Despite high food costs, this new study shows that food waste is pervasive

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A new study by Western University of more than 1,200 London households shows that the average family wastes six portions of edible food per week – more if you’re feeding kids.

Ivey professor Paul van der Werf and Western's Human Environments Analysis Laboratory (HEAL) hoped to help consumers keep more money in their wallets by cutting down on the amount of things that end up in the trash.

Especially critical in an environment of growing food insecurity and skyrocketing costs – with some data suggesting that as many as 6.8 million Canadians lack safe and nutritious food.

According to van der Werf, the most frequently wasted items were fruit and vegetables, followed by bread, baked and dry goods. The study indicated that proteins like meat and fish are most prone to disposal due to “best before” dates.

Van der Werf pointed to the need to educate consumers, “there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what ‘best before’ labels mean; it has more to do with when retailers want to sell their food by and when you need to pay a bit more attention to food spoilage. As I like to say, ‘best before’ does not mean ‘worst after.’”

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Tips to reduce food waste include:

• Planning your meals ahead of time
• Making a grocery list – and sticking to it
• Storing food properly
• Preparing the right amount of food
• Using leftovers

Although the bottom line for the consumer is a serious motivator for diagnosing the cause of food waste, van der Werf said that reducing food waste can be beneficial across the board.

“At the end of the day, if municipalities do not need to collect waste, then taxpayers do not need to pay for its management. Food waste in landfills has a high greenhouse gas impact. As many Canadian municipalities have declared climate emergencies, the act of simply reducing food waste collection is a relatively easy way to address this emergency in a meaningful way.”