Record food price hike has some Maritimers cutting down on food waste
At a time when the cost of pretty much everything seems to be sky-high, the latest inflation figures, which came out Wednesday, were shocking when it came to the price of food.
"Well, the numbers came out this morning and they're saying on average that prices are up 9.7 per cent,” said Janet Music, research program coordinator at the Agri-Foods Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University.
Music says normally Canadians don't talk about food waste enough, but she figures that will change now that letting too much go into the green bin stands to hit people hard in the wallet.
"We usually consider the climate consequences of wasting food, but now we're getting into the territory where the financial consequences of wasting food is going to be much too high for many households,” Music said.
At Loaves and Fishes in Sydney, they've never been in a position where they can waste much food.
Now that inflation has gone out of control, the food bank and community kitchen has had to switch to making the day's meals as they go.
"Before, we used to make it all in the morning,” said general manager Marco Amati. “And then have it ready for them all day, and have some left over that we'd have to throw out. Now, we make so much that would feed, say, 100 people. Then if we get 120 or 130, it's not hard to just throw something on."
At a restaurant just around the corner, they have a simple way of making sure the day's leftovers get used on the rare occasions they have them.
"So we put a call out there on social media,” said James MacDonald, co-owner of JJ’s Plant-Based Eats.
“We just tell people 'we've got extra food here, we've got more than we planned on having and if you don't mind coming to help us out, you'll leave with a full belly and we'll have an empty fridge.’ So it's kind of a win-win situation."
Music says now is a good time to get into the habit of meal planning for the entire week.
"Often we shop for convenience,” she said. “But now we actually have to take that time to kind of map out what we're going to eat and have a plan for it. [A plan] in the grocery store, but also have a plan for it when it's in our cupboards, in our fridge."
Music adds that many of us now have an advantage — born by the pandemic — that can help us save food and money.
"I think now that we're working from home, we can heat up those leftovers a lot easier than perhaps when we were taking it to work and perhaps slipping out to the restaurant on our lunch breaks,” she said.
Music says research shows 63 per cent of food wasted — or nearly two thirds — is edible.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Twins from Toronto were Canada's top two female finishers at this year's Boston Marathon
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Australian police arrest 7 alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church
Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids across Sydney on Wednesday, as a judge extended a ban on social media platform X sharing video of a knife attack on a bishop that started the criminal investigation.