food systems roundtable notes june 19-2014 … · • encourage small grocers to sell...

Regional Food System Roundtable 2 1

Regional Food System Roundtable June 19th, 2014 Notes from Table Discussions

Below are all the notes recorded at the discussion tables.

Panel 1: Challenges and Issues of Recovering of Edible and Nutritious Food: Discussion Questions:

• What are some ways through which we can overcome the challenges in food recovery?

• How could local governments be involved?” Black Table Overcoming Challenges Logistics:

• How to get animal waste dealt with? Where does it go? • How to keep recovered food cool and transport it from point A to point B? • Who does it need to get to? • How to keep it safe?

Responsiveness: • No central clearing system • Connecting supply to demand; i.e. smartphone app

Urban farming is illegal Illustrating Complexity Background data:

• Do we know how much food is wasted and from where? • Grouse Mountain Resort has just done their own audit • Information gaps

Finding Champions: • Who are the leaders? What are they doing? • Need more info / pictures of real situations

Getting food services/chefs to adopt new ways: • Start within education system

Economic linkages: • Understanding costs of food waste and benefits of food recovery


• Showing $ value of food recovery to producers of waste Educating users/ customers:

• Changing social values/approaches Countervailing incentives:

• It is currently profitable to waste food • Need to flip existing incentives to waste food. Need to identify opportunities and then change

the system Regulations/Quotas Overproduction+ Distribution Problems Role of local government:

• Highlight bright spots/good news stories • Create clean picture • Promote understanding • Provide specific examples of what larger scale food services are doing to reduce food waste

Brown Table Reduce donation of poor quality food:

• Policy and standards needed • Regulations

Increase capacity for food recovery: • Seed capital • Partnerships to leverage resources

Consumer Expectations and Behaviour Change: • Education/Communication • Motivations • Case studies/Toolkits – like Lean Path • Standard messaging that can be tailored – branching

Coordination/Convening/Enabling: • Matching firms willing to donate food with organizations involved in recovery – a smartphone

app. • Communication • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Model – organizations for food recovery

Business process: • Examples of what can be done: Lean Path • Small Business support: ways to up-cycle or repurpose food for higher in–house use • See London pilot

Safety/ Cooling: • Match food with organizations with cooling capacity • Work with distributors: use back–hauling capacity (e.g. like packaging waste)

http://www.leanpath.com/



Liability: • Raise awareness/educate about real risks: Food Donor Encouragement Act

Design /innovation: • Smaller plates • Smaller buffet pans • No trays

Discounts at Stores for “less than perfect” food: • Ugly/beautiful campaign – UK • German example

Green Table Challenges • Residents to comply with food waste ban/organics ban • Nutritional value – SUGAR • Past expiry /usable date – time in distribution

Charities: • Have conversation with donors • Sensitive relationship between charities and donors • Form cooperative groups to share resources

Downtown East Side (DTES) • Food procurement group • Pool resources • Food donation management system • Distribution system • Need a coordinated, collaborative effort

Challenges for DTES • Distribution • Cold storage • Kitchen processing facilities • Industrial donations: transfer food waste costs to charities • DTES at risk of becoming food dumping ground

Role for Government • Need dedicated centralized facilities for food receiving, processing, waste

o Can be shared by many food recovery entities • Safety of food different populations

o HIV, Hepatitis C have different food safety needs and regulations o Dignity of food donations o What is the impact of eating all recovered food

• Leadership around expiry date issue and education o Address packaging:


o Charities become responsible for managing packaging waste: Funding needs to follow waste • Address standards for recovered food safely

o Tracking and liability when foods are recalled and at risks of being recovered • Convene recovery organizations, retailers, and distributors to discuss best options for donations • Public education campaign • Encourage small grocers to sell non–retailer grade produce • Research what is happening in their community and highlight/share innovation, best practices, etc.

Pink Table • Educate everyone on Food Donor Encouragement Act • Social shift to managing food buffets • Full trays converted to shallow trays in buffets • Improve displays of discounted food when close to their “best before” dates • Changing the philosophy/mindset that it’s okay to eat past “best before” dates and less than perfect

produce • Address wasted food before it gets to the store at grocers, producers • Accept different food at different times of the year • School programs – inviting farmers to talk about local food • Communication program • Leaders get the message, recognize the legal risks/liability but proceed • Messaging about where the food come from • Events – hosting/supporting food festivals Orange Table • Lack of necessary infrastructure – e.g. storage & transportation

o Potential solution – share these resources among organizations; e.g. use the cooler spaces of others when available

o Requires good timing/coordination/ flexible hours required • Event planners have a lack of knowledge on food donation

o Who would the event planner/coordinator call? o Lack of awareness and education

• Awareness is low. Both from those who might donate through to general public in accepting food recovery.

o Liability concerns – how we do address? o Would need to make provision for food safety in storage safe and transportation o Public would need to identify concerns and indicate support for food recovery o Turn the story around and into a positive attitude to food donation.


• Find opportunities to serve and identify re-purposed food to challenge the social attitude towards re-purposed food; e.g., it’s not food out of a dumpster.

• Public attitudes fueled by language around re–purposed food. o Try different language; e.g., Love Food/Hate Waste posters and visuals o Important to know that food being redirected is safe o Standardize policy/strategy including educational strategies

• Resources required to donate food; e.g., manpower to pull, sort, store, reorder, etc. What is donated?

o Food bank tries to reduce some of these costs by offering to do this work • High disposal costs for businesses when disposing unwanted food

o Municipalities affect tipping and handling fees o Should take some Solid Waste revenues and direct it toward food donation

• Sources of funding o A tax on food waste

• Can we source separate organics better in the retail setting; o e.g. high calorie ->fuel; donate-able ->agency; compostable -> compost o Grocers want it ‘out’. This is a high expectation. Can the receiving agency do this sorting? o Receiving agency would need resources to be able to do this. o There needs to be an incentive or cost recovery mechanism; e.g. the retailer can rely on the

agency to do this is they are willing to pay. o Tax incentive could help to transfer costs/revenues.

• Challenge for consumers is that retailers don’t have day old/odd/beat up produce sections anymore. o Some for bakery and dry goods, but not for produce. Why? o Opportunity to ‘market’/challenge the norm that beautiful is best. o Take the discount model from small producers into the larger retailers; e.g. the $1 bag or

the ‘ready to cook” produce section • Re-envision relationship between retailers and receiving agencies

o Donor send s food to agencies who needs dollars attached to manage the resource. It’s not a ‘donation’, it’s a redistribution and there are associated costs

o Involve other recipients for the unwanted food; e.g. the SPCA o Look at how art is valued/is important as a public resource o Connect for example the high calorie foods with processers who want it (for bio-fuel) so

instead of the recipient paying disposal fees, can they sell it or at least have it taken to a facility to be converted to bio-fuel?

o Challenge: Incentive for business to send high calorie food waste to bio-fuel facility will mean they are less inclined to donate

o There are different costs/incentives for all business types. Need awareness and information by sector to develop policies and incentives.

• What can local governments do? o Connect the people/sectors that need to talk more to find solutions o Create a platform (e.g., online) to match up/map of agencies

https://www.google.ca/search?q=love+food+hate+waste&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=CiHEU7ezL8fGoATxgYGwCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=695


o Facilitate the network o Have knowledgeable people available on the phone who can help find the best place for

food to go Yellow Table Challenges • Buffets (supply vs. choice)

o Education o Culture o Take away containers o Food safety understanding

• Smaller dishes o Better display with non-food o Measure for future planning – Lean Path o Storytelling to support culture shift o Create buzz/demand by running out

• Gleaners and dehydration are not locally acceptable Government • Overcoming barriers and regulation

o need to convene/ facilitate discussion; e.g., guidance for farmers markets, growers associations and others

• Community cooking kitchens o have space for cooking and also learning o How to share existing spaces o Canning to preserve food for food bank

• Refrigerated trucks o need more of them o use them better and more efficiently o MODO (car share program) model but need a donated trucks

Red Table Overcoming Challenges • Education

o Education at the point of purchase o ‘best before’ date issue o Farmfolk/Cityfolk Choices program for consumer education



• Policy o Municipalities may see more food waste in numbers but lack of political will to address at

the source o Policies to make it easier to donate (little appetite for more regulation) o Reviewing safety standards

• Connection o Linking all food surplus, including from households, with people in need through improved

logistics. o Potential opportunities with government property o Put the license / leases for municipal properties

• Closing the loop o Use collected compost to deliver to community/low income buildings for gardens o Build into compost contract

• Retailers: offer size choice, sell less • Consumers: Change how they buy (Buy only what you need) • Local governments and health agencies could support/campaign/work with boards of trade to

create guidelines and resources for retailers – communicate priorities • Metro Vancouver could advocate through Union of BC Municipalities to province and federal

governments • Culinary and secondary schools should teach how to reduce waste early and eliminate the need to

reduce waste at all • Communicate that not all food waste is equal • Bridge into water conservation programs

• One burger is equivalent to a 90 min shower • Elevate a lead campaigner – federal government • Making it a trend, a social norm

o How?? o Remove barriers – like change the traditional model of the grocery store o Take out the choice – make it what you have to do, rather than what you should

• Tell different stories to the general public – shock and awe, inspire and motivate • It benefits for the retailers – get the consumers on board • Support local farmers markets • Starting with education is key • Change the design of the fridge • Design city centers to encourage small (not bulk) grocery stores and purchasing: self–sustaining

communities o Community planers need to be at the table o Building permits: space and access for dealing with food waste o In big developments, include a community amenity to provide space for a local hub for food

recovery o Local governments can conducts pilots


o Maybe like government pop–up city hall program. Cut some red tape to let pilot programs work. Barriers within bureaucracy need to be rebuilt

o Technology could support Dark Blue Expiry dates

• Standard definitions • Educating consumers on reading and understanding dates • Indicators for assessing

Stigma – donors, receivers • Leadership at municipal level • Communicating what you are doing • E.g. North Shore Table Matters uses recovered food at their events (prepared food from

Salvation Army) Expand channels for selling distributing less marketable foods

• Better crop insurance scheme • Provide clearing house for farm produce that is at risk of being ploughed under (due to poor

market conditions) Processing Capacity – shelf stable/preservation

• Information clearinghouse for retailers, buyers, users, and consumers • Connect producers with processors • Training receivers of donations • education

Cost of Food waste • Identity • Subsidy to those dealing with it (e.g., food receiving organization) or reduction in taxes • Financial incentives • Zoning restriction relaxation

Space & Infrastructure • Provide land and other resources for food hub • Access to funds & support for accessing funds to acquire infrastructure needs & specialized

equipment Storage Capacity

• Three days worth of storage would help • Centralized refrigerated storage • Co–op, cross docking facilities accessible to many users

Food Hub – connect with CFCC (Community Food Centers Canada) • Municipalities to provide a wish list of what they want and prioritize; e.g., small food producers

and low income consumers • Access to land • Collaborate with developers


Light Blue Table • Increased awareness at all levels • Getting to Zero Waste grocery stores

• Less produce displayed • Story telling

o Changing language and terms about food recovery • Convene: bringing the right stakeholders together

o Local governments are in good position o Political will - direction through council o Staff culture o Offering of space and assets

• Finding the champions and creating opportunities • Measurement: data collection

o Collect data from municipalities, farmers markets and others involved in food recovery and waste

• Governments need to remove barriers and silos that prevent action • How could local governments be involved?

o Raising awareness of organics ban going into effect in 2015 o Facilitate relationships to start process o Economic development campaign o Funding: focused and dedicated granting to increasing food recovery o Local governments should work more with industry o Nomination and awards: profile donors and innovative thinkers

Purple Table • Promote a reducing food waste campaign such as Love Food/Hate Waste from the UK

o Ramp up the campaign • Incorporating food waste prevention in compost education

o Including common sense tips o Strategic to deal with children

• Skill development o confidence in cooking though local government programs like canning and preserving

• Connecting second rate food supplies and consumers • Seek opportunities for outreach and education

o Using info graphics, short videos, posters o Farmer’s markets as a possible venue

• There is lots to learn so need to incorporate food recovery messages with “organic ban” info o Host sessions with business to learn about their challenges

• Determine what can be done about “best before” dates

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/


• What are “the law hanging fruit” for reducing food waste • Education about what is edible and can be eaten • Sharing different cultural techniques (i.e., First Nation knowledge) on how to preserve food • Intergenerational information sharing on food recovery • Promote fruit tree recovery programs • Through business licenses measure food waste /recovery • Through re-zoning applications require approaches to food recovery • Encouraging the public to talk to businesses about food waste prevention • Gleaning:

o Regulatory changes o Indentify issues o Liability concerns from farmers

Local Governments • Highlight possible cost efficiencies • Make Smartphone App connecting food recovery partners • Recognition through City/Local Government awards of leaders in food recovery • Develop a Green Business checklist • Incentives/grants/seed money

o Governments fund pilot programs like the Surrey Community Grants and the Vancouver Greenest City Action Fund

• Industry sponsored awards Priority strategies for business • Increase awareness of Food Donation Act to reduce fear of liability • Promote /celebrate corporate leadership in food recovery

o Promote benefits, especially financial, like tax donation receipt • Develop custom donor agreement, over and above the Food Donation Act, for each donor

o Building a story and demonstrating a need (like a letter from local society dealing with food recovery examples)

• Encourage small businesses to drop off products

Individual Reflections and Insights at the end of the Panel

• Localized/neighbourhood composting sites could deal with food waste during food recovery efforts.

• Pay farmers for their produce that would otherwise be tilled back in the land and/or composted. • More education is needed on the challenge of food waste; for consumers and businesses. • Local governments are the connecting link for the different uses of food waste. • Cost transfer. Are food waste removal costs being off–loaded from distributors to recipient

agencies? • Need to change the paradigm – waste is built into our culture. • “Nobody’s perfect” program.


• Wealth minus poverty equals health and wellbeing. • Challenges in food recovery

o Awareness and education to inform percentage of population who would make the change most readily

o ‘Best before’ dates and what they really mean o The extent of waste o What “I” personally can do about it o Resource information o Hints and tips

• Paradigm shift: make reducing food waste cool. • Local government should be leaders in non-traditional areas. They should lead by example; for

example plan ahead in dealing with food at events. • Simplify the language especially in the Food Donor Encouragement Act- it is too long and easily

forgettable. • Resource–sharing: can distributors share infrastructure with agencies receiving donations? • Infrastructure is needed to handle food donations. How to secure/access trucks, cold storage

(cooler freezer), and food processing facilities. • Government can influence corporate and industrial food donations. More focus on nutrition. • Need to look at waste more holistically and bring all parties together rather than have all

involved work in their own silos. • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model for food service businesses. Find/build

centralized storage of extra food that groups serving households in need can access. • Social norms and expectations need to change. For instance, aesthetics and quantity as

indicators of quality cause food waste. • Education about Food Donor Encouragement Act • What about garden centers? Where does the leftover food go? Can we get this to food banks? • Key for food recovery: Coordination, regional approach, system thinking, communications and

consistency. • Retailers need financial model of how to handle food waste better as well as case studies and

incentives. • Are most of these food recovery efforts not counter intuitive to ensuring the ‘right to food’? The

focus should be on increasing dignity and food quality standards especially for people with compromised immune systems.

• Leverage existing capacity to recover more food. For instance, backhauling recovered food in empty trucks that have just made food deliveries.

• Backhaul food donation with refrigerated trucks making deliveries. • Communicate ideas of how to reduce food waste at home. Plan better, store food properly,

develop shopping lists, improve habits and learn to cook. • Consumer perception needs to change. Affluence shouldn’t mean waste; including water bottles

and too much food. Affluence should lead to smart consumption. • Food recovery is the “new” recycling effort.


• How could local governments be involved? Take leadership, put all stakeholders in a room together to create a dialogue and develop a vision.

• Waste dollars follow waste. • Central coordinated body is needed to reduce food waste. This will include NGOs, EPR groups to

drive action, promote education and awareness, and to identify innovation that facilitates the necessary paradigm shift.

• Look to what the most vulnerable are doing including those that live off the land. • Just because we have landfills, we don’t need to fill them. • It doesn’t matter if what you buy is local or organic or fair trade or non-GMO if you are going to

throw half of it away. • Governments can help to connect various agencies and donors. • Processing capacity is necessary to transfer/ extend value of recovered food. Processing,

freezing, and proper storage capacity means that food does not need to be used immediately.

Keywords: collaboration, strategic and shared use of food infrastructure, local government leadership, dignity, changing perceptions and paradigm shift.


Panel 2: Strategies for Increasing Food Recovery

Discussion Questions:

• What do you think are the priority strategies for increasing food recovery? • How could local governments be involved?”

Orange Table Priorities for food recovery: • Institutional change • Systematic change • Logistics – process, knowledge • Incentives • Challenges for small and medium businesses • Need advocates and role models from peers; including the following groups

o individuals o Households o Businesses o Municipalities o Chambers of commerce o Local media

• Industry competition • Education • Understanding of financial models that each industry segment operates within • Showcasing partnership roles • Framing/tweaking language of discussion • Increase frequency of green bin pick up and reduce frequency of garbage pick up Priorities for food recovery local government involvement • Education campaign • Advertising • Promote • Consumer language • Showcase business examples

o Track progress o Promote best case

• Consider different scales o large businesses vs. small/ medium businesses o More systems for smaller businesses o Tax including grant for small businesses infrastructures

• Sorting/aggregation hubs like a transfer station for food recovery


o Cold storage o Scale is important o Convenience o Having business costs vs. alternatives

Redirecting Sorting

• Making food recovery cool and sexy • Describe source of food

o Business name o Where is grown o Standardizing/engage – guidelines could help

Brown Table Priority strategies for increasing food recovery • Guidelines are important

o A parallel program for households o Average person is the next step o Should include info on how to reduce amount of food to be recovered o Important to show all that can happen with food recovery

Example of what can be done -- the story of the imperfect pepper • Food recovery goes beyond getting food to people in need

o Education for shopping Food use Food storage

o Community engagement o What are government barriers to advancing some of this innovation o Survey - what are the real and received barriers to food recovery o Funding through government is limited o Pilots are important to support because it teaches what works and what doesn’t

• Relax barriers for small scale projects • Need a persistent and internal champion to be successful • Build capacity and resources internally • Build partnerships

o give other outside groups a government point of contact o Person to help guide government issues and find political interest

• We need a coordinator between levels of government/agencies • Need more research

o There may be good examples around the globe • Keep this conversation going

o Link people who are trying with people who are succeeding • Pull in non-monetary resources


o Connect efforts to keep other waste out of the system o Refrigerator trucks

• Utilize municipal liaison to Board of Trade o new ideas for initiatives o Board of Trade o Put food recovery programs on the agenda and build connections

• Need a committee at the Municipal council/Metro Vancouver Board level to evaluate food recovery o Regional Engineering Advisory Committee (REAC) o Zero Waste Committee

• Remember the ability of “food recovery” to reduce food waste – it is important to reduce the original source o Could export excess out of the region

• Black box chef recovery challenge • What is the lowest impact solution? Use a system approach • Food/cooking education in schools and for volunteering populations

o Immigrants and refugees Dark Blue • Need political buy in and support - engage through

o Metro Vancouver’s Regional Planning and Agricultural Committee • Where is the Food Policy?

o Food Policy groups – Vancouver Food Policy council and North Shore Table Matters o Regional Food System Strategy (RFSS) does not address food policy o Not enough tools for municipalities o Focused on Agricultural lands and their use

• Municipalities need something to use in guiding them o Need example documents that municipalities can adopt ultimately

• Community buy–in is created by community first and then politicians can endorse o Assistance with outreach and advertising

• Need to create Food Policy o Provide support to municipalities to achieve that o Share leading examples o Vancouver Food Policy Council o Food Charter o North Shore Table Matters o Vancouver Food Strategy

• Education about food recovery • Support for municipalities in responding to queries from:

o Schools


o Businesses o Non-profits

• Training • Coordinated response • Goal setting

o Track how food waste is handled when Organics ban comes into effect • Maximize value of each stream

o Set goals for municipalities o Track/measure set targets for each ( time and year to be achieved)

o Need numbers for recovery o Industry incentive programs to report their numbers

• Template for businesses to track • Share success stories and celebrate the leaders • Reduce is the priority

o Need baseline o Diversion numbers don’t reflect the true situation

• Show how maximizing food value impacts food insecurity • Proof of cost savings

o Educational pieces and sources - E.g. the amount of water in an average hamburger • We know purchasing/consumption statistics ( Stats Canada) • Reduction is hard to count

o Set goals for reduction • Diets

o Does changing diet reduce food waste? o Realistic potion sizes

• Upstream analysis o Processed foods have waste further upstream

• Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a sustainability & accountability reporting initiative for corporate reports

o GRI needs national packaging reporting metrics that businesses can report on Reporting initiative for waste

o Pressure businesses to respond • Store that sells with no packaging

o Trader Joe – former executive was big on this o Restaurants / store using recovered food o UK example

• Markets o Food breakdown vs. food processing o “Seconds” not sellable though primary market


Red Table • Mapping info on the different ways to move foods from stores/restaurants to non-profit agencies

distributing food; include all partners: o Agencies o Government o Private industry

• Industry: o Initially engage each separately o Training involved

• Involve higher profile people as part of marketing “food recovery” • Internal taskforce involving people across departments • Willingness from Local Councils to build awareness • Make it easy

o Create awareness o Reconsider how to write polices

• A form of recognition o Employers could use for promote their firm/brand

Light Blue Table • Change language

o Don’t talk about waste – use “surplus” • Communicate what products community groups can take/need

o At all scales • Inform businesses about the need for “multiple hubs” • Show businesses – through tours or videos – how the surplus food is handled and the quality control

procedures • Food acquisition specialist should approach business • Know business needs and processes

o Role for de-labeling • Local governments can promote recovery operations • Local governments provide lists of organizations that can accept surplus food Purple Table • Variable quality in food donations is a challenge

o Food type is a problem for the end user • The larger discussion beyond food recovery is the need to address issue of poverty, unequal

food access, and dignity


• Where to find resources, primarily money, to pay for distribution, processing and labor involved in food recovery

• Integration of partners and issues besides food to offer comprehensive assistance o food credit, health, etc

• Focus on quality of life for recipients of recovered food o Food is flexible cost, housing is not

• Governments o Need to be flexible and creative o Should leverage building stock/land for cooperative and collaborative projects including

food recovery o Can be neutral venue to help manage funds and resources o Metro Vancouver and municipal governments should lead public engagement and

education on food recovery o Convene different organizations to identify opportunities between food sources and food

recovery groups and to initiate such partnerships o Provide data analysis and health cost benefit to show business case for food recovery o Support charities seeking grants and other resources for food recovery

o Undertake assessment process of food recovery organizations to support grants o Examine distribution, load storage, kitchen, logistics, real estate, etc. needs for expanding

community food recovery efforts o Needs to enable local organization to undertake greater food recovery activity o Need to facilitate more o Promote collaboration between various agencies so less competition for grants, funding and

resources

Yellow Table Priority Strategies • Collaboration and partnerships

o Create synergies • Develop systems diagram to expand food recovery

o Identify leverage points o Listing barriers and logistical challenges o Identify opportunities o Note links to nutrient flow balance

• Alleviate sense of risk for groups engaged in food recovery • Accessible information • Leaders influencing leaders • Fund innovation • Avoid compost solution • Need education that supports behavioural change • Putting facts and numbers together to build the business case for food recovery


o Identify real costs o Develop templates for use by businesses

• Nutritional guidelines • Contingency plans • Infrastructure is the challenge

o Small vans o freezers and coolers

Green Table • Raise awareness

o Make connections, built network o Consistent messaging o Use and promote food recovery at special events & festivals

• Guidelines for food recovery o Get them out and promote the concept

• Recognition or certification o food recovery o Green Table Network as a partner? o Branding, social license

• Align and combine messaging with organics ban campaign Pink Table • Create synergies

o Food bank o Chefs o Processors

• Communication and education leading to behavioural change o Provide understanding of the issues o Standard early message at events about food waste o Similar to mentioning recycling, organics collection, food waste

• The ban on organics will raise of costs of disposal for businesses as well as alternatives such as donation of edible food – requires new space for separation and storage

• Financial incentives o Taxable receipt o Penalties for food that have not been rescued

• Promote social responsibility and linkages to other rationale/reasons for food recovery other than saving money

• Support champions in industry • Support sharing economy


• Develop infrastructure and programs to make it easier and simpler to participate • Motivate volunteers and promote the benefits of volunteering for agencies recovering food • Emphasize importance in event planning the need to commit to reducing food waste • Leadership from businesses and government to introduce food recovery requirements into their

own meetings and events • Celebrate and be loud about successes

o Get buy-in from corporations • Education

o How to can/preserve and/or pickled food o Buy appropriate food at the right time of the year

• Take time to connect with food, social experience, old school - bring it back • All levels of government be involved in solutions, not just local governments • Understand economic drivers in decision-making and try to counter them • Look at business model to drive change • Speak the language that works for each sector

• Incorporate into government a mandate to support food recovery infrastructure • Go through the associations/organizations in order to connect with individuals o Focus on high producers of wasting edible food in grocery stores and restaurants

o Develop programs and initiatives


• Develop a video on how Quest Food Exchange ensures the quality of the food donations it receives. Metro Vancouver could link to this video so that businesses can learn about food recovery.

• Think about synergies in food trade and services: food recovery – students in training – feeding those in need.

• Provide information to businesses as potential food donors on who accepts food donations. Make it easy for businesses.

• Need infrastructure for processing surplus food. Commercial kitchens, do we need new or are there existing facilities.

• Make sure the food rescue guidelines are accessible and compliant with existing tax and health regulations. Need relevant business case for food businesses which includes monetary benefits.

• Priority is to change the language around reducing food waste – make it cool! • “Every time I scratch something, a whole bouquet of issues erupts” – Erin Nichols • Showcase businesses in community that are doing the right thing through municipal websites

and local newspaper stories. • People should be educated about how food recovery is beneficial for everyone! • Bio-digesters for food and animal waste. • Can food rescue reduce the costs of handling waste? What is the business case for food rescue

vs. composting?


• Collaboration and sharing of resources, especially infrastructure, is essential. • More system thinking is essential. Consider the whole system from the industry and production

level. • Clear business cases that include best practices and numbers that drive innovation are required. • Closed loop design for organizations. At the Metro Vancouver/regional level we need to think

about a circular economy. • “You cannot solve a problem with the same solutions that created the problem” • Develop a concerted communication campaign one with a consumer and production focus • Can we tap into existing services? For example, refrigerator trucks that pick up recovered food

after they drop off their deliveries? • Stop reinventing the wheel! Look at bright spots around the world and replicate. • Let’s make food rescue “Hip and Cool! • Start the food recovery discussion in schools. • Peer to Peer advocacy. • Monetize the benefits of using recovered food. • A food recovery industry group/ association is needed. • Food donation programs should be part of the cost mitigation strategy for organics ban. Include

how food recovery reduces organic collection costs to business messaging on ban. • Local governments can advertize food waste initiatives on their websites, service trucks, flyers

and mail outs. • Connect partners in food waste recovery so that one organization doesn’t have to handle all the

infrastructure and service logistics and costs. • Link organic waste to hog feed and/or biofuel. • Support and encourage partnerships including those between competing organizations. • Just a thought – in the consideration of eliminating ‘best before date’ – supermarkets might

have less items to donate to those that need it socially • Could local government partner to develop grants that support on–going strategies to increase

food recovery? This would also reduce poverty and help provide housing at the same time. • Leverage existing, or create new, shared infrastructure for food processing (i.e., canning) and

distribution ( i.e., trucks, computer software) • Keep your foodprint small! Food waste should be socially unacceptable. • Discussion leading to actions. At the committee, council and board levels including the Zero

Waste committee at Metro Vancouver • Collaboration with non–profits will make system more sustainable.

Key words: awareness, business case, sharing and developing infrastructure, collaboration/partnerships, innovation


Panel 3: Reducing Food Waste within Households

Discussion Questions:

• What mechanisms for reducing food waste by households do you think might be the most effective?

• How could local governments be involved? Pink Table

• Marketing Campaign needed

o Just getting people to think about food waste and how to prevent it o Household audits could raise awareness

• Urban Planning o Placement of grocery stores affects number of shopping trips and amount of food bought –

more frequent small shops at close grocery stores reduces food waste • Guides on food reduction/cooking techniques

o How to cut up whole chicken o Using leftovers and peels

• Parents should be teaching/engaging their kids on food waste o Challenge each other

Green Table • Time squeeze – affects ability to manage food and waste • Raising awareness about food waste

o Meal planning o At the point of purchase

o develop shopping strategy o Food storage strategies o At the point of preparation

• Food safety awareness • Local governments

o Help convening appropriate stakeholders o Coordinating o Developing education tools and pilot programs


Red Table • Re Love Food/Hate Waste campaign:

o Fast track your project o Incorporate ideas from previous panels today

• Food scraps • Education is critical

Brown Table • Value and importance of culture of food • Celebrating leftovers • Rethinking concept of “best before” date • Education on food waste and preventing it:

o Storage o Labeling

o Expiry vs. best before o Explore risks o Behaviour change o Food safety

• Local governments actions: o Campaigns on reducing food waste o Educate civic staff so they can spread the word o Develop school programs o Articulate why this is important

• Prepare high value meals o Teach kids to cook o Eat family dinners

• Engage people on reducing food waste • Cultural shifts to value food more • Education on the ground

Black Table • Reducing food waste requires planning and better time management

o Focus on how it saves money o Prevent over-buying (the Costco mentality) o Engage the whole family especially children o Teach children early

• Telling the whole story of food and food waste from start to finish o What’s involved in growing and producing food including all the resources (water and

energy) involved to produce food • Local government should work with Metro Vancouver

o Educational programs and web site information


o Consistent messaging • Local governments should influence school boards to incorporate food waste into curriculum • Food waste reduction should be a priority for local governments • Provide tools for people interested in making change • Support Love Food/Hate Waste approach campaign for the UK

Dark Blue • Promote

o Purchase only what you will need o Eat what you purchase o Plan ahead o Stock less especially perishable food o Shop more often

o Walkable stores o More farmers markets

o More family involvement in food preparation o More passing skills down o Social programs to encourage family meal planning and preparation o Proper food storage education

• Metro Vancouver programs to reduce food waste o Step 1 – educate

o There is a problem o Where does waste go? o Neighbourhood challenges

• Identity areas of opportunity o Neighbourhood houses o Religious institutions o Love Food/Hate Waste programs o Revise food safe programs

o Involve health authorities o Bring home economics back into the schools

• Bring food waste actions into local sustainability strategies • How to focus on the biggest producers of waste

o Those not impacted by price or scarcity constraints • Change the Costco model

o How to enable people to buy only what they need? • Change peoples relationship with their food

Yellow Table

• Food pricing o Make it to reflect true cost o Food should be more expensive

• Awareness of the problem




• Education o Relationship with food o Change shopping habits o Concentrate on using as much of produce as possible o Create a big pot on Sunday and eat all week o Eat more simply o Divide meals

• Food bartering/swapping o Neighbourhood library nooks: Can we do these with food? o Community kitchens

• Structural issues o Size of kitchens o Small bins

Purple Table

• Education o Skills training in schools alongside providing prepared lunches for students o Freeze scraps to avoid odor o Provide free scaled–down food skills planning & safety training for parents

o 4 hours class instead of many weeks training o Partner with health authorities o Team building

o For adults o For kids at schools o Have external so less people give lessons at schools

o Teach staff in commercial/community kitchens to understand how to build flexibility into menus to take advantage of large volumes of products with little planning

o Home education at grade school/high school • Entertainment

o Make learning about food fun o Encourage kids watching cooking shows instead of cartoons

• Public education campaign reducing households food waste o Give fake infraction ”tickets” for education about food waste in green bins o Offer lawn signs (same size as election signs) to residents who reduce food waste to give

praise and achieve recognition around reduced waste o Issue municipal competition, challenges, award for reduced food waste o Provide ”waste list” to residents to track what gets thrown out as mechanism to help

change thinking and behaviour around food waste • Send price signals in cost of food • Integrate food recovery into municipal plans policy and strategies • Metro Vancouver can create guidelines for municipal food strategies and plans • Alignment between different levels of government to direct attention to food recovery • Show leadership in this area


Light Blue Table • Tracking for awareness • Address resistance to behaviour change • Food :

o portion sizes: buying and serving o How food is marketed to us - Culture of abundance” o Buying at different levels of ripeness: papaya sold in 3’s ripe stages – ripe, almost ripe, need

ripening) • Info on menu planning

o Plate portions o Storing

• Sharing of purchases o Link to sharing economy o Ideas for using it up


• Explain to households why we should be concerned about food waste • Consider the judgment implications of the “organics ban” program name • Value of time-

o Time of travel to shop o Prep time o Waste sorting time o Cooking ; 1960 – 2 hr o 2010 – 20 min

• Who decides ‘best before’ date? Who benefits when you dispose and then replace? • Neighbour to neighbour food. The benefits of sharing. Link to the mini book nooks • Would have been great to see more leadership on food in today’s lunch options. Missed opportunity

to feature recovered food for lunch. • It helps to have higher (federal and provincial level) policies in place to support municipalities. For

instance, Food Charters with actions that support local government staff in household engagement programs to reduce food waste.

• Discussion at individual, family and organizational level is a key. Small actions yield big impacts. • Promote and support community kitchens. People coming together to make meals, learn and doing

canning, etc. • Small and simple is best • Municipalities should make info available on the journey of food from garden to mouth/landfill/

compost/green can: o Cost implications o Transportation issues o Best options o Consider Greenhouse Gas emissions also


o Graphic for educational purposes • Educate / info about food storage, best before dates and strategies for using all parts of veggies,

choices ,etc • Info campaigns about food purchase portions, and proper storage • Engage children in the food process. They might grow up to be responsible consumers • Make people more aware of their food waste habits

Key words: awareness, education, community-based initiatives.

food systems roundtable notes june 19-2014 … · • encourage small grocers to sell...

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