Upcycled Food: the Climate Solution Sitting in Your Trash with Emily Lafferty and Amanda Oenbring

What if the future of food isn’t about creating more, but wasting less? In this episode of The Drip, we sit down with Amanda Oenbring, CEO of the Upcycled Food Association, and Emily Lafferty, Director of Supply Chain at Seven Sundays, a breakfast brand rewriting the rules of what ends up on your plate.

Together, they’re part of a movement turning food system “waste” into something far more valuable: a solution. We go deep on the science, the systems, and the surprising innovations behind upcycled ingredients. Think of it as ingredient alchemy: transforming by-products into breakfast, and inefficiencies into impact.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• What counts as “upcycled”?
• The big problem with food waste – and the greatest opportunities for innovation
• Real-world examples: from by-products to breakfast
• The challenges of processing upcycled foods
• Practical ways to plug into the upcycled food revolution

Jump to:

(00:07) Upcycling 101: What it really means

(00:54) Meet Emily Lafferty and Amanda Oenbring

(03:42) What is upcycled food, exactly?

(05:09) Food waste: The hidden giant

(07:26) Upcycled ingredients in action

(09:10) Tech hurdles and how to solve them

(18:57) This episode’s song recommendation.

(19:34) This episode’s mantra.

Featured Artist and Song:

Pyaar by Troyboi

Links mentioned in this episode:

Amanda Oenbring on LinkedIn

Emily Lafferty on LinkedIn

Upcycled Food Association

Seven Sundays

The Highwomen by Crowded Table, music was chosen by Amanda

Sunday Vibes by Masego, music was chosen by Emily

Connect with the show

AQUALAB

Zachary Cartwright, PhD