Joanne Gauci
VFR: Joanne, tell us about yourself and the work that you do at Love Food Hate Waste Canada.
Joanne Gauci: My name is Joanne Gauci, and I am the Campaign Manager for Love Food Hate Waste Canada. I lead our national campaign's mission to help Canadian people prevent food waste in their homes. I also spearhead the recruitment and onboarding of all regional and corporate partners of Love Food Hate Waste Canada.
VFR: Love Food Hate Waste Canada launched in June 2018. Please share about this exciting initiative – its mission, goals, and how it all started!
JG: Love Food Hate Waste is here to help us all make the most of the food we love. LFHW Canada started four years ago and is modelled on the LFHW campaign in the UK – a proven behaviour change campaign that, in its first five years, helped cut avoidable food waste by 21 percent. We know that food waste is an urgent, but solvable, global challenge. Through our many national marketing programs and campaigns our goal is to be Canada's one stop resource to learn how to prevent food waste, save money, and make a positive impact on the global climate.
VFR: How much food waste is actually happening at the household level in Canada?
JG: 63% of the food Canadians throw away could have been eaten. For the average Canadian household that amounts to 140 kilograms of wasted food per year – at a cost of more than $1,300 per year! For Canada as a whole, that amounts to almost 2.3 million tonnes of edible food wasted each year, costing Canadians in excess of $20 billion!
VFR: What are your top three tips for reducing food waste at home?
JG: As I said above, our food waste problem IS solvable! We often say, leftovers can change the world and we mean it! On our website you will see 3 sections: Plan It Out, Use it Up, Keep it Fresh! We really focus on educating on simple ways to store, plan, and use up your food so it lasts longer and prevents avoidable food waste.
VFR: There is a lot of confusion around best before dates and expiry dates. Help us understand the difference between them. And is it generally safe to eat products past the best before date?
JG: This is quickly becoming our most frequently asked question, so very happy to help clear up the confusion for your readers!
‘Best Before’ refers to quality – your food will be at its peak freshness, taste and nutritional value before the best before date if packaging is intact and stored correctly.
‘Expiration Dates’ refer to nutritional specifications: you must not eat food past the expiry date. You’ll only find expiry dates on certain foods like meal replacements, infant formula, and nutritional supplements. Because these foods have strict nutritional specifications, they should be discarded if the expiration date has passed.
What is key is storing your food properly in the refrigerator (see our fridge storage guide) – this will help you keep your food fresh for longer. We like to say, when in doubt use your common sense in combination with the dates you see on labels. Take a pause before you simply toss something because it is past the posted date.
Find out more on dates here.
VFR: The Love Food Hate Waste Canada website has a ton of leftover food recipe ideas. Which one is your favourite?
JG: We have so many food waste champions that have helped with our recipe section so one of my favourites comes from our ambassador Bob Blumer. I love his "Freetata" which makes a great Sunday clean out your fridge brunch dish.
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