Lots of attention has been directed in recent years to the alarming amount of plastic waste that we generate through disposable containers and utensils. Not so much to the food that these items were made for. 

As of this January, however, research has found that Canadians are wasting an incredible 35.5 million tons—or 58 percent—of the food produced in Canada. This was reported by Canada’s largest food rescue charity Second Harvest’s report on “The Avoidable Crisis on Food Waste.” Second Harvest further discovered that of this waste, 11.2 million tons, 32 percent is avoidable; it can be saved and redistributed to communities in need.

Avoidable food waste refers to the edible food that ends up in the compost or garbage instead of our stomachs. The relatively smaller percentage of unavoidable food waste is limited to the parts of produce that cannot be sold or eaten, such as peels, bones and eggshells.

Costing the nation almost $50 billion, the average household sends $1,800 worth of food to decompose each year. And with one in eight households across Canada already identified as food insecure in 2012, according to U of T food insecurity policy research group PROOF, avoidable food waste contributes to the loss of redistributable foods that could have been redirected to benefit vulnerable households.

According to the City of Toronto’s waste reduction department, the vast majority of avoidable food waste can be traced back to poor consumer habits. Overbuying, overcooking and poor food storage, alongside misconceptions about best before dates, fast tracks foods to the curb. 

Where the general understanding is that food is unsafe for consumption after the printed best-before date passes, Second Harvest CEO Lori Nikkel explains that the date really corresponds with a conservative estimate of its “key freshness.” According to CBC, the only exceptions where food should in fact not be consumed after the given date are baby formula, meal replacements, protein bars and a handful of prescriptions.

The City also recommends preparing and planning meals based on food perishability, making smoothies and “baked, stir-fried and grilled dishes” for produce that’s past its prime, and storing food in appropriate conditions to maximize freshness in the fridge or freezer.

Making such adjustments helps the atmosphere too, as the food waste that decomposes in landfills contributes an equivalent of 56.5 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. The report also explains that the effect of methane produced by decomposing food is 25 times stronger than that of carbon dioxide.

In Toronto, the situation is just as grim. Accumulating over 90,000 tons of food waste each year across the city, the City indicates that only 80 percent of it makes it to compost. The city also notes that more than half of the waste produced by single-family households is avoidable.

At U of T, Food Services collects food waste from kitchens under their management. Over 20 organic waste bins have also been installed around campus to encourage students, staff and faculty to compost their food waste.

But simply composting doesn’t reduce avoidable food wastages. Nor can the consumer alone address this problem.

Among the key drivers of avoidable food loss and waste that Second Harvest identified, three focused on production. From labor shortages and low prices that discourage harvest and results in rotten produce and untenable land, to last-minute cancellations that force farmers to plow thousands of acres under, producers are hard-pressed to prevent the loss of produce and harvest land when it is embedded in the food chain.

 “The outcomes of this report make it very clear that we need to radically change how we as Canadians value food,” Nikkel said during a news conference following the release of the report. “The abundance of food we produce has led us to dismiss its intrinsic value.”