This is the sixth post in our NFRD Who's Who series, a collection of interviews with the fantastic leaders who will be speaking at the National Food Recovery Dialogue from April 2-4. Stay tuned – we'll be sharing more interviews as we count down to the NFRD.
Jenny Rustemeyer is a Leo Award-winning producer with Peg Leg Films, a tiny production company that makes socially conscious films to inspire big personal action. Along with her partner Grant, she produced "The Clean Bin Project", a documentary film and blog about a year-long competition to live zero waste. More recently, she spent 6 months living off discarded food and produced "Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story", a film that won 13 festival awards, garnered more than 12 million trailer views on Facebook, premiered prime time on MSNBC, and has played in hundreds of communities around the world. A dedicated recycler, zero-waster, and community-builder, Jenny has collaborated on many public events including the first Feeding the 5000 food waste awareness event in Canada and a self-supported, 30-city, cross-country film tour by bicycle.
FRN: What are you looking forward to at the conference?
JR: Hearing real stories of what others are doing to combat food waste! (I may be a little star struck by the other keynote speakers.)
FRN: Why are you passionate about food recovery?
JR: Food is essential; having access to healthy food is a basic human right. Creating equity in the food system is the starting point for making a more equitable world.
FRN: Tell us your proudest professional accomplishment.
JR: Going from making a movie in our basement to being prime time on MSNBC. And conquering my fear of public speaking.
FRN: We like to have fun here, so here's a silly question. What's your spirit vegetable?
JR: My spirit vegetable is a carrot -- sweet, homegrown, and sometimes wonky.
Interested in learning more about Jen's film Just Eat It? Register for the National Food Recovery Dialogue today to meet Jen and secure your tickets for our screening in Washington D.C. on April 3.