Food Waste Affects Us All
On September 22nd CAPRA members participated in the first ever Feed 500 Red Deer. The goal of the event was to inform the community on the issue of food waste. The event was organized by the City of Red Deer, Red Deer College, and the Recycling Council of Alberta to feed 500 people using food that would otherwise end up in the landfill. Food waste going into our landfill is a huge problem. At a household level, Alberta produces more solid waste per capita than any other province in Canada and 40% of residential waste in Red Deer is organics (which includes food). This doesn’t even take into account food waste from food producers, stores, and restaurants.
Rescuing Food Waste
The organizers collected food from producers, stores, and businesses that would have been thrown out and handed it over to the skilled cook apprentices at Red Deer College. From the food, the students made many tasty dishes including fruit smoothies, borscht, chicken curry, and bread pudding with plum sauce! The response from the community was great. The lineups for meals were literally down the street and the meals were so good I can guarantee not much went to waste.
Food Waste and Food Insecurity
We all know food costs keep going up and they take a large chunk of our monthly budget. CAPRA members attended the event to inform the community on how reducing food waste can also reduce the monthly cost of food, allowing people to free up their money for other expenses. Some of these tips included meal planning, how to properly store food, and how to use leftovers. We had many great conversations and people really enjoyed our Food Waste Stats page.
For additional information on the event check out http://www.reddeer.ca/city-services/environment-and-conservation/your-community/food-waste/
To learn more about tips on how you can reduce food waste visit https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-wasted-food-home
