Almost half of all food in Canada is wasted each year, including $58-billion worth that could be redirected to feed people in need, according to data released Tuesday.
In Second Harvest’s latest report, “The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste,” the non-profit found that more than 46 per cent of all food in Canada is wasted annually, of which 41 per cent is food that could be used to feed people — called avoidable waste — an increase from before the pandemic.
“That’s an outrageous number,” said Lori Nikkel, CEO of Second Harvest. “There’s always going to be some food waste, but that should be brought down to no more than 10 per cent.”
In fact, the amount of avoidable waste has risen by 6.5 per cent since before the pandemic, according to the report — enough to feed more than 17 million people each year. The report was funded by Loblaw.Â
“There’s no need for this,” Nikkel said. “We’ve all lost our ability to manage food.”
Overall food waste, including byproducts that are unavoidable in food production, is actually down from 2019 when the percentage of overall food waste was at 58 per cent. The decline is because businesses have begun efforts to decrease food waste, the report said.
More Ontarians have turned to food banks than ever before, continuing a worrying trend coming out of the pandemic.
More Ontarians have turned to food banks than ever before, continuing a worrying trend coming out of the pandemic.
There is also a climate impact: when avoidable food waste is disposed in landfills that produce greenhouse gases, approximately 25.7 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions are produced every year — the equivalent of 253,000 flights from º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøto Vancouver every year, according to the report.
Distributing food to people in need reduces food-related greenhouse gases 12 times more than composting and 30 times more than upcycling, said Dr. Martin Gooch, CEO of Value Chain Management International, a waste management consulting firm that co-authored the report.
“It’s a societal issue. It’s not a business issue. It’s not a consumer issue,” said Gooch, noting everyone has a role to play.
Major drivers of food waste that have grown significantly over the past five years include best before dates, changing weather patterns and a lack of economic incentives for businesses to manage and process waste.
Misusing best before dates accounts for nearly a quarter of avoidable food waste, the report found.
“Only foods with a shelf life of 90 days or less need best before dates,” Nikkel said, citing federal regulations. “But you’d be hard pressed to find anything in a grocery store that doesn’t have one, including salt.”
Part of it is a lack of understanding in what is “perfectly edible” and “basic food knowledge,” said Mustafa Koc, a sociology professor at º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøMetropolitan University who researches food security and policy. For example, expiry dates must be strictly followed, but best before dates are general guidelines for best taste and nutritional value.
One in ten Torontonians used a food bank in the last year as grocery costs have priced out many, but restaurants and stores struggle with food waste.
One in ten Torontonians used a food bank in the last year as grocery costs have priced out many, but restaurants and stores struggle with food waste.
Instead, most consumers rely on the marketing and “decisions made for us by the retail industry,” Koc said.
Produce that doesn’t meet exact grading standards, inaccurate market forecasts, inefficient processes and human error during handling are also part of the problem.
Consumers want “picture-perfect produce,” which the report said is challenging for farmers given climate change conditions such as extreme weather and soil erosion making it harder to harvest crops. So instead, crops are wasted when they don’t meet a retailer’s visual standards — despite being edible, safe and “of equal quality to flawless items,” according to the report.
Businesses are also donating less surplus edible food than five years ago because it’s easier and cheaper to send it to animal feed or composting, where they can earn money or save on disposal fees. The report also found concerns around food safety, and potential legal or reputational risks, make businesses more cautious about donating food.
Meanwhile, “many in the retail sector encourage us to buy bigger packages because it’s cheaper,” Koc said, noting buying in bulk may help with savings but it can be prone to waste.
The report from 2019 sounded the alarm on food waste in Canada when it found that waste produced more than 22 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and the value of usable groceries that wound up in landfills or other disposal sites was almost $50 billion.
The figures are higher in Tuesday’s report, despite an overall percentage decrease in food waste, for two reasons: inflation and “global practices for measuring and reporting greenhouse gases have markedly improved since 2019,” said Gooch.
“It’s not an improvement to celebrate,” Nikkel said. “People are struggling to make ends meet and we’re just throwing food away.”
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