Dealing with food and…

Dealing with food and organic waste is going to have its challenges getting both businesses and residents on board. When the Blue Box was introduced Ontarians, for the most part, showed that they were willing to do their part to reduce their garbage by recycling. (Maybe too willing, as many now believe that anything made of paper, plastic, metal or glass can be recycled in the Blue Box.) Organics is the next frontier. Cities that currently have green bin programs have shown moderate success with the program but many residents still fear the “yuck factor”, not realizing that organics in the garbage will still have this same issue.
Education:
This is critical for people of all ages. Getting students to participate can only help to bring the parents on. Many students are already fully aware of the food we waste. A group from Millgrove P.S. in Waterdown made a presentation to Hamilton City Council on the need to divert still-edible food from the landfill for distribution to food banks (https://www.flamboroughreview.com/news-story/7363894-millgrove-elementa…). The EcoSchool Program in Ontario has waste audits as part of its program but needs to be sure more students take part. The current Ontario Reg. 102/94 only requires that select schools within a board conduct waste audits with the data extrapolated across all schools in the board. Having Food Waste in the curriculum will be a better approach to raise awareness.
“Less than perfect” foods:
Canada needs to revise its “Best-Before Date” policy which is responsible for the wasting of so much food that is still edible. As well, society as a whole needs to understand that food that has imperfections is still just as tasty and usually a fraction of the cost. Retail practices that have e.g. only large apples for sale will result in a half-eaten apple in a school lunch. If something is sold by weight the whole display can be of mixed sizes allowing the consumer to select what they want. Stores need to make discounted food (near the best before date) available for purchase before it leaves the store as donations.
Donations:
Donating surplus food is good as long as it is still edible. The costs of disposing of spoiled food should not be passed onto the organisation receiving the food.
Resources recovery:
The addition of food and organic waste to the waste audit process is vital to the understanding by the IC&I sector of the amount of waste generated. It is assumed that the audit categories will include food peelings, uneaten food and leftovers, etc.
Just as the strategy for the Waste-Free Ontario Act Strategy stated that incinerators were not considered to be part of the zero waste goal I was pleased to see that garburators are not seen as a way to deal with organic waste. These units merely pass on the problem placing added stress on the wastewater system.
Work with municipalities:
Many cities have created food strategies to address various issues related to food. More cities need to develop similar policies which would help them to see how food impacts their residents.
Cities with green bin programs are finding multi-res buildings a challenge. Financial assistance to building owners for retro-fitting would be beneficial.
Cities operating compost facilities and wishing to maintain a high quality product would need a way to deal with organic material that they do not accept e.g. sanitary products and pet waste. Provincial research assistance to find innovative ways to deal with these materials would be of value to many cities.

[Original Comment ID: 212025]