Stop Food Waste

Nancy Wales CSJ

By the Numbers 

It is a startling fact that household waste accounts for an overwhelming 40 % of food wastage.[1] Every year, $27 billion worth of food finds its way into garbage cans, compost bins and giant dumpsters.[2]

Multiple Losses

Food waste causes more losses than one would first think. It has both an environmental and economic impact. On the economic side, when people toss food, all the resources to grow, transport, produce and package it also get chucked.[3]When food is thrown out, massive volumes of water and high amounts of energy resources get lost too.[4] While composting is good it shouldn’t be seen as the perfect solution. Trashed food in landfills environmentally impacts our planet by creating large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Why So Wasteful?

Why we are so wasteful is alluded to in an article by Rosanna Tamburri. She explains: “Food waste can be blamed, in part, on our consumer eating and shopping habits.”[5]David Sparling of Ivey Business School states, “We’re pretty spoiled in expecting perfect food all the time.”[6] Home cooks frequently do little meal planning and often purchase more items and bigger quantities of food than are required.

What Can Be Done?

Meal Planning

One should begin meal planning by adopting the wise habit of performing an inventory of what is already on hand. Checking cupboards, fridge and freezer avoids duplication and waste. The website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com  is one of many recipe sites. It offers a recipe search organized by recipe type, food type and ingredient and offers a quick way to create delicious meals with grocery items on hand.

Storage Savvy

1. An interesting article from David Suzuki’s Queen of Green section begins to outline ways to sharpen our food storage skills to lessen food waste.

2. Take produce out of airtight wrappings which speed up the decaying process.

3. Don’t wash produce until ready to use. Moisture encourages decomposition and mould growth.

4. Eat the most perishable items first.

5. Keep produce whole as long as possible. Once living cells are broken, microorganisms start to grow.

6. Know the right storage conditions. Some produce is cold-sensitive, so refrigeration speeds up spoilage.

Five Ways to End Food Waste [7]

1. Understand best-before labels on food products in Canada reflect the date after which the nutritional content on the item is no longer reliable. It doesn’t mean the product in question has turned bad.[8]

2. Buy in bulk with caution. If you buy more than you need and throw away food you haven’t saved you actually wasted food, money and other resources.[9]

3. Think twice before tossing overripe fruits and veggies. A squishy banana is ideal for banana bread, overripe fruits can be used in smoothies and wilted and cooked veggies can be added to the soup pot.[10]

4. Learn to love your leftovers.[11] Some meals are even tastier on day two.

5. Make use of your freezer by pre-portioning items such as meats into smaller portions when you get home from the grocery store rather than stuffing everything into the fridge.[12]

Are You a Food Waster?

Find out whether or not you are a food waster? To find out, take the short quiz at http://www.foodwastemovie.com/quiz-js/

1. Food Waste : An unappetizing, $27B problem” by Jennifer Bain, Toronto Star

[2] “Our biggest problem? We’re wasting food” by Lesley Young, Canadian Grocer

[3]“Help End Food Waste”, David Suzuki Foundation

[4] “Our biggest problem? We’re wasting food” by Lesley Young, Canadian Grocer

[5] “Canadians waste seven billion kilograms of food a year” by Rosanna Tamburri, Globe and Mail

[6] David Sparling, at UWO’s Ivy Business School

[7]  Five Ways to End Food Waste on the David Suzuki’s Foundation website

[8] Pascal Theriault,, a Canadian agricultural economist

[9] “Words To Live By” by Rosenbloom

[10]“Ways to reduce household food waste’, Andre Mayer-CBC News

[11] 5 Sure ways to save money on your food bills  at  www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

[12] John Williams, a partner at retail consultancy JC Williams Group

The Truth And Myth Of Organic

Kathleen O’Keefe, CSJ

Over the past two years, I have been blessed to live at Villa St. Joseph Retreat and Ecology Centre in Cobourg, ON; and, most recently, I spent the summer months at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, ON.  Experiencing earth to table eating has allowed me to enjoy the wonderful sensory delight of organic food.  Nettie and Susan, two gifted cooks, skillfully prepared delicious meals that were nourishing for both body and soul!  I learned that persons in Cobourg and in Guelph have the opportunity to rent community garden plots if they wish to grow their own food organically. Community Shared Agriculture in Guelph provides freshly harvested organic products for persons to take home for family meals.  Also, it has been a real joy visiting farmers’ markets and connecting with the people who grow our food. Local food is not necessarily organic, and organic food is not always local.  So we need to keep an eye out for the perfect combination:  local food grown using organic or ecological practices. Look for such opportunities in your own community!

“Why Your Food Choices Matter:  A Guide to Buying Local and Ecologically Grown Food” is an informative pamphlet produced by Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, Ecological Farmers of Ontario, and the National Farmers Union Ontario. “Organic farmers only use the ecological approach and follow the specific organic practices stipulated in Canada’s National Organic Standard.  Among other requirements, the organic standard makes sure that certified organic farmers do not use:

• synthetic pesticides (including fungicides, insecticides and herbicides);

• synthetic fertilizers; genetically engineered seeds or animal feed;

• animal feed made with animal wastes or slaughter by-products;

• synthetic hormones, antibiotics or other animal drugs to stimulate growth or production of livestock;

• sewage sludge (recycled human waste) or waste from factory farms and bio-solids (water waste from industry) on their land.

To maximize profit, most farmers use chemicals to increase the size and quantity of their produce. Pesticides are poisonous and do harm to our bodies. While most research cannot prove beyond a doubt that organic food is more nutritious, it is much safer.  Organic farmers work with the diversity that nature already offers:  They save and exchange seeds and knowledge. Healthy soil that is rich in minerals and nutrients produces food that is also rich in those minerals and nutrients. The quality and taste of organic food are said to be superior.  Since they do not contain additives, organic foods have more natural flavor.

In Ontario stores, you will see the “Canada Organic” logo. The logo will also be put on organic food produced outside Canada. To be labelled “organic”, processed foods must have more than 95% organic ingredients. Check the ingredients list to see which ones actually are organic.  There are misleading labels out there, such as “organics,” “natural,” and “organically produced” without evidence of certification.

As the saying goes, “we are what we eat.”  It is important to know exactly what our bodies are digesting and how it came to be on our plate in the first place.  The wisdom of organic farming speaks for itself.  To sample some tried and true recipes, you can visit Susan Sprague’s blog at:  loyolahousekitchen.wordpress.com.  Bon Appetit!

Further resource material include:  Food Rules:  An Eater’s Manual by Michael Pollan; The Third Plate:  Field Notes On The Future of Food by Dan Barber; Organic Food on the Development and Peace website; and, www.tastereal.ca .

Is There Anything To Eat?

Linda Gregg CSJ

One in nine Canadians – almost 3.9 million people – don’t know where their next meal is coming from.  Food Banks Canada published in its 2014 Donor Impact Report this dire situation of over 11% Canadians facing daily hunger. Furthermore over 1/3 of these empty stomachs belong to children. 

The Canadian Feed the Children agency reported that food insecurity for Aboriginal (and adults) living on and off reserve ranges from 21% to 83%, compared to 3% to 9% for non-Aboriginal Canadians. These grim statistics point out that many Canadians are threatened by food insecurity. The meaning of the term,” food insecurity” is somewhat self-evident.  As is frequently the way in offering more formal definition, we conversely refer to food security when defining access to food availability.

Food Security exists, “when people at all times have physical, social and economic access to food, which is safe and consumed in sufficient quantity and quality to meet their dietary needs and food preferences, and is supported by an environment of adequate sanitation, health services and care, allowing for a healthy and active life.” Committee on World Food Security 2012

Food insecurity is an outcome of inadequate or uncertain access to an acceptable amount and quality of healthy food.  Food insecurity presents a growing challenge in Canada, especially in the north and remote Aboriginal Communities. In recognition of this growing concern, the Federal Minister of Health appointed a panel of experts in October 2011, to assess factors influencing food security in the Canadian North and the health implications of food insecurity for northern Aboriginal populations.

The panel of experts, Council of Canadian Academics, put forward the following initial findings concerning food insecurity:

• It is a complex issue with significant implications for health and well-being.

• There is no simple way to “solve” food security issues in the North. A range of holistic approaches is required.

• Many factors enable or serve as barriers to food security.

• There is a nutrition transition taking place in the rapidly changing North.

• There is no one experience of food insecurity.

• There is much solid research on hand but several knowledge gaps persist.

• Measurement methods used to date lack the ability to respond to the complex issue

• of food security within the northern Canadian Aboriginal context is limited,

It’s an undisputed fact that food security is an issue of well-being. The executive summary of the Council of Canadian Academics begins on a positive note encouraging all of us to turn our attention to the issue of food security. “Canada is in a position of strength to address the challenge of food insecurity. We have the tools and knowledge to build food security in the North [and in the rest of Canada] which is our collective responsibility.”   Should we not consider that our CSJ call to oneness, not only, bids us to find everyone a place at the table (inclusivity), but also, bids us to promote ample nourishment on the table (food security) for everyone.