Why a youth group is planning a banquet to educate Islanders about food waste

An Island youth group is concerned about food waste and is working to educate Islanders on minimizing it.

Every few months, the P.E.I. chapter of the YMCA Community Action Network, or YCAN, recruits a group of young people to identify and work on an issue — this group decided to raise awareness about food waste.

The group is gearing up to host a food awareness banquet featuring food distributors, dietitians, chefs, farmers and others knowledgeable about food to share their experience with the impact of food waste, and their ideas on how to reduce it. 

"We believe it is the best way to formally address the issues," said Grade 12 student Tom Tao.

"Catch people's attention maybe more than just flyers downtown or telling people more about it. It is a great opportunity and by bringing in authorities who know about it, we can show people a bigger image about the issue."

"I think there is really simple ways, not something that would really change your lifestyle a lot," said Emily Escoffery, a Grade 12 student at Colonel Gray High School.

"Planning meals to see what kind of food you are going to be using in the future and learning how to store the food properly — such as fruits and veggies and different meats — and just learning how to keep those leftovers for future meals too."

Youth-led initiative

Escoffey said she has worked in the food industry and saw how food could be wasted first-hand. She wants to spread awareness of the issue and is glad that the idea came from a youth-run organization.

"We should see more youth-led groups in Charlottetown leading these initiatives because it would be great to see different initiatives addressing different issues in the community."

"These youth have taught me a lot about it," said Joseph Déry, YCAN co-ordinator for P.E.I.

"The community doesn't realize how big an issue food waste really is, especially given we have the fishing and the farming. A lot of food gets wasted," he said.

Changing habits

Déry said it's about making small changes.

"When you cook, cook enough for what you need. If you cook more, save the leftovers, if you have extra, share. If something hits an expiry date, research into whether or not the expiry date is when the food goes bad," Déry said.

Leading up to Christmas, the group set up at grocery stores to educate people about the topic, inviting them to be careful about how much they buy and make better use of leftovers to avoid waste.

The banquet will also be a fundraiser for the Upper Room Hospitality Ministry.

It's planned for the evening of Feb. 9 at the Jack Blanchard Family Centre in Charlottetown. 

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