In 2019, Bay Area native Aaron Feigelman learned about our global problem with food waste and resource insecurity while researching vegetable oil production. Aaron focused his senior thesis on the issue at UCLA, where he researched methods of upcycling food waste. He concentrated on coffee, the most widely-traded global commodity behind petroleum.

​In 2020, he created The Kawa Project - a scientific movement existing at the intersection of materials science and food waste.