FoodMesh to Lead National Campaign to Reduce Household Food Waste in Canada

FoodMesh, a social enterprise in Vancouver that specializes in food recovery, now leads the Love Food Hate Waste Canada campaign in a strategic attempt to challenge the increasing problem of food waste among Canadian consumers. The initiative is a major leap towards the nation's aim to curb the environmental and economic footprints left behind by wasted food as well as promote the wider use of available education and outreach materials for the public.

Love Food Hate Waste Canada, initiated by the National Zero Waste Council in 2018, is Canada's premier public education campaign encouraging Canadians to reduce avoidable household food waste. As FoodMesh now takes the reins of its new leadership, the campaign will aim to grow its audience and further intensify efforts to assist Canadians in saving money and preventing waste through small changes. FoodMesh has already diverted the equivalent of more than 63 million meals from being wasted, making it a seasoned veteran in Canada's food rescue community.

Food waste is a persistent and longstanding problem in Canada. National statistics say that more than 60% of household food wastage is still safe to eat. This translates to over 2.3 million tonnes of ready-to-consume food every year—equivalent to around 140 kilograms per family. In monetary terms, this translates to an average wasteful expenditure of $1,300 every year per family. Wasting of food in homes also affects the world, as it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. Globally, food waste contributes to 8–10% of the emissions, more than that from the aviation industry.

In addition to environmental and economic costs, food waste is particularly problematic from a food insecurity point of view. As one in four Canadians are now living in food insecurity, minimizing waste at the household level is pragmatic and ethical necessity.

The Love Food Hate Waste campaign is taking a prevention approach by providing simple advice on meal planning, food storage, and using leftovers. These publications are intended to assist households in preventing wastage by making minor changes in day-to-day behavior. With its new management by FoodMesh, its second stage will extend to more Canadians through collaborations with municipalities, environment ministries, and local organizations.

The partners in the initiatives are Metro Vancouver, the Capital Regional District of British Columbia, RECYC-QUÉBEC, and the City of Toronto. The partners embrace the initiative as part of comprehensive waste management strategies and circular economy principles. In Toronto, minimizing food waste is part of long-term urban development planning, and educational campaigns are employed for minimizing landfill contributions. In Québec as well, public funding and intelligent partnerships finance awareness and behavioural change interventions.

In past campaign activity, quantifiable results show high levels of public participation. Recent challenge undertaken by the campaign, for example, registered 85% of active homes stating lower food wastage through taking on advice and tips being offered via the campaign website and social media. More than 3 million people were reached by the campaign, with approximately 100,000 users accessing its website, where shoppers can view tips on saving food, storing food, and recipes. It also created a tremendous virtual community whereby users share tricks and tips on minimizing food waste at home.

The campaign emphasizes the importance of concerted effort on the part of institutions and people. Governments and organizations do their share in establishing systems and infrastructure to cut waste, but homes are also an important cog in the wheel. Small changes like not overpurchasing groceries, sorting out the fridge, keeping food organized, and making use of leftovers can together make a difference.

Under its new administration as Love Food Hate Waste Canada, FoodMesh will raise the profile of the campaign, establish new partnerships, and continue to provide low-cost resources through www.lovefoodhatewaste.ca. The organization encourages other organizations and individuals to become members of the campaign or partners in the national program.

This is one of a larger trend in sustainability campaigns: the convergence of awareness campaigns with operations-aware organisations with national reach. FoodMesh's history of food recovery makes it an appropriate partner to tap for household-level behaviour change. The intention is to sync consumer activity with larger environmental actions to cut emissions, save resources, and confront issues of food access.

With still-rising food prices and environmental issues becoming ever more urgent, the emphasis of the campaign on pragmatic, achievable solutions should resonate with a vast majority of Canadians. It also aligns with general national and global sustainability goals.

Source:
Exclu­sive invest­i­ga­tion by Megan Czer­pak, pub­lished on Fri 4 Jul 2025, via Cli­mate Insider.
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