The City of Victoria is participating in a national campaign to reduce the amount of food wasted at home.
The City announced a partnership with the the “Love Food, Hate Waste Program,” and the on-boarding of two large grocery store outlets: Thrifty Foods and Walmart. The program is lead by the National Zero Waste Council, founded by Metro Vancouver,
According to the council, more than 60 per cent of the food Canadians throw away could have been eaten, costing the average household more than $1,100 per year. About 2.2 million tonnes of edible food is discarded each year.
Rory Tooke, manager of sustainability, assets and supportive services at the City of Victoria is excited about the opportunities this program presents.
“From a local perspective, we see it as a next step for our waste initiations,” Tooke said. “We’re looking at the benefits of reducing food waste, including greenhouse gas emission reductions, and savings for local households.”
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Tooke said that over the next month or so, the City and the participating grocery chains will be developing exact goals and initiatives, but he expects a series of workshops around the community, as well as waste-reduction advertising along garbage collection trucks and across social media.
“We want it to see a range of broad community members, but also those communities that have less food security,” Tooke said.
In the meantime, the campaign offers practical and easy tips online for keeping and storing fresh food, using existing ingredients and better planning to avoid over-purchasing. The site also offers recipes, shelf life guides, and freezer and fridge storing guides.
For more information, you can head to lovefoodhatewaste.com/
