TASTE THE WASTE

Consumer-level food waste is a pressing issue. An average Canadian household can generate up to 79 kilograms of food waste per year.

ON THE FRINGE

Of the 13 million tonnes of food that Canada throws out each year, most is generated at the consumer level. Some folks are finding creative ways to make a difference. by GABRIELLE ROSSIGNOL

Joel Derksen was in his third year at the University of Waterloo the first time he hopped into a dumpster to shop for his weekly groceries. “For the stretch of a good year or two, over half of the food I ate was out of dumpsters,” says Derksen. “The amounts would vary from time to time. Some weeks we would theTASTE WASTE have to buy our groceries, and others we would have more of a bounty.” Shocking? Derksen doesn’t think so. He’s since retired as a dumpster diver, but he looks back fondly on his university years, where he decided to source a large portion of his food from grocery store dumpsters. It saved him money on groceries—but just as importantly, he was concerned about the amount of waste he

Dumpster diving is one way that individuals divert perfectly good food from landfills.

saw heading to landfills. “If we could just be a small part of cutting down on some of that food waste, diverting some from the landfill and minimizing the demand for production,” says Derksen, who originally hails from Winnipeg, “then it felt pretty good.”

Food waste in Canada is a real problem. In 2017, Canadians produced an estimated 13 million metric tonnes of food waste, according to the Canadian Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Of this, six million tonnes were generated at the consumer level.

Derksen is the first to admit that dumpster diving isn’t for everyone. Some may view it as a filthy or undesirable pastime, but Derksen suggests that all it takes is “a bit more boldness to actually hop into a dumpster like that.”

And in fact, social stigma affected Derksen’s initial experiences. “I was mostly going late at night out of fear of people seeing or getting caught,” he says. He did have a few run-ins with the police who informed him that, apart from trespassing, he wasn’t breaking any laws. If the stores asked him to leave, legally, he would have to vacate their property. “Over time I realized that it wasn’t really necessary because it didn’t change whether food was available or not.” Derksen’s social circles weren’t opposed to the unconventional activity, but he says that there are other divers who aren’t as fortunate.

Not everyone is on board with accepting food out of a dumpster, regardless of the best-before date. “Occasionally I did try to share food with people who weren’t so keen on eating food from a dumpster, and they were definitely skeptical,” says Derksen. He understands the act of dumpster diving can be off-putting and offensive for some people, and that these feelings need to be respected.

SMALL STEPS, BIG GAINS

Dumpster diving isn’t the only way to reduce our personal food waste. Small changes can get the rest of us on the right track.

That’s what Vivian Davidson suggests. Davidson, a Vancouver-based actor, filmmaker and staff member at Nada Grocery, is an advocate for reducing food waste in B.C. and across Canada. As a selfproclaimed environmentalist, her quest to eliminate her food waste started when she was young, after being exposed to different levels of food waste during her family’s numerous relocations. Davidson recalls, “As I got older and became more active in my community, I was realizing many aspects of life were connected to food and the broken food supply chain. I realized that food waste was a severe problem that we weren’t really addressing, so I took it upon myself to make a change at home.” The food supply chain that Davidson refers to covers the stages that food travels from farm to fork. It begins at the farm, then moves to transportation, distribution, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and then the home.

Now a staff member at Nada Grocery, Davidson is helping the company put her passion for zero-waste living into practice. The store, located on East Broadway in Vancouver, is a certified B-Corporation, which means the company values not only profits but also social and environmental good. The store is package-free andetr it also sources its products as locally as possible, to avoid unnecessary waste across the food sup-

to divert this food from the waste stream, even as a dumpster diver. “Most grocery stores have big compacting machines, or dumpsters that are locked up in various capacities,” says Derksen. Stores are trying to minimize the risk of people digging through their dumpsters, which Derksen understands, but suggests these efforts are in vain. “They don’t want people taking food for free rather than buying from the store,” he says, chuckling. “But the vast majority of dumpster divers avoid buying food from that store as a result.”

Davidson believes that people tend to blame the big companies for institutionalized waste and loss across the food supply chain, but in reality, it trickles up from the consumer. “If we only buy perfect produce, then the retailers are only going to demand perfect produce from the farmers,” says Davidson. “Then the farmers aren’t going to care about the imperfect food that they waste because they don’t have any incentive to do something about it.” Every company needs financial incentives to make a change, so if we as consumers decide to change

ply chain. In store, there are consistent efforts to prevent food waste. “When something in store starts to become softer or riper,” says Davidson, “we discount it massively to encourage customers to buy it.” If this doesn’t get the product off the shelves, Nada employs an in-house chef who converts the food into something new, like a sauce, soup or smoothie. Davidson says, “transforming it into something else that is still nutritious and very affordable is just about becoming creative and doing something with food rather than letting it turn into food waste.”

The store is also committed to encouraging, motivating, and educating people on how to live a low-waste life. “We have a motto at Nada,” says Davidson. “We meet you wherever you are in your sustainability spectrum.” Customers are encouraged to be curious and open to exploring ways to reduce food waste in their lives.

So, what is Davidson’s advice on starting a low-waste journey? Inform yourself, be curious, and start small. “The problem can seem enormous,” says Davidson, “and that’s often a turn-off for a lot of people.” Stores are trying to minimize the risk of people digging through their dumpsters, which Derksen understands, but suggests these efforts are in vain. “They don’t want people taking food for free rather than buying from the store,” he says, chuckling. “But the vast majority of dumpster divers avoid buying food from that store as a result.”

But she says the best way to be a part of the change is to push through this intimidation and try not to get overwhelmed.

THE GRAND SCHEME

According to Davidson, 30 to 40 percent of the fruits and vegetables produced in Canada are wasted annually. Most grocery stores exemplify how food waste is occurring on a larger scale. However, food wastage at the retail level only accounts for one million tonnes of food waste. This number pales in comparison to consumer-level food waste, but it doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be addressed.

It is becoming increasingly difficult our demand by worrying less about the blemishes on our produce, for example, it may trigger a transformation in the other stages of the chain.

We can turn our food scraps into soil, buy the imperfect produce, and shop at low-waste grocery stores—even dumpster dive. These are options we have for saving money and making a positive impact on the food supply chain. Derksen reminds us that the ultimate goal should be to reduce food waste, no matter the scheme. “I want to make sure people have the right to their own dignity and choice,” says Derkson. “But the other side of that reality is that there’s lots of good food that’s not making its way to people who need it most.” ■