The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste (2019)

58%

Of all food in Canada annually is lost or wasted

32%

Of this food could be redirected to support Canadians

56.5 million

Tonnes of CO² equivalent emissions created annually

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The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste (2019)

Updated Report

TheAvoidable Crisis of Food Waste: Update is a follow-up to Second Harvest’s groundbreaking research published in 2019 that quantified food waste in Canada by examining the entire value chain.

View the updated report

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This research is a world first and shows we need to radically change how we value food

Nearly 60% of food produced for Canadians – or 35.5 million tonnes – is lost and wasted annually.*

32% or 11.2 million tonnes of that food is edible and could be redirected to support people in our communities.

The total financial value of this potentially rescuable lost and wasted food is a staggering $49.46 billion.

These unprecedented findings are the result of a year-long research project undertaken by Second Harvest and Value Chain Management International, a leading public and industry voice in food waste.

Making News

Thank you

This project was made possible by a generous grant from the Walmart Foundation.