Food bank usage has reached crisis levels in Toronto, spurred by high grocery costs and a lack of affordable housing, and according to a new article in the Star so is dumpster diving. According to the Daily Bread Food Bank’s “Who’s Hungry” report released late last year, one in ten people in Toronto rely on food banks to make ends meet—twice as many as the year before.
The problem is—Canadians are throwing out more edible food than they realize. The National Zero Waste Council’s research on household food waste in Canada reports that almost 2.3 million tonnes of edible food are wasted each year, costing Canadians over $21 billion.
Every day in Canada we waste 130,000 heads of lettuce, 1,300,000 tomatoes, 2,600,000 potatoes, 650,000 loaves of bread, 1,300,000 apples, 640,000 bananas, 1,000,000 cups of milk, and 470,000 eggs. In Toronto, the city estimates that over 50% of food wasted in single-family households is avoidable, including leftovers and untouched food that could have been eaten at one point.
Many things are being done to combat food waste. Food rescuing, for one, is a growing trend being fueled by social media. It involves collecting and redistributing good surplus food that was thrown out to feed people in need. A former Post City editor who went on a food-salvaging mission in Kensington Market on garbage day found everything from edible Trini doubles to bags of banana bread, and a carton of slightly overripe Ontario blue grapes.
Popular food rescue options in the city include the Dumpster Diving Network of Toronto, which is one of the largest (private) Facebook groups dedicated to food rescue in Toronto, boasting overly 8,500 members who post pics of food hauls and requests. The Too Good To Go app lets people rescue unsold food at their favourite spots, and Redditors have shared the best places to go dumpster diving in the city.
Another dumpster diving resource is TikTok. For example, TorontoTrashPanda has amassed a following of 3,500 on TikTok by sharing videos of her dumpster diving adventures. Among her discoveries are backpacks, cosmetics, and a plethora of food items. She generously utilizes these findings to replenish the Bloor by the Park Community Pantry and support neighbors facing food insecurity.
Got all these cakes tonight! They went to the pantry at 1691 bloor st west pic.twitter.com/RziCj19rf5
— torontotrashpanda julia (@julzpak) February 26, 2024
The City of Toronto is even encouraging residents to reduce food waste through their Save More, Waste Less Food Challenge, running from February 27 to March 26. Participants will receive food-saving tips from ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ each week to help them make simple changes at home and participants who complete the challenge are eligible to win a $500 gift card toward groceries.
To reduce food waste, the City of Toronto recommends planning meals for the following week. Before shopping, see what needs to be used up and then think of a meal to make with those items. Perishables (e.g., seafood and meat) should be used earlier in the week, and staples (e.g., pasta, dairy, and eggs) should be saved for later in the week.
Fresh vegetables should be bought in smaller amounts, with a dedicated produce drawer set at high humidity to store vegetables that wilt (like leafy greens), and another produce drawer set at low humidity (for fruits and some veggies that produce ethylene).
