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This article was originally posted on The Conversation Canada and was written by Kathryn Walton and Molly Gallant. Food waste is costly — and not just dollars and cents. Food waste also has significant environmental and health implications. Some estimates suggest that up to 50 per cent of food waste in Canada is generated at the household level. So what does this mean for an individual family? To answer this question our team of researchers from the University of Guelph inves

This blog post discusses our team's recently published peer-reviewed article. For the full article, please visit this page. As we have discussed in previous blog posts, food waste is now recognized around the world as a pressing environmental, social and economic issue. Although food waste occurs at all stages of food production and consumption, some estimates suggest that up to 50% of food waste in Canada is generated at the household-level. As awareness around food waste gr

Can simple nudges, expertly positioned in our environment, reduce household food waste?

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) or Human Machine Interface (HMI) is a growing area of research that has begun addressing issues related to ecological sustainability. Given the environmental impacts of food waste, some researchers have begun developing technologies that seek to reduce household food waste generation. From fridge cameras to “smart” bins, a new era of food waste technology is emerging. However, prior to being implemented on a large-scale, it is important to ass

Once the drivers of household food waste are better understood (see last week’s blog post for more on this), it is time to consider the design and implementation of interventions. Both practitioners and academics around the world have begun tackling this difficult task. From awareness-raising efforts to the installation of fridge camera technologies, researchers are creatively designing and testing methods to reduce household food waste. Before diving into the details of thes

Trash Talk: A Mini Series on Household Food Waste Overview Food waste is now recognized around the world as a pressing environmental, social and economic issue. Although food waste occurs at all stages of food production and consumption, some estimates suggest that up to 50% of food waste in Canada is generated at the household-level. The significance of this issue has resulted in food waste being a focus for regulation, interventions, policy, and awareness-raising efforts in

Meal kits aren’t exactly a new food trend in Canada, but with some relatively recent industry shakeups like HelloFresh Canada buying Chef’s Plate and Metro partnering with Miss Fresh, consumers and foodies are keeping a close watch to see what new offerings come to our plates. If you don’t know anything about meal kits – don’t worry – I was in your shoes about a month ago. A meal kit is a box that comes with the basic ingredients and instructions to make a meal. They are mark

Growing concerns about the environmental, economic and social impacts of food waste have resulted in this topic making headlines almost daily. Although there remains significant discussion, some estimates suggest that here in Canada, we waste $31 billion worth of food annually with about 50% of that waste being attributed to the household. With food more abundantly available and convenience taking priority, evidence suggests that food waste is a contemporary problem. Looking

We are hearing more and more about food waste in the news. New and often contradictory estimates are regularly presented regarding the social, economic and environmental impacts of food waste. When interpreting these results, there are a couple of important things to keep in mind. Households in particular have been shown to be responsible for up to 50% of total food waste generation in Canada. In this post, we're discussing some of the different methods commonly seen in the l

Two contemporary problems relating to food that we face today include rising obesity rates, encouraged by unhealthy eating habits, and staggering levels of food waste. Is it possible that the two are connected? In this post I discuss the potential connection between food waste and food literacy, referencing some of the available academic literature on these topics throughout. First and foremost, what exactly is food literacy? Although an exact and commonly agreed upon definit