— CITY OF TORONTO —
LOVE FOOD HATE WASTE A FOODISM GUIDE
WASTE LAND
More than half of all household food waste in Canada is avoidable. We need to radically change the way we value food – we'll show you how.
W
E’VE ALL ENDURED that heartsinking feeling as we open our Green Bin to throw away a whole pound of beef or a bag of carrots no longer in their prime. Sure, it’s a bummer – but it’s unavoidable, right? The answer in most cases is no. More than 60 per cent of all household food waste is unnecessary and, with just a little planning, completely preventable. We throw out more food than we
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realize – food that could, at one point, have been eaten. Inevitably, some food waste is unavoidable – this is the food that can’t generally be eaten, such as bones, vegetable peelings, egg shells and fruit cores. We often waste good food unnecessarily because we buy too much, cook too much, or don’t store it correctly. This has a significant impact on our wallets – wasted food costs an average Canadian household over $1100 per year,
meaning we're literally throwing our money away. Unfortunately, it's not just a needless expense – it takes a toll on our environment. Food waste incorrectly placed in the garbage takes up valuable landfill space and releases greenhouse gases when it breaks down, which contributes to climate change. When placed in the Green Bin, food waste will become compost, but this requires significant resources. In response to this, the City of Toronto’s