Consumers can help solve food waste woes

Global food production and consumption have become a bewildering paradox. An estimated 20 million people are on the brink of starvation in at least four African nations, yet Canadians waste approximately $31 billion worth of food annually, much of that diverted to landfills.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization suggests if food waste was its own country, it would have the third-largest carbon footprint after the U.S. and China.

How to solve this inequity has become a Herculean challenge, but perhaps it’s best to examine it from a more local perspective. At a University of Guelph symposium in 2016, it was reported 30 per cent of all food produced for Canadians is wasted, the equivalent of two per cent of the Canadian GDP.

Further, it was found that a significant part of that waste comes from consumers (47 per cent). Other waste sources include the food processing industry (20 per cent), farms and retailers (10 per cent each), restaurants and hotels (nine per cent), and transportation and distribution (four per cent).

There has been work to address the problem. Ontario retailers are urged to donate unsold food products to food banks. Several “gleaners” groups have been formed to provide the same avenue for food producers, particularly greenhouse operators.

The Ontario Association of Food Banks notes much of the food its members receive is of high quality but “non-salable” because of cosmetic imperfections, labelling errors, and other issues.

What’s missing is greater participation from consumers, whose collective food waste is staggering — and growing. It’s estimated since 1975, Canadians’ per capita food waste has grown by 50 per cent. In just 40 years our food consumption habits have changed to the point where we think little of throwing food away. It’s an incredible injustice when over 800,000 people in Canada visit a food bank every month and millions elsewhere suffer from malnutrition and starvation.

What’s intriguing is the impact food waste has on the environment. The food bank association says had the food it received in 2016 (outside of its agricultural partnerships) gone instead to landfills, it would have generated a carbon footprint of approximately three million kilograms of C02, or emissions equivalent to 630 automobiles.

There are some solutions. Ontario’s farmers in recent years received a tax credit for donating excess product to food banks. The same should apply to retailers.

But getting consumers to become more conscious of food waste will be a bigger challenge.