Giving Compass' Take:

• Mashable compiled a list of entrepreneurs that are working to eliminate food waste globally through innovative approaches like modular cold rooms to extend the shelf life of perishables.

• Social entrepreneurs have the ideas, but often lack funding to move forward. Partnerships with donors are crucial to addressing many social issues like food waste.

• Read about some ways that you can start to reduce food waste. 

How is it that so many go hungry if there's so much usable food heading to landfills? If you think the issue of food waste is counterintuitive, you're not alone. The UN's Sustainable Development Goals outline a series of objectives to tackle global problems including hunger and food waste, among others.

There are a number of entrepreneurs who recognize that food waste is an unacceptable problem in our modern world — and they're doing their part to bring the UN's SDGs to fruition. Below are five individuals who are making a serious impact on every level of the food waste chain:

  1. Tristram Stuart, founder of Feedback. Feedback organizes action and awareness campaigns (as well as events) that target food waste from — literally — the ground up.
  2. Nnaemeka Ikegwuonuu, founder of ColdHubs. His startup is a social venture that produces modular, walk-in cold rooms that extend the shelf life of perishable foods — and not just by hours or days, but by weeks.
  3. Tessa Cook, founder of OLIO. Her free app that connects neighbors with local shops and cafes so that surplus food can be repurposed.
  4. Amanda Weeks, co-founder of Industrial/Organic. Weeks' Brooklyn-based startup tackling food recycling in urban areas, finds ways to put the water, energy, and nutrients of food waste to work.
  5. Keiran Whitaker, founder of Entocycle. Entocycle transforms food waste into sustainable, protein-based feed for the agriculture industry — all using the power of insects.

Read more about these entrepreneurs fight against food waste and hunger by UBS at Mashable.