Here’s Why Ontario has a Serious Waste Disposal and Food Waste Problem

Every week, food retailers throw away kilos upon kilos of expired food, and as the world’s population increases, the organic waste issue is only worsening. In fact, global food waste gives off almost as many greenhouse gases as China, which ranks second worldwide. To minimize Ontario’s contribution to this waste disposal problem, the provincial government and private sector are both taking action.

Flashfood, an app that notifies users of reduced-price supermarket food that’s near its expiration date, was recently introduced to smartphones to combat food waste. This new app helps cut down on the potential $4,000 of food thrown away every day by each store in Canada, most of which is simply added to our already towering landfill piles.

The mishmash of garbage disposal in our landfills begin to emit the deadly gas known as methane. Not only is this dumping of organic material harmful to the environment, but it’s also expensive for food retailers. The food sales they fail to make cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars each month, and they spend more money on having the discarded food picked up by waste collection companies.

Ontario’s provincial government is looking into possible solutions and recently calculated that $31 billion worth of food was thrown out in 2014 alone. To reverse the effects of the issue, the province put $600,000 towards the Supermarket Recovery Program this year. The program helps give food to those in need instead of letting it go to waste.

Flashfood began in London and expanded to Toronto upon its early success, bringing awareness to the province’s food waste problem. Another facet of this problem, however, is consumer fear of best before dates. These are often perceived as expiry dates, when in reality, they tell customers when the product’s quality begins to wane. Eating food a few days past its best before date isn’t a health hazard; only eating food past its expiration date is.

Supermarkets may seem like the primary source of food waste, but it’s really Canadian households that are doing most of the waste dumping, discarding overripe produce, unused food scraps, and stale leftovers. This garbage makes up 45% of Ontario’s total food waste. The implementation of green bins and mini bins is slowly chipping away at this number, though they have yet to be offered in large residential buildings.

Bringing the issue to light before people contribute to it may be more helpful, which can be done by starting waste prevention programs in schools. If this tactic is paired with a food bank donation policy for leftover supermarket food, the problem could become insignificant. The government is currently considering a 2022 food-waste ban for food retailers.

Though supermarkets need to adopt a new system to stop throwing away food, it’s just as important for us as consumers to learn the truth about food and start buying more intelligently. Never purchase more than you need, know what best before dates mean, and consider buying discounted products near their expiration date. You’ll save food and money from being wasted.