Food Waste – a growing issue

Toronto Green Community has recently developed presentations on a range of environmental issues including energy consumption, sustainable food and water conservation. Our most recent research has been on waste, with a focus on food waste, an issue of growing importance in North America and around the world.

These days, the average Canadian household throws away nearly one third of the food they buy for a variety of reasons: they bought more than they need, they don’t know how to preserve foods to prevent spoilage, or they are overly cautious and dispose of safe foods that appear past their prime. Food is not only wasted at the household level, but all along the supply chain: from imperfect fruits and vegetables being left to rot in fields to grocery stores ordering more than they expect to sell so customers don’t see empty shelves. In addition, many edible and nutritious items such as beet greens or meats like tripe and liver go to waste due to seemingly abundant other options and lack of food preparation knowledge. This food mismanagement wastes the resources that go into growing and transporting food, stresses the environment, and perpetuates hunger.

 Luckily, public awareness of food waste has been increasing and a variety of policies and organizations have been created to address the problem on all levels. Some focus on removing food from the waste stream and making sure it gets to people: organizations like Second Harvest, which provides hunger programs with surplus produce from grocery stores, or Not Far From the Tree, which picks and distributes unwanted residential fruit. Other programs focus on preventing waste in the first place, one example being a new Ontario policy which allows lower-grade fruits and vegetables  to be distributed by food banks, where before they would be ploughed under in the fields. There are also individuals who take the approach of eating food that has already been wasted, as in the case of gleaners, who pick over farmers’ fields after the harvest, or Freegans, who live off of food thrown away by bakers, greengrocers and supermarkets. Whatever form it may take, people are pushing back against the tendency to waste food, and in so doing are finding new ways to fight hunger and re-imagine the food system.

If you want to learn more about food waste, and how to reduce your impact, check out some of the resources below or contact garden at torontogreen.ca to find out about TGC’s waste presentation!

Food Not Bombs – uses gleaned produce to prepare vegan meals for the hungry

Green Bin Info – info about the green bin program, accepted/prohibited items, and where the compost goes

Love Food Hate Waste – UK campaign to reduce food waste through engaging pubblic food education

Not Far From the Tree - Residential fruit tree gleaning program that shares harvest between volunteers, homeowners and hunger groups

Second Harvest – collects surplus produce from grocers and distributes it to hunger programs

York Region Fresh Food Partners Gleaning Program – organizes gleaning outings to nearby farmers’ fields

Media

Print:

Veggie ”Seconds” Bill  - description of the bill that will give farmers a tax credit for donating low-grade produce

Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal - Tristram Stuart

Wasted Food Blog – The author of American Wasteland blogs about food waste

Video:

GOOD: Waste Not, Want Not – short video on food waste stats in the US
DIVE – film on Freeganism and food waste in the US
The Gleaners and I – film on gleaning and Freeganism in France

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