A recent study of food waste, field to home, in Canada found some interesting waste percentages. Nine per cent is wasted in the field, 18 per cent in packaging and processing, three per cent in transportation/distribution, 11 per cent in retail stores, eight per cent in the hotel/restaurant/institute sector and 51 per cent at home. Food worth more than $27 billion is annually thrown away in Canadian homes. The main reasons food becomes garbage include cooking/preparing too much, not using the food in time, and a lack of confidence to use leftovers. Apparently, retailers in Canada are unique in the extent to which they rely on price-oriented fliers as a primary marketing tool. An almost invariable outcome is that consumers place an overly high importance on price and buying in bulk, which then leads to increased waste. Buying at “big box” stores also encourages this kind of false economy, whereas the same dollars could be used to buy from specialty stores providing high quality, minimally-processed foods in quantities that are healthier for us and quick to prepare.The United Kingdom is way ahead of us in innovative retail initiatives such as Tesco’s Buy One, Get One Free offer on fresh fruit and salad items. Buyers got a coupon that allowed them to get their ‘free’ product within two weeks of the initial purchase. The program was aimed at the growing demographic of smaller households that are not always able to consume the ‘free’ fresh products before they need to be disposed of. The success came from appealing to a segment of the market that historically did not benefit from volume-related offers.Warburtons, a U.K. baker, identified a need among smaller households for a small loaf of bread that still offered full-sized slices. The 600-gram loaves were so well-received that the range has since been expanded.The National Federation of Women’s Institutes in the U.K. is challenging households to eliminate their average annual food waste cost of about $800 and simultaneously achieve the equivalent of taking five cars off U.K. roads. They offer sensible advice. Always use a shopping list. Check your supplies before shopping. Avoid buying ‘2 for 1’ offers unless you have plans for the second item. Buy your foods loose where possible to avoid buying more than you need. Check all the use-by dates. A 2009 U.S. study found that U.S. per capita food waste had progressively increased by about 50 per cent since 1974.  Previous calculations were likely to have underestimated food waste by as much as 25 per cent in recent years.Researchers suggested that the U.S. obesity epidemic may have been the result of a “push effect” of increased food availability and marketing with Americans being unable to match their food intake with the increased supply of cheap, readily available food.Save money, increase health, reduce GHGs, eliminate obesity, all by changing food-buying habits.Sounds so simple.uMarjorie Stewart is board chair of the Foodshare Society and president of the multi-stakeholder co-op, Heritage Foodservice. She can be reached at: marjorieandalstewart@shaw.ca.

Nanaimo News Bulletin