Submitted to:Ian Drew,…

Submitted to:Ian Drew, Senior Policy Advisor
Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change
Climate Change and Environmental Policy Division
Resource Recovery Policy Branch
Submitted by:Virginia Zimm, President
Ontario Produce Marketing Association
January 15, 2018

The Ontario Produce Marketing Association (OPMA) is a 26 year old not-for-profit, member-funded produce association that assists its members in their produce business endeavours with a view of achieving a collective goal; to increase fresh produce consumption. Our members include businesses that span the entire produce value chain, from seed, producers, processors, packers, importers/ exporters, retailers and food service distributors. We are the conduit that connects every link in the Ontario produce value chain.
Fundamentally, our membership supports action to address the crisis of food waste and loss (FWL). We know that many of our members already actively work to prevent and reduce FWL in their businesses. Addressing food waste is not only morally the right thing to do for social and environmental reasons, but research has shown that it also provides economic benefits.
One example of our commitment as an association to prevent FWL across produce supply chains was a Food Waste Reduction Initiative in 2017. Partnering with Value Chain Management International (VCMI) who is referenced in the Proposed Food and Organic Waste Framework, the OPMA provided workshops to stakeholders across the produce value chain to identify and reduce waste in their business. Four business case studies were also developed to illustrate the tremendous benefit that can be derived for businesses who work to identify and prevent FWL. This project was generously supported by Growing Forward 2 funding. More information is available online: http://www.theopma.ca/education-training/food-waste-reduction/.
Available data reports that Canadians throw away $31B of food each year, with about half occurring at the consumer level. With so many variables and stakeholders, addressing the issue of FWL must be holistic if we are to achieve success. We support the goal of further research to better understand the current situation and determine actions for the future.
We also recommend that Ontario learn from other countries and jurisdictions. For example, rather than rely on regulations to progress change, WRAP (wrap.org.uk) in the UK began as a voluntary industry-led initiative to reduce waste and move towards a circular economy. Their initiatives which include research, industry agreements and consumer education have been widely regarded as successful.
We thank you for the opportunity to provide input and hope to be kept informed as this process continues.

[Original Comment ID: 212000]