The problem of food waste

Many cities and countries have identified food waste (also sometimes called avoidable food waste or food loss and waste) as an issue. According to a 2014 study conducted by Value Chain Management International, the amount of preventable food waste discarded annually in Canada amounts to over $31 billion in losses, with approximately 47% of food waste produced by consumers. 

Wasted food has environmental, economic and social implications. When you waste food that could have been eaten, you are also wasting the natural and human resources that were used to grow, produce, process and transport that food.

Throwing away edible food represents economic losses. The amount of food thrown away amounts to wasting approximately $1,760 annually for a family of four. And the food that ends up in the waste stream requires resources to manage its disposal and diversion, the cost of which is passed on to municipal utilities and services.

Wasted food that ends up in the garbage, and ultimately the landfill, produces methane—a greenhouse gas that is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It’s estimated that 7% of greenhouse gases produced globally are due to preventable food waste. Some of that wasted food could be recovered through donation programs and used to help address food insecurity, rather than going to waste.

How much of Edmonton’s waste is food/organics?

In 2015 to 2016, Waste Services conducted a four-season characterization study to understand the composition of residential waste. The average Edmontonian’s garbage contains 22 to 26% food waste, based on annual averages.

What are some common misconceptions about food waste?

While it’s true that organics break down, as mentioned above, organics that end up in the landfill take significantly longer to do so because landfills are anaerobic environments. When waste breaks down in the absence of oxygen, this creates methane gas instead of carbon dioxide. Methane is a much more powerful greenhouse gas. Carbon dioxide is produced during the breakdown of organics in a home composter, or by adding chopped up food scraps to your garden. By comparison, organics in a home composter or garden break down more quickly through aerobic processes.

Another common misconception is that wasted food in the garbage is an issue, but it’s okay if you dispose of food waste in your composter. Although composting is a good way to recycle the nutrients from inedible food scraps (e.g. egg shells or potato peelings), or from food once it can no longer be eaten (e.g. moldy food), it’s better to try and avoid wasted food in the first place, or to reuse and repurpose it when you can.

Why do we waste so much food?

There are a lot of reasons why people waste food. Every household and individual is different, but research tells us that a lot of our day-to-day choices, from shopping and cooking habits to how we manage our food storage and leftovers, all play a role in how much food we waste. Demographics and lifestyle factors also play a role in those food choices and habits.

Two of the most common reasons why people end up throwing away food is that they either bought too much food or they made too much and couldn’t use it all before it spoiled. Two of the most common categories of wasted food are produce (fruits and vegetables) and leftovers from previous meals.

What can Edmontonians do to reduce food waste?

There are many ways to reduce food waste at home. Choose the actions that work best for you and your household. Some examples of ways to reduce food waste are:

• Check your fridge, freezers and cupboards for food you already have, and focus on only buying what you need rather than buying more of what you already have.
• Make a shopping list of the food items you need before you go shopping.
• Plan some of your meals ahead of time and use that meal plan to help create your shopping list.
• Set up a visible ‘use me first’ tray or section in your fridge and/or cupboard to remind you to use up items that may spoil first.
• Buy only what you need or can use within less than a week, especially for perishables like fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Use the freezer to store foods that may not be eaten before they spoil.

If you’re hosting a party: 

• Allow guests to serve themselves buffet-style to avoid serving guests too much and having to deal with scraping uneaten food off plates.
• Ask guests to bring take-home containers so they can take leftovers home. Or have a bunch of food storage containers so that you can send leftovers with guests

Subscribe to The Dish on Waste, a food waste e-newsletter that is published 3 to 4 times a year, for tips and tricks on how to reduce food waste. Visit edmonton.ca/foodwaste for more information.

Header Image: "Fresh Food In Garbage Can To Illustrate Waste" by USDA is licensed under CC BY 2.0