Approximately 1.3 billion tons of food go to waste each year. The economic losses, and the impact of food waste on the environment are problems that we can no longer afford to ignore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor <\/span><\/span>Heather McLeod-Kilmurray<\/span><\/span><\/a>, <\/span>co-director<\/span> of the <\/span><\/span>Centre for Environmental Law and Global Sustainability<\/span><\/span><\/a> at the <\/span>University<\/span> of Ottawa, has been at the <\/span>forefront<\/span> of <\/span>addressing<\/span> sustainable<\/span> food<\/span> systems<\/span> since<\/span> 2016, back <\/span>when<\/span> food<\/span> law<\/span> was<\/span> not <\/span>yet<\/span> an <\/span>established<\/span> field<\/span> in Canadian <\/span>legal<\/span> studies<\/span>. <\/span>She<\/span> works<\/span> now<\/span> to <\/span>address<\/span> significant<\/span> gaps in <\/span>law<\/span> and <\/span>policy<\/span> relating<\/span> to the <\/span>food<\/span> we<\/span> consume and the <\/span>food<\/span> we<\/span> don\u2019t<\/span>, <\/span>striving<\/span> to <\/span>make<\/span> lawmakers<\/span> and <\/span>regular<\/span> Canadians<\/span> aware<\/span> of the importance of <\/span>sustainable<\/span> and <\/span>waste-conscious<\/span> food<\/span> systems<\/span>. <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Food loss and waste are gaining increasing attention domestically and internationally, but as a sign of how far we still have to go, a clear and universally accepted definition of \u201cfood waste\u201d is still lacking. Generally, \u201cfood loss\u201d refers to food that is lost or that spoils during production or en route to the grocery store, while \u201cfood waste\u201d refers to the food that remains unpurchased at the grocery store or that spoils \u2013 or at least that is not eaten \u2013 after you buy it. All told, the amount of food that never gets eaten really adds up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the federal level, Canada lacks comprehensive legislation addressing food waste. This means we don\u2019t have consistent ways to measure how much food is wasted (or how it is wasted), nor do we have meaningful targets to aim for \u2013 targets that might impose certain obligations on food producers and food sellers, or that might give the general population pause before they throw out a slightly brown banana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem, of course, is more serious than a few items thrown out at home or left behind at a grocery store. Food insecurity in Canada rose significantly during the pandemic. But ramping up food production to address food insecurity fails to get at the root of the problem. Current data suggests that the world produces enough food to fully feed its population. Increased production may solve part of the problem, but it also contributes to more food loss and waste. The effect on the environment of increased production and increased waste is severe. Food waste alone produces an exceptionally high amount of greenhouse gases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor <\/span>McLeod-Kilmurray<\/span> and <\/span>her<\/span> colleagues<\/span>, <\/span>including<\/span> the <\/span>University<\/span> of Ottawa\u2019 Professor <\/span><\/span>Nathalie Chalifour<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Professor <\/span><\/span>Angela Lee<\/span><\/span><\/a> of Toronto <\/span>Metropolitan<\/span> University<\/span> and <\/span><\/span>Patricia Galv\u00e3o-Ferreira<\/span><\/span><\/a> of the <\/span>University<\/span> of Windsor<\/span><\/span> are <\/span>trying<\/span> to change <\/span>things<\/span>. For <\/span>example<\/span>, <\/span>alongside<\/span> NGO <\/span><\/span>Reimagine Agriculture<\/span><\/span><\/a>, Professor <\/span>McLeod-Kilmurray<\/span> and Professor <\/span>Galv\u00e3o<\/span>-Ferreira have been <\/span>working<\/span> with<\/span> students<\/span> to <\/span>survey<\/span> the <\/span>landscape<\/span> of <\/span>food<\/span> loss<\/span> and <\/span>waste<\/span> in Canada, <\/span>examining<\/span> international practices and <\/span>developing<\/span> a <\/span>database<\/span> to help <\/span>track<\/span> data <\/span>that<\/span> can <\/span>allow<\/span> us to <\/span>see<\/span> the full scope of the <\/span>problem<\/span>. <\/span>They<\/span> hope<\/span> to <\/span>generate<\/span> policy<\/span> briefs and <\/span>even<\/span> draft <\/span>legislation<\/span> to <\/span>address<\/span> the issue.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor McLeod-Kilmurray is also taking inspiration from provinces and municipalities that are mobilizing against food waste in a variety of creative ways. Progress is possible, but there is a growing need for federal and provincial governments to coordinate these efforts and to share best practices. Professor McLeod-Kilmurray is currently examining food loss and waste in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Brazil, aiming to provide insights into global food waste reduction strategies. She also works directly with the University of Ottawa, studying how local efforts to address food waste on campus might be expanded to influence larger institutional food providers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Food waste is a problem partly due to a lack of awareness. Most of us simply don\u2019t know or care to acknowledge the implications of throwing out a slightly bruised peach, or scouring the dairy section for the tub of yoghurt with the latest expiry date. Professor McLeod-Kilmurray hopes to expose the impacts of these simple choices. The resulting transformation could result in reduced food waste, greater food security, and a significant impact on climate change \u2013 a goal we can all share, three meals a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank<\/span> you<\/span> to Safi Fine <\/span>Foods<\/span> for <\/span>providing<\/span> us <\/span>with<\/span> a <\/span>wonderful<\/span> venue in <\/span>which<\/span> to film <\/span>this<\/span> video<\/span>.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Approximately 1.3 billion tons of food go to waste each year. The economic losses, and the impact of food waste on the environment are problems that we can no longer afford to ignore. Professor Heather McLeod-Kilmurray has been at the forefront of addressing sustainable food systems since 2016. She exposes the risks and impacts of food loss and waste, explaining the need for coordinated, global food waste reduction strategies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":98371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[24,120,9],"class_list":["post-98381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knowledge","tag-food-law","tag-environmental-law","tag-public-law"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":27,"label":"JuriKnowledge"}],"post_tag":[{"value":24,"label":"Agri-food law and policy"},{"value":120,"label":"Environmental Law"},{"value":9,"label":"Public Law"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/food-waste-cart-1024x576.jpg",1024,576,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Patrick Walton","author_link":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/author\/patrick\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":27,"name":"JuriKnowledge","slug":"knowledge","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":27,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Video publications about legal issues, highlighting the work of legal scholars or the activities of legal practitioners.","parent":0,"count":80,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":27,"category_count":80,"category_description":"Video publications about legal issues, highlighting the work of legal scholars or the activities of legal practitioners.","cat_name":"JuriKnowledge","category_nicename":"knowledge","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":24,"name":"Agri-food law and policy","slug":"food-law","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":24,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"},{"term_id":120,"name":"Environmental Law","slug":"environmental-law","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":120,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"Environmental Law","parent":0,"count":8,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"},{"term_id":9,"name":"Public Law","slug":"public-law","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":41,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jurivision.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}