New national guidelines in place to donate excess food

BURNABY (NEWS 1130) – Imagine if, instead of throwing away leftover produce, you can share it?

The National Zero Waste Council (NZWC) is making it easier for farmers, grocers, restaurants and individuals to donate food to those in need.

New guidelines include (source: NZWC)

• The food donation process, including the needs of donors and recipient organizations
• Recommended practices to set up and facilitate donations of quality food to organizations
• Information to match potential industry donors with organizations
• Health and safety considerations related to food donation
• Structures and processes of public health oversight (Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia)
• Tips to manage brand identity when donating food
• Donors and recipient information on safe food handling and how to safely assess foods
• Industry specific information for processors, retailers and food service providers on how they can reduce food waste and donate food in different ways

 

Senior Policy Advisor Denise Philippe says companies like Costco no longer have to send boxes and boxes of healthy food to landfills.

“It might encourage them to increase types of food that they donate, but there are a lot of businesses that would be also small to medium-size enterprises where a lot of this information might be new for them and that might encourage them to set up donation programs where there are not programs already.”

She adds help is also on the way for food banks and shelters on the receiving end. “For capacity building, so when we talk about food donations, it’s a full systems approach.”

Philippe adds it’s not clear how new guidelines will help reduce more than $30 billion worth of food wasted by Canadians every year.

“It would all depend on how many businesses decide to establish programs. Really good quality food is ending up in a landfill for a variety of reasons. Yogurt, for example, might have gone just beyond its best before date. It does not affect the health or safety of that yogurt.”

Meanwhile, she says many liability issues have been resolved for businesses worried about donating food with recent expiry dates.