Did you know that over half of Canada’s food supply is wasted at every stage of the supply chain every year? From harvesting, storage, processing, manufacturing, transport, distribution retail, food retail and at home.
Love Food Hate Waste, an initiative of Metro Vancouver in collaboration with campaign partners, aims to raise awareness of the need to reduce food waste and help Canadians make the most of the food they love.
March 7 to March 13th is a whole week dedicated to raising awareness of the environmental consequences of wasting food and promoting activities that help to reduce the amount of food we waste.
This year’s theme ‘Food waste feed climate change’ is a reminder that food waste contributes an estimated 8% of all greenhouse gases worldwide.
The Food Waste Reduction Challenge is a key pillar in Food Policy for Canada’s roadmap for a healthier and more sustainable food system in Canada.
By acting on food waste, Canadians can save money, protect the environment, and supports the growth of Canada's farmers and food businesses. This also takes major steps towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goal to cut global food waste in half by 2030.
If you can not eat your food immediately, tossing it in the freezer is the quickest way to save it for later. When you take your food out of the freezer, it is just as important to defrost it safely before cooking or eating it again. Here are some tips for freezing and defrosting your food to avoid food waste:
- Freeze food in realistically sized portions
- Do not put hot food in the freezer – allow food to cool completely
- Utilize labels and note what date you started freezing each food
- Do not defrost food at room temperature – ideally you should defrost food fully in the fridge
- Allow enough time for your food to defrost properly – partially defrosted food may not cook evenly, meaning that harmful bacteria could survive the cooking process
- It is possible to defrost food using a microwave if you are planning to cook it directly after
- When using a microwave to defrost, put the food on a microwave-safe plate and cover it
- Microwave using the defrost setting or a specific defrosting program
- Always check the microwave manual and food packaging for any defrosting instructions – there may be guidance on turning, stirring, or standing times
- Once food has been defrosted, eat within 24 hours
It is important to do our part for Food Waste Action Week, not only this week, but all year long!
Food Waste Action Week 2022 – get involved
Video by WRAP