We have a growing number of Canadians who do not make enough money to handle the rising costs of food. Globally around a third of all food produced (1.3 billion tons) is wasted; in America, the figure jumps to half. In Canada, we throw away 30 to 40% of the food we produce. How are we wasting so much food? Food waste isn’t simple. Food waste exists all the way down the food chain. We see the largest waste with farmers, supermarkets and restaurants and finally home waste. FOOD & HUNGER Food waste and the hungry By Sadiq Mohammed APRIL 17, …show more content…
Supermarkets often assign aggressive “best before dates” They set these dates to protect their customers from illness. This is the right idea, except that it results in huge amounts of food being thrown away when it is still useable. More than 50% of stores and restaurants do not have any policies on food waste or recycling. When asked about donating the food they often claim it is too costly and that it can be a liability. This is such a common problem there was actually a Seinfeld episode on it. The world does see the importance of the elimination of food waste. In fact, France was the first country to pass a law that requires supermarkets to donate unsold food to charities and or to be used as animal food. More can be done. In Canada, we need to fight to force supermarkets to stock and sell imperfect vegetables at lower prices, donate food to those in need, and revise their overly cautious