 07:00 - 52 minutes - 36.4 MBResearch has shown that simply having a shopping list and meal plan every time you buy groceries results in easier meals, saving money, and less waste. So why is it that this is so hard for so many of us to do? Alison Mountford knows the answer all too well. After seeing how much waste was happening in people’s homes during her time as a private chef, she started a business to help empower people with meal plans to make cooking easier and less wasteful once and for all. In our inspiring c...
Unraveling the Fashion Industry With Taryn Hipwell of Beyond the Label
March 02, 2020 08:00 - 46 minutes - 32.2 MBHave you ever wondered about the environmental footprint of your closet? Why is it that we are so concerned with avoiding pesticides and single-use plastics in our food but not our clothing? Is fast fashion worse for the planet than fast food? To answer these thorny questions and more, clothing expert Taryn Hipwell founded “Beyond the Label,” a nonprofit focused on consumer education and advocating for a more sustainable fashion industry. Her groundbreaking “What’s in my tee?” program sh...
Rethinking Restaurant Food Waste with Matthew Jozwiak of Rethink Food NYC
February 24, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 36.4 MB"How can we waste so much food while so many people in this country go hungry?" You've probably asked yourself this question before. This very frustrating disconnect between food waste and hunger is what motivated Matt Jozwiak to leave a career in some of the most prestigious kitchens in the world to start Rethink Food NYC, a nonprofit dedicated to taking restaurant leftovers and using a network of trucks and cooks to transport and transform them into nourishing meals for nearby nonprofits...
Rethinking Restaurant Food Waste with Matthew Jozwiak of Rethink Food NYC
February 24, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 36.4 MB"How can we waste so much food while so many people in this country go hungry?" You've probably asked yourself this question before. This very frustrating disconnect between food waste and hunger is what motivated Matt Jozwiak to leave a career in some of the most prestigious kitchens in the world to start Rethink Food NYC, a nonprofit dedicated to taking restaurant leftovers and using a network of trucks and cooks to transport and transform them into nourishing meals for nearby nonprofits...
Why Cooking Matters with Sarah Nelson of 18 Reasons
February 17, 2020 08:00 - 1 hour - 41.3 MBEver wish you could improve your home cooking skills? Sarah Nelson has built a career around teaching people like you how to cook at 18 Reasons, a food nonprofit organization in San Francisco. Through her work, she’s learned dozens of actionable tips and tricks that anyone can use to become a better cook and include healthy foods in your diet in a way that’s fun, sustainable, and delicious. We discuss how to overcome common roadblocks to cooking at home like not having enough time, money, ...
Recovering Restaurant Food Waste with Sabine Valenga of Food for All
February 10, 2020 08:00 - 47 minutes - 32.3 MBEvery year in the US, over 700,000 restaurants throw away 11 million pounds or over 25 billion dollars worth of food. To help turn this around, Sabine Valenga helped found Food For All, a business that sources surplus food from restaurants and lets individuals pick it up for a discount. Sabine's revolutionary business model is helping restaurants dramatically reduce how much food they waste each day and is helping Americans from all walks of life get access to the food they want for less. ...
Recovering Restaurant Food Waste with Sabine Valenga of Food for All
February 10, 2020 08:00 - 47 minutes - 32.3 MBEvery year in the US, over 700,000 restaurants throw away 11 million pounds or over 25 billion dollars worth of food. To help turn this around, Sabine Valenga helped found Food For All, a business that sources surplus food from restaurants and lets individuals pick it up for a discount. Sabine's revolutionary business model is helping restaurants dramatically reduce how much food they waste each day and is helping Americans from all walks of life get access to the food they want for less. ...
Building a Charitable Restaurant with Cierra and Chaz of Conscious Eatery
January 27, 2020 08:00 - 58 minutes - 40.2 MBConscious Eatery, aka “Seattle’s philanthropic sandwich shop,” is a restaurant and catering company in Seattle that donates a meal to someone in need for every meal sold. To date, the chef owners Cierra and Chaz have donated over 25,000 meals, built a network of collaborative nonprofits, and learned some powerful lessons about hunger and housing in modern America. In our chat, they share their personal experiences with homelessness, discuss some of the most overlooked and misunderstood asp...
Chef tips for better home cooking with Joshua Weissman
January 20, 2020 08:00 - 56 minutes - 39.1 MBAfter having an unhealthy relationship with food in his teens, Joshua Weissman lost 100 pounds at age 16 and turned a corner in terms of his diet and lifestyle. Today, he spends his days creating fun, quirky, and informative food content for his Youtube channel to share his passion for food with the world. In our chat, we explore Josh's unique culinary philosophy in depth. We discuss why it's so important to make food from scratch, restaurant cooking principles you can apply at home, and h...
The Importance of Slowing Food Down with Giselle Kennedy Lord of Slow Food
January 06, 2020 11:00 - 54 minutes - 37.7 MBWe all know that fast food is king all over the world, but have you ever wondered what exactly slow food is and why it matters? In our busy and exhausted era, Giselle Kennedy Lord from Slow Food USA stops by the podcast to explain why today it's more important than ever to take the time to slow down and share a meal with other people. She shares why taking the time to cook and eat a proper meal has huge benefits for our physical and mental health and our planet's biodiversity. We dig int...
The Importance of Slowing Food Down with Giselle Kennedy Lord of Slow Food
January 06, 2020 11:00 - 54 minutes - 37.7 MBWe all know that fast food is king all over the world, but have you ever wondered what exactly slow food is and why it matters? In our busy and exhausted era, Giselle Kennedy Lord from Slow Food USA stops by the podcast to explain why today it's more important than ever to take the time to slow down and share a meal with other people. She shares why taking the time to cook and eat a proper meal has huge benefits for our physical and mental health and our planet's biodiversity. We dig int...
Exploring the World of Coffee with Michael Sheridan of Intelligentsia
December 16, 2019 09:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBMost of us drink coffee regularly, but how often do you think about how and where it's grown? To help us understand the complicated intersection of business and agriculture that shapes the world of coffee, we invited Michael Sheridan of Intelligentsia coffee to the podcast. As the sourcing director of Intelligentsia, Michael has visited many of the world's top growing regions and has a unique perspective into the challenges facing the people that grow the coffees many of us know and love. ...
Exploring the World of Coffee with Michael Sheridan of Intelligentsia
December 16, 2019 09:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBMost of us drink coffee regularly, but how often do you think about how and where it's grown? To help us understand the complicated intersection of business and agriculture that shapes the world of coffee, we invited Michael Sheridan of Intelligentsia coffee to the podcast. As the sourcing director of Intelligentsia, Michael has visited many of the world's top growing regions and has a unique perspective into the challenges facing the people that grow the coffees many of us know and love. ...
Making Dinner More Fun and Less Wasteful with Carla Lalli Music of Bon Appetit
December 09, 2019 08:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBHave you ever wondered what it's like to create and share awesome recipes for a living? As the Food Editor at Large at Bon Appetit, Carla Lalli Music is an expert at making the complicated world of cooking accessible and fun for the home audience. In our chat, we cover advice for getting into food media as well as some of the common misconceptions about the industry. We also get into her recommendations for becoming a better cook, why confiting is the best cooking technique most people hav...
Making Dinner More Fun and Less Wasteful with Carla Lalli Music of Bon Appetit
December 09, 2019 08:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MBHave you ever wondered what it's like to create and share awesome recipes for a living? As the Food Editor at Large at Bon Appetit, Carla Lalli Music is an expert at making the complicated world of cooking accessible and fun for the home audience. In our chat, we cover advice for getting into food media as well as some of the common misconceptions about the industry. We also get into her recommendations for becoming a better cook, why confiting is the best cooking technique most people hav...
Exploring the American Wasteland With Jonathan Bloom
November 25, 2019 08:00 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBHave you ever felt like food waste was such a big and mind-boggling problem that you desperately wanted some perspective on how things ended up this way? If so, you need to meet Jonathan Bloom. To understand the extent of food waste in the United States as well as what causes it, he dove headfirst into our food system, spending time working on a farm, at a restaurant, in a catering company, and stocking shelves at a supermarket. The result was his groundbreaking book "American Wasteland:...
Reinventing Food Storage with Abeego's Toni Desrosiers
November 18, 2019 08:00 - 45 minutes - 31.6 MBHow we store our food is one of the single biggest ways all of us can create or prevent waste, but how often do you think about the materials that you use to store your favorite foods? Through the story of Abeego, the game-changing all-natural food wrap that she invented in 2008, Toni Desrosiers shares insights for aspiring environmental entrepreneurs as well as why the world is falling out of love with plastics, why sliced bread is a terrible idea, and why a block of cheese is a living or...
Taking On Plastic with Abeego's Toni Desrosiers
November 18, 2019 08:00 - 45 minutes - 31.6 MBHow we store our food is one of the single biggest ways all of us can create or prevent waste, but how often do you think about the materials that you use to store your favorite foods? Through the story of Abeego, the game-changing all-natural food wrap that she invented in 2008, Toni Desrosiers shares insights for aspiring environmental entrepreneurs as well as why the world is falling out of love with plastics, why sliced bread is a terrible idea, and why a block of cheese is a living or...
Researching food waste in America with Dana Gunders
November 11, 2019 08:00 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBDana Gunders is quite literally "the woman who helped start the zero-waste movement," according to Consumer Reports. In this fact-filled conversation, learn how what started out as a report on plastics in farming led her to learn that 40% of our food supply was going to waste. Dana is a true expert on food waste who knows the data like the back of her hand. In this candid chat she shares the honest and sometimes shocking truth behind why 75% of Americans believe they waste less food than t...
Going Zero Waste with Kathryn Kellogg
October 14, 2019 07:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBKathryn Kellogg is synonymous with going zero waste. She's written a book about it, has an incredible following on her Instagram account, and doesn't just talk the talk. She is a living example of how we all can live waste-free — yet still be a functioning part of modern society. Kathryn joined us to talk about the common misconceptions about going waste-free and how you can inspire others in your life to live a little less wastefully. Can't miss moments from the show Why you need to know...
Former Trader Joe's President Doug Rauch on Conquering Food Waste and Hunger
October 07, 2019 07:00 - 42 minutes - 29 MBDoug Rauch was instrumental in turning Trader Joe's into what it is today — a grocery shopping experience people love and flock toward. Under Doug's leadership, Trader Joe's redefined what it means to go food shopping. He hopes to have the same impact on hunger. Daily Table is Doug's latest venture — a nonprofit aimed at removing the stigma of food shelters so that those in need can get healthy food, without feeling like they're getting a handout. Doug talked with Reilly about the history...
Putting an End to Food Apartheid with Olympia Auset
September 30, 2019 08:00 - 54 minutes - 37.3 MB25 million people across the country live in food deserts — or what LA activist Olympia Auset calls food apartheid. People in these areas have easy access to junk food, liquor stores, and fast-food chains. But as Auset puts it if, "you want an organic avocado or tomato you'll be hard pressed to find it.” Auset is changing that with SuprMarkt, a pop-up grocery store that makes healthy food choices an affordable, realistic option for underrepresented communities. Auset talks to us about her...
Cooking More Sustainably with Chef Jessica Koslow of Sqirl
September 23, 2019 10:00 - 39 minutes - 27.3 MBJessica Koslow is the chef behind Sqirl, a widely popular LA-based breakfast and lunch spot that seems to always have a line out the door. As if Sqirl wasn't enough, Koslow is also opening a brand-new restaurant, Onda, has written a book on New California Cooking, and is about to release a new book on jam making. It's incredible to think that this highly acclaimed chef didn't go to culinary school. In fact, pursuing a career in food didn't hit her until her college years, when she found he...
The Power of Upcycling with Dan Kurzrock of Regrained
September 16, 2019 09:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBDan Kurzrock didn’t set out to change the world — he just wanted to drink free beer. But a college hobby of selling bread made from the spent grains of his homemade brewing hobby turned into a life’s mission: to improve the value of food. Dan is the CEO of Regrained. Regrained rescues the nutritious grain created every time beer is brewed, and upcycles it into Supergrain+ flour, which is the foundation of a line of food products they sell online and across the nation. Dan joined us to tal...
Allen Campbell — Tom Brady's Former Personal Wellness Chef
September 09, 2019 12:00 - 35 minutes - 24.7 MBIt’s not easy admitting that a lifelong passion isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That’s exactly what happened to Chef Allen Campbell — who years ago, discovered that playing the role of chef came at a cost to his physical and mental health. The result? Campbell switched gears, becoming a consultant and, recently, the personal wellness chef for New England Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady and his wife Gisele Bündchen. He coauthored his first book with Brady, The TB12 Nutrition Manual, and ...
Joel Gamoran of A&E's Scraps
August 31, 2019 15:00 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MBGrowing up, Joel Gamoran was petrified of speaking in public. And he can't stand writing. How, then, did he become National Chef for Sur La Table, the gregarious host of A+E's hit series “Scraps", and author of the Cooking Scrappy Cookbook? Joel joined us by phone to share his story, as well as cooking tips and tricks everyone can try at home to make their cooking more delicious, more sustainable, and less of a chore. Can't-miss moments from the show: Joel and his TV crew were robbed wh...
Davida Lederle — The Healthy Maven
August 30, 2019 17:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBDavida Lederle, aka The Healthy Maven, has a widely popular blog and podcast. Tens of thousands of people turn to her for tips and ideas on all things health and beauty — including recipes, hair tips. It's incredible to think that when she first launched her blog, she was too afraid to tell anyone about it for 3 months! Davida joined us to talk about her journey toward becoming the Healthy Maven, and shares specific tips she lives by to be happy, healthy, and less wasteful. Hint: It's ok...
Trailer: Unwasted with Imperfect
August 26, 2019 15:00 - 1 minute - 1.09 MBWe know it's easy to get overwhelmed by how wasteful we are in modern America. Maybe what's missing is some hope, some inspiration, and a helpful way to get started on the path to a more sustainable lifestyle. Hi, I'm Reilly Brock and this is Unwasted — a podcast all about inspiring everyone to live less wasteful, more meaningful lives. Each week, we hear the powerful stories of people on a mission to end our addiction to waste. Every week we’ll have a fun conversation full of food-for-th...