Delivering a sustainable food system with zero food waste

Facilitators

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  Dr Ifeyinwa Kanu Director, IntelliDigest and AFN Network+ Champion on Bioeconomy
  

  Dr Ifeyinwa Kanu

  Director, IntelliDigest and AFN Network+ Champion on Bioeconomy

  She holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering with research interest in the use of Artificial Intelligence to optimise Anaerobic Processes.

  Dr Kanu loves nature and she is passionate about engineering solutions to address environmental and societal challenges. She is leading IntelliDigest on a mission to empower global food sustainability, eliminate food waste and zero hunger.

  Dr Kanu is an Enterprise Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering and Royal Society of Edinburgh. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Associate Fellow of UK Higher Education.

  Dr Kanu is a Champion of the STFC Food Network.

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  Clementine O'Connor Programme Management Officer at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
  

  Clementine O'Connor

  Programme Management Officer at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
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  Christopher Ross Catering Operations Manager, The City of Edinburgh Council
  

  Christopher Ross

  Catering Operations Manager, The City of Edinburgh Council

  A strong, commercially minded senior manager with over 12 years of contract catering experience. Passionate about delivering the best possible service to clients and customers. A sound track record of delivering financial performance and over achieving clients expectation.

  Experience in a broad range of contract types, from retail, commercial, cost plus, B&I and Education.

  A strong focus on people development with a track record of implementing succession planning and workforce development.

  Experienced in supplier management, negotiation of KPI’s and supplier benchmarking.

  A true foodie who leads from the front through inspiring the team and engaging clients.

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  Helen White Special Advisor - Household Food Waste, WRAP
  

  Helen White

  Special Advisor - Household Food Waste, WRAP

  Helen White is a Special Advisor on Household Food Waste for WRAP. She works with food retailers, manufacturers and brands on engaging with citizens to reduce food waste and is WRAP’s spokesperson on household food waste-related matters. With expertise in strategic planning, she has played a key role in defining WRAP’s new approach to citizen food waste prevention and the re-development of Love Food Hate Waste.

  Helen has appeared on The One Show, Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped, Radio 4’s You & Yours, the Mark Forrest Show and countless local BBC radio stations and has written blogs for Jamie Oliver, the Money Advice Service and the Met Office. She also provides advice, guidance and insight to Courtauld 2025 signatories and WRAP partners.

  In 2016 she was awarded a Ben Heath Award for Outstanding Presentation by the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management. Helen lives in a Northamptonshire village with her husband Mat, their eight-year-old son Geno and several chickens.

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  Peter Ball Professor of Operations Management, University of York
  

  Peter Ball

  Professor of Operations Management, University of York

  Peter Ball is Professor of Operations Management in the University of York’s School for Business and Society. His research and teaching focus on how operations practices underpin performance. He is especially interested in progressing sustainability and is engaged in many applied R&D projects including: UKRI FixOurFood transforming food systems, York-Maastricht Greener Food Business Models and STFC Food Network+ circularity in urban vertical farms.

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  Joseph El Chalfoun Area Restaurants & Bars Director - Middle East & Africa, Radisson Hotel Group
  

  Joseph El Chalfoun

  Area Restaurants & Bars Director - Middle East & Africa, Radisson Hotel Group

  Joseph is responsible for the conceptualization and pre-opening of Restaurants & Bars within Radisson Hotels and the implementation of initiatives to drive profit, control standards and establish brand recognition for all new concepts. Joseph is supporting Radisson Hotel Groups Central Support Office in Europe with the achievement of targeted initiatives geared at maximising profit and optimising the Restaurants & Bars operations.

  Before joining Radisson Hotel Group, Joseph managed groups of restaurants & bars in the GCC supporting their development from conceptualization phase to full operation. Most recently, Joseph acted as the Unit Head of F&B & Retail for the Louvre Museum in Abu Dhabi, overseeing the development of growth strategies, and managing contractual relations with the museum’s F&B and Retail partners.

  Joseph holds a Bachelor (BA Hons) in International Hospitality and Tourism Management from the University of Wales.

  When Joseph is not working, he enjoys spending quality time with his two children, as well traveling and exploring hidden food concepts and observing food traditions of local communities. He firmly believes in the power of reading and dedicates daily time going through quality books.

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  Nomathemba Mhlanga Agribusiness Officer, FAO SFE
  

  Nomathemba Mhlanga

  Agribusiness Officer, FAO SFE

  Nomathemba (Noma) is an Agribusiness Officer and Programme Manager for FAO’s regional work area on decent employment in agrifood systems in Africa. In the Eastern Africa sub-region, Noma leads the organization’s normative and field programme on agribusiness and value chain development, including post-harvest management, and agricultural finance and investment. Her work area also encompasses support to entrepreneurship and decent employment opportunities, especially for youth and women, ending child labour in agriculture, and tackling distress migration.
  Noma holds a PhD in Applied Economics and Management, an MSc Degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University, USA and a BSc Honours Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Zimbabwe.

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  Saasha Celestial-One Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Olio
  

  Saasha Celestial-One

  Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer, Olio

  Saasha Celestial-One is Co-Founder & COO of OLIO, a free app harnessing the power of mobile technology and the sharing economy to provide a revolutionary solution to the problem of food waste. OLIO is growing quickly, empowered by 100k+ volunteers. Since 2016, 6m+ OLIOers have shared over 66m portions of food in 62 countries. Before OLIO, Saasha founded London’s first pay-as-you-go high street childcare provider, and prior to that she spent 13yrs at Morgan Stanley, McKinsey & American Express. Saasha was named one of the UK’s “Coolest Female Founders” by Business Insider, has an MBA from Stanford, is mum to 10-year-old Nolan, and is the proud daughter of hippy entrepreneurs

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  Edmore Gasura Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology at the University of Zimbabwe
  

  Edmore Gasura

  Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology at the University of Zimbabwe

  Dr Edmore Gasura is an Associate Professor of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology at the University of Zimbabwe. Prof Gasura has authored more than 40 publications in peer reviewed journals. He is the Head of Department of Plant Production Sciences and Technologies, in the Faculty of Agriculture Environment and Food Systems, University of Zimbabwe. He is the 2020 Winner of the Japan International Award for Young Researchers. He is also the 2009 Second Prize Winner of the Africa-Wide Young Professionals in Science Competition. He holds a PhD and MSc in Plant Breeding and Biotechnology from Makerere University, Uganda and a BSc in Crop Science from the University of Zimbabwe. Prof Gasura has worked with a number of international organisations and donor agencies. Prof Gasura gave invited lectures at the University of Kwazulu Natal in South Africa, University of Ghana and the Pan-African University. He has a strong interest in food systems especially in food loss reduction.

• Dr Isabella Guerrini De Claire Chief Operating Officer, Aurora Sustainability Group
  Dr Isabella Guerrini De Claire

  Chief Operating Officer, Aurora Sustainability Group

  Dr Isabella Guerrini De Claire is an European scientist, based in Scotland from more than a decade. She has been working in the field of agri-food, climate change and the circular economy for more than 20 years.

  Isabella is a living-food advocate, writer, sustainability expert, plant-based nutritionist, educator, workshop leader.
  She pioneered the field of nature-based education. Dr Guerrini is currently involved with the Climate Innovation Hub North in WeFlourish, a climate mindful leadership programme for young females and with the Glasgow School of Art Innovation School in the Circular Economy Collective.

  Degree in Agribusiness specialised in Land Design Management at Perugia University in Italy – PhD in Land Restoration.
  Isabella in Italy has been working primarily as bio-economy, circular economy and sustainability leader, journalist for food, organic agriculture, and landscape design. She contributed to sustainable development for more than twenty years, working with selected partners, clients, academia and the largest climate innovation startups platform Climate-KIC, supporting the transition to zero-waste, and to alternative plant-based food formulation through economic development of localised food chain; linking startups and farmers to markets, supporters and funds, building healthy communities through making connections to agriculture, tourism, landscape and local sustainable food systems.delivering many programmes worldwide. She is the founder of Aurora Sustainability Consultancy, Isabella supports projects from the initial “seed” development, stakeholders partnership and resources funding, through providing project strategy support across the team and leads sustainability integrative design and marketing delivery.
  She supports curriculum development, programmes and organisations to ensure they have the best possible solutions for their challenges and innovations.

  She sustains that healing and sustainability are issues we all touch every day by how we listen to ourselves, the way we treat our food, our habits in eating, from what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and on a personal level, there is a lot we can do for Mother Earth.
  She has been desperately ill and she attributes her recovery to “mindfulness food-body-related” and to the quality of “inner listening”.
  Now she has changed her professional life, working mainly in Scotland, reducing her footprint and her actions from a large-scale to
  small actions and consciousness from each small step.