Environmental Impact of Food Waste and Mitigation Strategies in Canada

This report delves into the critical issue of food waste in Canada, highlighting its significant environmental impact and proposing effective mitigation strategies. The introduction emphasizes the alarming amount of avoidable household food waste, which contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon footprint of the country. The report explores the current state of food waste, citing data from the National Zero Waste Council and the United Nations' goals for waste reduction. It examines the impact of food waste on the environment, including methane production in landfills and the resources wasted in food production and distribution. The literature review synthesizes information from various sources, including peer-reviewed journals, governmental and non-governmental websites, and reports from organizations like the CBC and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The report identifies key issues contributing to food waste, such as consumer attitudes, product dating confusion, and inadequate food waste management. Finally, the report discusses drivers of change and potential strategies, including collaboration among stakeholders, improved consumer awareness, and the implementation of sustainable waste management practices to reduce food waste and promote environmental sustainability in Canada.

Running head: FOOD WASTE MITIGATION IN CANADA
FOOD WASTE MITIGATION IN CANADA
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
The wastage of food is one of the major global concerns and a wastage of food
in any form either cooked or uncooked is a wastage of resource that is contributed to
the production, processing and distribution of the food. The management of food
disposal has an immense impact that contributes to the carbon footprint of the country.
This requires the most important. The amount of food wastage of Canada is alarming
and an approximate 2.2 million tonnes of avoidable house hold food is equivalent to 9.8
million tonnes of carbon di oxide which creates immense impact in the environment.
Most of the wasted food is diverted is sent to composting, which is better than sending
them to landfills, but the best option would be to manage this wasted food through
measures that can reuse this huge resource. Preventing food from wastage is therefore
one of the most reliable ways that can contribute to the sustainable environmental
development. The report will aim to determine the environmental impact of the wastage
of food and find the ways to mitigate the issues of food wastage. The research will be
initially based on peer reviewed journals and the other secondary sources of information
to understand the gap in the topic. The report will conclude by finding ways to mitigate
the problems in a sustainable way. The report will find ways to divert these wasted food
resources and channel them in a way where these resources can be used effectively.
Environmental scan
According to the National Zero Waste Council the wastage of food by Canadians
is astonishing and provides a data from a research they conducted. It states that 63% of
the food that is thrown away by Canadians could have been probably eaten or
preserved. An average household wastes food that amounts to 140 kg of food per year,
a cost equivalent to $1,100 per year. Canada has one of the worst records of food
wastage in the world, something which could be prevented thereby minimizing the
impact on the environment.
The National Zero Waste Council is a joint effort that accumulates governments,
business corporations, nongovernmental organisations, to promote and practice waste
prevention, by recycling the resources and effective management. The vision of the
Zero waste Council is to achieve zero wastage of food for the current and the future

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generations. In September 2015, The United Nations passed a resolution to reduce
food wastage across the globe. The United Nations set a target to reduce food wastage
by 50% by 2030. The recent years have seen probable contribution in laws across
European nations that prevent wastage or destruction of food that are not used. France
and UK have initiated programmes that are dedicated to prevent wastage of food and
reduce the impact of the losses incurred by food wastage. In order to understand the
impact of the food wastage on the environment we need to look into the channels that
produce process and deliver the food from the producer to the consumer.
The most important aspect related to food wastage is the contribution of this
organic waste to the Carbon Footprint of the country. The United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organisation states that if the total food waste would be treated as an
independent nation, it would amount to the largest contributor of carbon footprint placed
only after the USA and China. The wastage of food does not only include the wastage
of the end produce but also includes the effort that goes down to bring the produce from
the source of the production to the consumers table. The food, which is dumped in the
landfill and in the decomposition site, produces Methane, one of the major emissions
contributing to ozone depletion (CBC. 2019). Preventing food loss and wastage will
eventually contribute to the reduction in Canada’s Greenhouse gas emissions.
Reduction in the wastage of food will also help to reduce the cost incurred in the
management of waste foods.
Literature reviewed:
In order to understand the concern and magnitude of the issue of food wastage,
several journals and online resources were reviewed to understand the wastage of food
and its impact. Several governmental and nongovernmental websites were also
reviewed to get an understanding about the context. The article titled “The climate
change and economic impacts of food waste in the United States” by K. Venkat was
reviewed to have a general understanding of the environmental impact of the food
waste. Along with the Article published by the George Morris Centre titled “Food Waste
in Canada” gives a detailed understanding of the issue and relates to the most
important aspect of food wastage in Canada. The article “Modelling greenhouse gas

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emissions for municipal solid waste management strategies in Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada” also provides credible information that helped in the research of the paper.
Alongside in the formulating the plan to mitigate the wastage of food I have reviewed
various online sources that include the websites of the Ozharvest, “National Zero Waste
Council”, “Toronto Food policy Council”, “Love Food Hate Waste” which is an initiative
of the National Zero Waste Council and the “Waste Reduction Week Canada”. Along
with the literature review included the reports from the “CBC Radio Canada”, the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation helped considerably in framing the research.
The various initiatives taken by these organizations were reviewed carefully to make an
understanding of the magnitude of the food wastage and the ways that could be
implemented in addressing these issues. After reviewing the literatures it has been
observed that there has been a notable mention about the impact of food wastage and
the amount of food that is wasted every day. The literature and the online resources
provide information about why food wastage should be prevented and few implications
have been provided (CBC. 2019). However there is a lack of innovative ideas that can
foster prevention of food wastage and manage this wasted food in a way that
channelizes the food resources to the needful and create optimum utilization of the food
that mostly gets wasted. Though the available literature provides credible information
about food wastages and the several projects and programs that have been initiated on
behalf of the government, there is no information regarding the proper disposal of these
food resources to probable assets. With information and guidance from the sources, this
paper will formulate a plan that would find ways to use these huge resources in a
needful way promoting sustainability.
Problem statement
The huge amount of the food that is wasted from the households annually
amounts to several issues that come attached it. The wasted food results in
environmental impacts by emitting greenhouse gases from the dumpsites. The wastage
of food is a loss of resources that is required to produce the food. The major problem
that lies with the wastage of food is the inadequate management of the food waste. The
daily wastage of food from domestic households accounts for about 2.2 million tons of
avoidable wastage of food.

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Which when adequately managed can curb the problems of hunger and resource
depletion with respect to availability of food for all.
Research Question
The research question of the article is to find ways that can mitigate the wastage of
food. The following questions arise while researching on the discussion of the topic.
 What are impacts of the waste food in the environment?
 What are the ways that can adequately manage the wastage of food in a
sustainable way?
This report will look into the above mentioned questions and analyse them to find
answers to the problems arrived from the research.
Key issues of Food Wastage
In order to understand the problem of food wastage with a greater depth, the
several issues that concern food wastage has to be reviewed. Food wastage is not
limited to the domestic household, but starts in the first step of the production chain and
continues throughout every step that food material passes through before arriving at the
consumers table. The issues that govern the wastage of food start with the harvest
where the defective produce are sorted and involves the first step towards the wastage
of foods. The keys issues that can be identified with the wastage of foods can be related
through the different stages. The major channels through which food waste is generated
needs to be identified in order to curb the growing wastage of food. A look at the
hierarchy of the production and transportation of the food determines the pathways
where the wastage can be reduced.
Sorting at the field and the definition of a perfect crop creates the major issue
that initiates the wastage of food. These wastages can be curbed by awareness of the
outputs and the ways they look are not matters that define the quality of food. According
to the Ontario Food Bank the majority of the food wastage is contributed by the daily
consumer. The key issues can be identified as follows:

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Consumer attitude towards products regarding its perfection creates a huge
amount of produce converted into waste which otherwise would have been perfectly
equal in nutrition and diet. The only problem is in their physical appearance.
Similarly one of the major issues that contribute to wastage of foods is the
discarding of the products which have finished their shell life, but remain usable. A huge
amount of such goods are wasted every day. The clarity between the different labels of
“Best before” and “use by” “sell by” and expiry dates should be done in order to make
the consumer aware of the shell life of a product. The Consumer Goods Forum Global
Voluntary Guidance has laid down guideline that aligns with Food marketing Institute
that would reduce the wastage or unnecessary disposal of safe and healthy foods. The
removal of premature goods contributes greatly to food wastage, mostly of products that
have non perishable goods. Highly perishable goods can be redistributed before the
extra produce is wasted. Quality based dating should be introduced with perishable
products such as “Best if used by” and “Use by” to clear the confusion about the validity
of the product.
Apart from these concerns, the issues also include non-recycling of the foods
and not reusing the foods that can be used to feed the needy. The consumable food
can be reused by either donating to food banks or organisations that are involved in
collecting and redistributing the “left over or easily consumable food” before they are
perished. The Ontario Food Bank reports that one in eight Canadian families has to
struggle to “put food on table” while 800,000 people visit a food bank at least once in a
month. It also reports that a one third of the total produce is wasted annually
(Lovefoodhatewaste.ca. (2019)).
Along with the recovery and the proper disposal of the food can also reduce the
wastage. Recovery can be done in terms of converting the unavoidable food waste into
renewable source of energy that is produced with less environmental impact. Finally,
proper disposal of the wasted food will reduce the impact of the wasted food on the
environment.

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Drivers of Change
The main drivers that can bring changes in reduction of food wastage include the
various aspects that contribute to the wastage of food. It has to be understood that
these drivers of change will contribute to the reduction in food wastage and
simultaneously pave the way for a cleaner and responsible disposal of the wastes.
The first priority that can bring about a massive change in reduction of food wastage, is
collaboration among various stakeholders that would reduce the wastage that occurs at
every stage in the life cycle of a product. Food waste reduction can be induced through
the initiation of various activities through diverse approaches. In order to reduce food
wastage, the recovery of food has to be evaluated through the food recovery pyramids.
The recovery pyramid includes various stages through which wastage of food can be
assessed and prevented.
The various drivers of change include:
 Prevention of food wastages: The prevention of wastages can be done by
avoiding the generation of food waste.
 Re usage: The re usage of the wasted food can be done by feeding people in
need. This can be done by donating surplus food to food banks.
 Re cycling: The recycling involves using the wasted food that is unavoidable by
feeding livestock. Along with the food unfit for human consumption can be used
for composting.
 Recovery: Recovery refers to the regeneration of resources by using the wasted
food. Recovery is the regeneration of power mostly in the form of renewable
energy.
 Finally proper disposal of the food wastage in landfills will reduce the impact in
the environment.
The overview about food wastage Canada gives us an insight into the potential ways
that can contribute towards a sustainable and better environment with reduced impact
of human activities on the environment. The wastage of food is one among them that

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provides a serious concern for the environment and for the depletion of resources that
are invested in manufacturing these resources. The major aim of the article is find out
ways that can mitigate the abundant wastage of food and reduce it to a level that is
environmentally sustainable and economically viable (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations).
With the growth of food preservation and packaging techniques, the measures
that can be adopted to reduce food wastage are more easily implemented and put to
practice. The outreach that can be achieved by the emerging technologies of social
media and public forums of discussion can be extensively used to aware the general
public about the enormity of the issue and the ways these can be mitigated with the help
of the individual consumer along with the other stake holders who are involved in the
whole chain of the production beginning from the farmer to the individual consumer or
the end user.
Conclusion:
The mitigation of Food wastes will include a systematic approach which can be
implemented at the various levels and engage all the stakeholders involved in the life
cycle of food. The introduction of food banks and adequate regulatory measures
regarding shelf life and labeling of food according to quality dating will help the reduction
of the waste generated from food. The mitigation of the wastage of food has also to be
done with the respect to involvement of various stakeholders including the government
and nongovernmental organisation. The plan to provide the food supply to the needy
can be satisfied through adequate expertise and introduction of food banks, and food
control measures

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worst, report finds | CBC Radio. Retrieved from
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1.4605392/how-bad-is-canada-s-food-waste-problem-among-the-world-
s-worst-report-finds-1.4606012
Gooch, M., Felfel, A., & Marenick, N. (2010). Food waste in Canada. Value Chain
Management Centre, George Morris Centre, November.
Lovefoodhatewaste.ca. (2019). Food Waste in Canada – Love Food Hate
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Mohareb, A. K., Warith, M. A., & Diaz, R. (2008). Modelling greenhouse gas emissions
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Nzwc.ca. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.nzwc.ca/focus/food/national-
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Venkat, K. (2011). The climate change and economic impacts of food waste in the
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wearethenest.com.au, T. (2019). Our Family - OzHarvest. Retrieved from
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Wrwcanada.com. (2019). Waste Reduction Week in Canada | Waste
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