Chips, cookies, frozen pizza. These are a few examples of things that can be found at your local super market. Relatively cheap and equally enjoyable, when the deal of two bags of chips for five dollars comes on, you grab two bags without hesitation. More is obviously better. The cheaper I can get it, the better. The bigger it is, the better. This common Western ideology sweeping across North America is an epidemic of which contributes to the vicious cycle where not only food is wasted but; mass emissions are created, water and land is wasted and the mentality of what our relationship with food should not look like, is born. The cycle of food production and consumption is becoming increasingly warped within Canada, and it will not go unnoticed or without repercussions for Canadians in the near future.
Food wastage according to the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United States is defined as, ‘the part of food loss [which also] refers to discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption.’[1] It is estimated that one third of all food globally produced is wasted, equivalent to 1.3 billion tonnes.[2] Within Canada alone $31 billion dollars’ worth of food is lost each year, which makes up 40% of the total food produced only within Canada.[3] A majority of Canadians are lucky to live within a developed country where food is for the majority accessible, unlike other countries where basic foods are a luxury. If food is a luxury, then how come so much of it is going to waste?
“We simply cannot allow one-third of all the food we produce to go to waste or be lost because of inappropriate practices, when 870 million people go hungry every day,” - FAO Director General José Graziano da Silva [4]
The Toronto Food Policy Council has found that approximately 47% of the food being wasted by Canadians occurs within the home, the other 53% lost within the chain of production.[5] Although commercial businesses may be blamed heavily, the fact is that consumers are just as crucial of a piece in the food waste equation. 30% of all grown produce does not even reach the market strictly due to visual appearances.[6] Once they have been selected they are then lost or discarded during transport, processing and when in grocery stores.[7] In grocery stores and households alike, food is thrown away once it may or may not reach its expiration date. While companies can be blamed for purposely creating inaccurate due dates, over stocking, spoilage or not accepting ‘ugly’ food, consumers’ approach to such evasive and unreliable practices is important now more than ever to help reduce food wastage.
However, Canadians tend to waste $28 worth of food each week per household ($1456 annually) and 183kg of food per person.[8] One of the number one reasons for such a high amount of food being wasted is due to throwing out products that have outlived their shelf life.[9] But why is it not being eaten? Remember how cheaper was better? When food is cheaper, it becomes easier to accumulate higher quantities. Over purchasing along with bulk buying and ‘left over fatigue,’[10] are some of the major causes of food wastage from the household level.
With all of the copious amounts of food being wasted, the Canadian government is beginning to see larger and larger issues related to food wastage. While the Canadian government is severely behind other countries around the globe, the Ontario provincial government has recognized food waste as, ‘an emerging issue that may be escaping the broader public attention and has the potential for significant environmental impacts.’[11] The primary concern being that the large masses of food being sent to the landfills is contributing significantly to the methane within the atmosphere, which is 25x more damaging than the carbon dioxide issue we are currently battling.[12] The David Suzuki Foundation predicts that food wastage gases contribute to 20% of Canada’s methane emissions.[13]
Alongside the damage to the atmosphere, an extremely ironic situation has occurred: the food that is being thrown out is damaging the resources that humanity relies upon to sustain and feed itself. Resources in the forms of water and land are being damaged and lost when food is thrown out. The later within the production processes that a product is discarded, the greater its environmental impact is.[14] Tons of water and land is used to grow, package and transport food products to get it into the market, so when that product is discarded, the resource has been wasted. This further contributes to the Canadian footprint. The amount of land that is used within Canada continues to overtake wildlife habitats as it expands and continues to decrease biodiversity.
In conclusion, the problematic rise of food waste in Canada has affected many aspects within the country: the damage done to the environment, including gas emissions contributing to global warming, the loss of precious resources, energy, money for both production and transport, as well as contributing to the suffrage of people who cannot obtain access to such nutrition, by robbing them of that resource. Food wastage on a much larger scale as negative effects for both Canada and the world as a whole.
Resources:
[1] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. ‘Technical Platform on the Measurement and Reduction of Food and Waste’ FAO. http://www.fao.org/platform-food-loss-waste/food-waste/definition/en/ (March 26th 2018)
[2] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. ‘SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction.’ FAO. http://www.fao.org/save-food/resources/keyfindings/en/ (March 26th 2018)
[3] Toronto Food Policy Council. ‘Food Waste: The Issue or Food Waste.’ Toronto Food Policy Council http://tfpc.to/food-waste-landing/food-waste-theissue (March 26th 2018)
[4] DiBenedetto, Bill. ‘Food Waste Has a Big Impact on Climate, Water, Land and Biodiversity.’ Triple Pundit. September 27th 2013. https://www.triplepundit.com/2013/09/food-waste-big-time-hit-climate-water-land-biodiversity/ (March 26th 2018)
[5] Toronto Food Policy Council. ‘Food Waste: The Issue or Food Waste.’ Toronto Food Policy Council http://tfpc.to/food-waste-landing/food-waste-theissue (March 26th 2018)
[6] Mortillaro, Nicole. ‘Food waste: 5 graphics that show just how much food we throw away.’ Global News. 2016. https://globalnews.ca/news/2952243/food-waste-5-graphics-that-show-just-how-much-food-we-throw-away/ (March 26th 2018)
[7] David Suzuki Foundation. ‘Help end food waste.’ David Suzuki Foundation: One nature. https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/help-end-food-waste/ (March 26th 2018)
[8] Toronto Food Policy Council. ‘Food Waste: The Issue or Food Waste.’ Toronto Food Policy Council http://tfpc.to/food-waste-landing/food-waste-theissue (March 26th 2018)
[9] Amundsen, Bard. ‘Most food waste from households.’ ScienceNordic. January 22nd 2016. http://sciencenordic.com/most-food-waste-households (March 26th 2018)
[10]Evans, Amanda & Siemens, Aurea. ‘Food Waste Behaviours: Influences and Impacts o Residential Waste and Waste Reduction.’ October 5th 2016. https://www.ualberta.ca/sustainability/EducationResearch/SustainabilityScholars/~/media/sustainability/EducationResearch/Documents/SustainabilityScholars/2016/Sustainability_Scholars_2016_final_report_-_Amanda_Evans.pdf (March 26th 2018)
[11] Toronto Food Policy Council. ‘Food Waste: The Issue or Food Waste.’ Toronto Food Policy Council http://tfpc.to/food-waste-landing/food-waste-theissue (March 26th 2018)
[12] Toronto Food Policy Council. ‘Food Waste: The Issue or Food Waste.’ Toronto Food Policy Council http://tfpc.to/food-waste-landing/food-waste-theissue (March 26th 2018)
[13] David Suzuki Foundation. ‘Help end food waste.’ David Suzuki Foundation: One nature. https://davidsuzuki.org/queen-of-green/help-end-food-waste/ (March 26th 2018)
[14] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States. ‘Food waste harms climate, water, land and biodiversity- new FAO report.’ FAO. http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/196220/icode/ (March 26th 2018)
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