Preventing and Reducing Food Loss and Waste – Continued Outreach, Enhancement and Promotion of CEC Related Products and Stakeholder Engagement
Status: Active
Operational Plan: 2021
Project Duration: 18 months
Start date: December 1, 2021
Food loss and waste (FLW) is an increasingly important issue in Canada, Mexico and the United States, where close to 170 million tonnes of food produced for human consumption are lost and wasted each year—across the food supply chain, including in pre-harvest and consumer sectors. Disposal of food waste in landfills produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide. FLW also has environmental and socio-economic impacts, including the inefficient use of natural resources, economic loss, biodiversity loss, and public health issues. Therefore, preventing food from becoming waste in the first place is one of the most impactful approaches Canada, Mexico and the United States can take to reduce the environmental harm associated with FLW.
To find out more about this project, here is the complete project description.
Issues
- Uneaten food represents social, environmental and economic costs, but also represents a large opportunity. Taking action to prevent and reduce food loss and waste offers a rare “triple win” for businesses, institutions or other organizations, as it can lower economic costs by addressing operational inefficiencies, support efforts to combat food insecurity in communities, and reduce environmental impacts, including its carbon footprint.
- Outcomes of previous CEC projects on Food Loss and Waste have assisted Parties by establishing foundational documents, identifying relevant North American experts and stakeholder organizations, and developing tools to motivate youth to take action to reduce FLW and assist businesses to measure FLW. At this stage, a key opportunity exists to continue outreach and communication activities that promote the CEC-hosted content related to food loss and waste.
Aim
- The CEC actively works to elevate the visibility of preventing, recovering, recycling, and reducing food loss and waste through continued outreach, enhancement, and promotion of CEC-related products and stakeholder engagement.
- The main goal of this follow-up project is to build upon momentum achieved through promotion and awareness-raising during past CEC projects related to FLW prevention and reduction.
Deliverables
- To continue the following CEC outreach and communication activities related to CEC food loss and waste main resources: (1) Education (the “Let’s Shrink Food Waste Mountain” youth awareness campaign and the Food Matters Action Kit), and (2) Measurement (the Why and How to Measure Food Loss and Waste: A Practical Guide version 2.0 and its accompanying material).
- Ensure continued CEC presence in relevant webinars and conferences with businesses, institutions, organizations and municipalities and state governments.
Source: CEC Foundational Report. 2017. Characterization and Management of Food Loss and Waste in North America.
Related Projects
For more information about this project or to partner with us, contact:
Armando Yáñez Sandoval
Head of Unit, Green Growth