Guelph urges residents to waste less food, offers public talk with tips

The City of Guelph is bringing together a panel of food experts to offer tips and tricks on how people can cut down on food waste in restaurants and in their own homes.

The Let's Talk About Food event will feature local chefs and food researchers. They'll be discussing their approaches to making healthy and nutritious food and how they manage food waste.

"It is our hope that the event and panel will allow our community to reduce waste, improve their nutrition, help their neighbourhood, and in general, be informed about how to make healthy and less wasteful food choices," organizer Stacey McCarthy said.

The panel includes chefs Shea Robinson, Pam Fanjoy and Jeff Crump, as well as University of Guelph professor Mike von Massow.

McCarthy said the panelists are "incredibly innovative and forward thinking" when it comes to managing waste and reducing costs.

"One of our chefs uses the food waste, like peels, from their particular meals and uses that as a fuel to heat one of their wood-burning stoves," she said.

"They have lots of tips and tricks on the best way to cut foods and the best way to use food scraps, that are certainly accessible for the broader community to introduce into their own homes."

The event is part of the city's larger initiative to increase access to affordable, nutritious food and decrease food waste.

Guelph is one of ten communities across Canada vying for a $10 million Smart Cities prize. The winners of the challenge will be announced on May 14.

The Let's Talk Food Panel starts at 6 p.m. at the YMCA-YWCA in Guelph.