Tools and Tips

Household Food Waste in Canada

December 6, 2024 | Charles Lin

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Image by ivabalk from Pixabay

“Canadians are throwing out more food than they realize”

The National Zero Waste Council did research on food waste in Canadian households, and reported their findings at Love Food Hate Waste using this quote. The average household throws away 140 kg of food a year, food that could have been eaten, at a cost of $1,300 per year to each Canadian household! In this article, we discuss these results, and what Canadians can do to reduce food waste.

The numbers on household food waste are staggering

63% of the food Canadians throw away could have been eaten; the largest share of wasted food by weight are vegetables (30%), fruits (15%), and leftovers (13%); bread and bakery (9%) and dairy and eggs (7%) round out the list of the top categories. In terms of specific food types, Canadians waste every day:

  • 130,000 heads of lettuce,
  • 1.3 million tomatoes,
  • 2.6 million potatoes,
  • 650,000 loaves of bread,
  • 1.3 million apples,
  • 640,000 bananas,
  • 1 million cups of milk
  • and 470,000 eggs

For Canada as a country, households waste amounts to 2.3 million tonnes of food each year, at a cost of $20 billion!

Food waste also has a large carbon footprint

Food production accounts for 26% of the global greenhouse gas emissions; losses in supply chains and consumer food waste (which includes household food waste) account for 6% of the 26%. This is substantial – if the 6% were emissions from a country, it would rank as the number three emitter in the world, behind China and USA. For Canada, the annual 2.3 million tonnes of household food waste amounts to 6.9 million tonnes of emissions, equivalent to the emissions of 2.1 million gas powered cars on the road! In fact, a rule of thumb is one tonne of household food waste that is avoided is the equivalent of taking one car off the road each year.

Each of us can do a lot to reduce household food waste and here’s how to start

If we all start to better plan for the amount of food we buy, and to use it all up, we can together make a big difference. Love Food Hate Waste Canada offers tips on reducing household food waste, from storing food so it stays fresh, to using up the food we buy, to meal planning. Let’s all reduce our food waste, starting with the approaching holiday season! Also, see our guide on disposing waste during the holiday season.

A personal message

When I was growing up as a child in Hong Kong in the 1950’s and 60’s, the staple at dinner was usually rice. My parents drummed into me to not leave any uneaten grains of rice in the bowl. They reminded me of a Chinese saying, “Every grain of rice is a drop of sweat from a farmer’s brow”. This message has stayed with me ever since – I make it a point to this day to not leave a single grain of rice uneaten in the bowl or plate. It is now 2020’s, and I have two grandchildren in Hong Kong; it is my turn to pass on the message.

Resources

Charles Lin

Charles is a retired atmospheric scientist based in Toronto. He stays busy as founder and lead of ImpactNetZero, keeping healthy in mind and body, and reading stories to his two grandchildren.

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