We are wasting food we already have

On any given day in Manitoba, tens of thousands of pounds of edible food sit in warehouses and on store shelves at risk of going unsold.

At the same time, more Manitobans than ever are turning to food banks. Harvest Manitoba reports record levels of use, including among working families.

This is not a supply problem. It is a systems failure.

We continue to focus on food prices at the checkout, but that is only the final step in a much larger chain. The real pressure point is earlier, in the distribution and retail system, where food keeps moving regardless of whether people can afford to buy it.

When purchasing power drops, demand does not disappear evenly. It shows up as surplus.

Food arrives, sits longer, is discounted, and eventually becomes waste.

That gap is growing.

Distributors and retailers are not designed to manage large volumes of unsold, perishable food.

Shelf life is limited. Storage is finite. Redirecting food requires co-ordination, transportation and labour. Without a clear pathway, much of that food is lost.

For farmers, the same economics apply. If there is no viable downstream system to absorb surplus, there is little incentive to harvest or redirect it in the first place.

We already have the food. We are just not getting it where it needs to go.

This is also a climate issue. When food ends up in landfill, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. Environment and Climate Change Canada identifies organic waste as a major source of methane emissions.

Manitoba is currently ranked near the bottom in Canada for organic waste diversion. Within Winnipeg, food waste alone makes up an estimated 25 to 44 per cent of residential garbage, with nearly half of it considered avoidable. Reducing food waste is one of the fastest and most practical ways to cut emissions while addressing food insecurity at the same time. It is also an easy win for Manitoba to show leadership on climate.

Other jurisdictions are not waiting. In France, supermarkets are required to donate unsold food rather than destroy it. In Canada, provinces such as Ontario and Quebec offer tax credits that help offset the cost of donating agricultural products.

National organizations like Second Harvest have built co-ordinated food recovery networks that move surplus food to communities at scale, and estimate that nearly half of food produced in Canada is lost or wasted each year.

There is also growing discussion about recognizing food rescue as a climate solution.

Preventing food waste avoids emissions. That opens the door to policy tools such as carbon-based incentives that reward businesses for donating food instead of sending it to landfill. The details would need to be carefully designed, but the principle is clear. Keeping food out of landfill has measurable environmental value.

Here in Manitoba, we are already seeing what works.

Local efforts led by Community Helpers Unite, Chalmers Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, Brandon Food Rescue, Fireweed Food Co-op, Leftovers Foundation and Loop Resource are collectively moving roughly 100,000 pounds of food every month that would otherwise go to waste. That food is redistributed through smaller agencies, providing groceries free of charge to families across Winnipeg and Brandon.

This is proof of concept.

But these efforts are operating without a co-ordinated provincial framework.

Manitoba needs a provincewide food rescue strategy that connects distributors, retailers, farmers and community organizations into a functioning system. It needs targeted incentives to offset the real costs of recovering and transporting surplus food. And it needs investment in the infrastructure required to move food quickly, before it spoils.

We do not need to produce more food to make a difference today. We need to use what we already have.

As affordability declines, surplus in the supply chain will continue to grow. Without intervention, more food will sit on shelves, and more of it will be lost.

Food security does not begin at the checkout. It depends on how well our system responds when people can no longer afford to buy what is already there.

Right now, that system is not responding.

We are wasting food that we can no longer afford to waste.

Jennifer MacRae is a Manitoba-based climate advocate, Red River Métis, and works with Climate Change Connection on food systems, climate education and community-based solutions. The views expressed are her own.