FOOD WASTE, FOOD PACKAGING & SHOPPING LOCAL

In Canada, 3.1 billion tons of food is wasted every year, and most of it was once perfectly edible. Food related waste becomes even larger when taking into account food packaging. Most of the food items we buy today are packaged in plastic, and often the materials are “single waste plastics”: non-recyclable and non-compostable. According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, less than 11 per cent of plastics are currently recycled in Canada. The rest ends up in landfills, alongside food waste, or in oceans where it poses a danger to marine life.

The lack of improvement in food packaging innovations is most concerning; a report by As You Sow, a non-profit foundation, found that food packaging at fast food retailers, beverage companies and grocery companies has not improved in recyclability in the past 30 years.

Food waste is a systematic problem, and takes place at every step in the food chain. While almost half of the food waste can be contributed to the consumer themselves, every step of the journey produce makes puts it at risk of being wasted. It could be lost during harvest, contaminated in handling, damaged in transport, or over-ordered by the retailer.

That also means when we throw out food, we’re throwing out all the water, fuel, and other resources used to grow, ship, and maintain the produce are thrown out as well.

FAST FACTS

Landfills are responsible 20% of Canada’s methane gas - a more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, which contributes to climate change
Only about 3% of food scraps are composted
Discarded food can lead to overpopulation of seagulls and other animals, which can affect other wildlife populations due to an imbalance in the food chain
Human agricultural practices affect 66% of threatened and endangered terrestrial species, and this number is aggravated by increasing food demand and waste

As the consumer, we also absorb the costs of industry damage, apart from our own personal waste. A study done by VCM International found that consumers pay a 10-20% premium for industry food waste. Buying local produce is one way that consumers can avoid participating in a cycle of waste: less potential for waste due to transport and cosmetic standards, less food packaging or more flexibility with bringing your own packaging, and more direct support for farmers directly.

Farmers are responsible for the cost of all their crops, and only get paid for what they are able to sell. Grocery retailers’ aesthetic standards, and their ability to purchase cheaper produce from more formidable climates thanks to a global market, means that local farmers are sometimes growing produce at a loss.

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