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How much food do we actually consume among all the food we produce? Human waste one-third of their food production world-wide. Notably, most of it never reached consumer's hands. Farm, retailers, restaurants, transportation food manufacturing and processing all play a role in the chain of food waste. That's about 1.3 billion tonnes per year. On the national level, Canadians waste $31 billion of food every year, approximately 40% of food produced yearly in Canada. In Toronto, single-family households discard about 275 kilos of food waste each year.
In Toronto, taxpayers spend nearly $10 million a year getting rid of food waste that's not composted. That money could be used to improve our city if we stop picking food for their attractive appearance in grocery stores because approximately 80% of consumer food waste was once perfectly edible. About 20 per cent of Canada's methane emissions (a greenhouse gas that traps 25 times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide) come from landfills.
To prevent food waste and improve Ontario's environment, the government shall pass a policy that forces all manufacturer, retailer and stores to accept food that is edible. In addition, government should call attention on food waste through advertisements, social medias and speeches.
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That is a good idea, to enforce rules in food store to accept all edible food regardless of their appearance. Before the policy is brought up by the government, we should propose that all schools should teach their students how to identify whether or not a food item is edible. This would help the greater public accept and not oppose the new policy.
Nicole
Apr 14, 2016