More Canadians are struggling to afford food than ever before — and the situation is getting worse.
Even before U.S. tariffs drove food prices higher, at least 10 million Canadians were already facing food insecurity. At the same time, Canada wastes nearly half of all its food.
Over 41% of this food could be rescued — it’s enough good food to feed 17 million people three meals a day for an entire year.
Right now, the federal government is developing a National Food Security Strategy to strengthen Canada’s food system and improve access to affordable food. This is a critical opportunity, but it will only succeed if it includes meaningful action to reduce food waste.
Straightforward policy changes — such as modernizing “best before” date labelling, setting and tracking national food waste reduction targets and investing in basic infrastructure like fridges and freezers for food charities — can keep more food where it belongs: on plates and out of landfills.
As millions of households struggle to put food on the table, we cannot afford to keep throwing good Canadian food away. We grow enough. We produce enough. We must do better.
This is where you come in.
With just a few clicks, you can email your Member of Parliament and urge them to make food waste reduction a core part of Canada’s National Food Security Strategy.
Add your voice today — because wasting food while people go hungry is a problem we can solve.
Make food waste reduction part of Canada's National Food Security Strategy.
Second Harvest is Canada's largest food rescue organization. Our vision is: No Waste. No Hunger. Our mission is to keep food where it belongs: on plates and
out of landfills.