As part of a range of activities focused on reducing methane emissions, under the Strategy on Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is consulting stakeholders on strategies to reduce avoidable food loss and waste.
On February 28, 2019, Recycling Council of Ontario attended a workshop on Reducing Food Loss and Waste in Canada hosted by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
Approximately 100 Canadian experts from industry, government, and the not-for-profit sector attended the event, which provided a forum to share ideas and discuss opportunities for measuring and reducing food loss and waste (FLW) across the food supply chain.
ECCC has now released a summary of the workshop and final report: Taking Stock of Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Canada.
Workshop Summary
The workshop included presentations and discussions focused on approaches to improve FLW measurement, reduce supply chain food loss, and reduce household and consumer waste.
Key responses from stakeholders at the workshop:
- Inconsistent data: need to establish standardized methodology for measuring food waste
- Lack of awareness and food waste education
- Include dollar value as a key metric in measuring food waste, in addition to weight
- Leverage existing data sets to determine gaps and/or missing data in order to set a solid baseline
Taking Stock of Food Loss and Waste Reduction in Canada
A draft of this report was used to support stakeholder discussions in the workshop. The final report, released by ECCC documents the current state of knowledge and practice in Canada regarding food loss and waste.
It was compiled to share information on existing policies, programs and initiatives currently taking place in
Canada to reduce food loss and waste across the entire supply chain.