If you want to get me fired up in a conversation, simply mention food waste. This is a large topic and a huge problem that is minimized in our society. At least, that’s what it feels like to me. On a small, personal scale, wasting food can seem harmless, but food waste is actually a big problem for our planet. This post is a part of our Climate Change Collective conversations. We’re excited to be starting off the group’s conversation this month with the topic of food waste. Learn more about the Climate Change Collective below. What is food waste? First, let’s define what we’re talking about. At its basic level, food waste refers to food that is not consumed and ends up in a landfill. Food can be discarded, lost, or uneaten at various stages of the food supply chain, including production, processing, grocery stores, restaurants, and our homes. Food that is not eaten by people does not have to become food waste, however; there are a number or ways to use food before it ends up in the landfill, such as for animal feed and for industrial use. Where does food waste come from? Food waste comes from a variety of sources, such as surplus food, spoiled food, and food that is discarded due to aesthetic preferences despite being safe to eat. Food waste comes from farming and food production due to:– the culling of imperfect produce;– the limits on what can be sold to stores and given away;– focusing on one crop and not diversifying what is grown. Food waste comes from stores, restaurants, and corporations due to: – the not selling imperfect produce;– the destroying of imperfect food or food close to “best before dates”;– discarding mislabeled food instead of relabeling it or donating it;– not having systems in place to identify nearly expired foods;– creating overly large portions or using unnecessary garnishes. Food waste comes from our personal use due to: – cooking too much food and wasting leftovers;– buying too much food and losing track of what we have;– not eating food past its best before date. Households waste 15% to 25% of food brought into homes. 1/3 of food is wasted worldwide. Just Eat It – A food waste documentary Why is food waste a big deal? Combatting food waste is a large factor in helping our environment. When food rots in landfills, it produces methane, a powerful gas that contributes to climate change. In the United States, food waste is responsible for twice as many greenhouse gas emissions as commercial aviation, leading some experts to believe that reducing food waste is one of our best shots at combating climate change. How Central Ohio Got People to Eat Their Leftovers – The New York Times In addition to the production of greenhouse gasses, food waste harms our environment through wasted resources. Growing, processing, and transporting food uses water, energy, and land, so when food is wasted, all those resources are wasted too. According to Just Eat It, a food waste documentary, 4% of energy wasted in the USA is embedded in food waste and the water embedded in wasted food could help 500 million people. As well, producing food can involve clearing land, which destroys animal habitats, tears down trees, and increases carbon emissions. There is also the waste in packaging. Discarded food and its packaging can contribute to soil, air, and water pollution. What can we do about food waste? There are many larger factors at play for food production and distribution which may feel out of our hands, but on a personal level, there is a lot we can do to tackle food waste. Here are a few ideas. 1. Meal Plan — intentionally planning your meals and using your leftovers can help reduce the food you throw away. It can be even more beneficial to meal plan based on what you already have in your cupboards so you are actively using the food you have on hand. 2. Learn about best before dates and what this means for your food — it can actually be safe to eat food after the best before date so you don’t need to throw it in the bin right away. 3. Shop your fridge and your cupboards — be aware of what you have in your fridge and cupboard by shopping there first before going to the store. Make your shopping lists based on what you already have, so you don’t double up. 4. Regularly do pantry clean outs — checking your cupboards and donating food before it expires is a great way to keep food out of the landfill. 5. Learn how to preserve and upcycle food — there are so many foods you can freeze and use in other ways that you might not think of! Check out these ways to use fruit peels and these unexpected foods you can freeze. 6. Compost or use your city’s green bin – while these steps are at the bottom of the hierarchy of food recovery, they are still important to do before sending food to the landfill. Investigate what it would be like to have a compost in your backyard or in your apartment. Debunking the myths about Best Before Dates I feel that it is fair to say a lot of food goes to waste because of misunderstandings over best before dates. I recently had to explain to a coworker that the date on a milk carton did not automatically mean the milk was bad. I encouraged her to take some steps to check if the milk was spoiled before throwing it out, such as smelling the product and taking a small taste. Turns out, the milk was not spoiled at all! “Best before dates are not indicators of food safety, neither before nor after the date.” This statement is directly from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. If food is past its best before date you can still eat it. You do need to use your judgement just as you would with eating any food, but assuming that an item is no longer good just because its best before date has passed is simply wrong. You can buy and eat foods after the best before date has passed. However, after this date has passed, the food may lose some of its freshness, flavour, and nutritional value. Its texture may have also changed. For example, vitamin C content in juice may decrease after the best before date. Understanding the Date Labels on your Food – Canadian Food Inspection Agency A best before date is more an indication of freshness than it is of spoiled food. Food eaten after its best before date may have a different texture, flavour, or change in nutritional value, but the food is more often than not still edible. An expiration date is different than a best before date. Expiration dates should be abided by as they are on items like infant formula and other foods with strict compositional and nutritional specifications. Can I get sued if I donate expired food to a person? There is often a myth surrounding the inability of stores or organizations to donate expired food because of the fear of getting sued. Interestingly, the Food Donor Encouragement Act of British Columbia protects donors from being sued if food is donated in good faith (have a read via the link above for the full legal details!). Keep in mind that it is important to not donate food with old best before dates to your food bank, but your local Buy Nothing Group is a great place to gift these food items to save them from becoming food waste. Resources to learn more about food waste There are a ton of food waste documentaries out there. Just Eat It – A Food Waste Story is one that I really enjoyed. I found it easy to watch and the information easy to digest. I also liked the overarching story of a couple attempting to live off of food waste for 6 months in Vancouver, BC. Here is the trailer and some links for where to watch the documentary for free: Just Eat It – Where to watch: Knowledge Network: https://www.knowledge.ca/program/just-eat-itCBC Gem: https://gem.cbc.ca/just-eat-it-a-food-waste-story Further Resources: Love Food Hate Waste – find loads of resources here on how to use up your food scraps, preserve your food, properly store your food, and more. Food Waste Movie Resource List – among other resources, this webpage includes a list of legislations of various states and provinces that address the issue of donating food. Green Bin Tools and Resources – Metro Vancouver information on the food scraps recycling program including where and how to get your green bin. Pantry Challenge – Check out Krista’s post for how to shop your pantry (and save on groceries!) with a pantry challenge. 6 Fantastic Organizations Working To Reduce Food Waste and Scarcity – Read about some great companies and organizations working to reduce food waste. The Climate Change Collective This post is a part of our Climate Change Collective conversations. The Climate Change Collective was born out of an exchange that took place between Michelle and Jamie in the comments section of a Jamie Ad Stories blog post. Jamie and Michelle both care deeply about the impact of human activity on our planet and wanted to find a way to keep the climate change message top of mind for everyone. A tweet was sent out, bloggers responded, and we’ve all now teamed up to create the Climate Change Collective! Learn more about the bloggers behind this group in our post introducing everyone: Get to Know our 5 Fantastic Climate Change Collective Bloggers. The idea is simple. The members of the collective will take turns writing a monthly blog post sharing their concerns and unique perspective about climate change. After the post is published, the rest of the group will keep the conversation going by sharing a link to the post on their blogs along with their thoughts and ideas. If you’re a like-minded blogger and would like to join our collective, please get in touch. The more the merrier!