Food Justice and Sustainable Diets Webinar Takeaways
Foodshare Toronto shared what contributes to food injustice and inequality with examples of their programming that addresses food waste reduction, food literacy and healthy eating. And, how to incorporate a food justice lens into food product package development.
General Mills shared how they are taking steps to creating a more sustainable and nutritious packaged food supply.
Presented on May 4, 2022
Key Takeaways
- The four pillars of food security are availability, access, utilization and stability
- Food insecurity was exacerbated by Covid with 1 in 7 households impacted, especially families with children.
- Community based food initiatives are a starting point to deliver food security through access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
- Community programs in Toronto in the past year handled 80,000lbs of food waste, organized community compost programs and produced more than 85,000lbs of nutritious fresh locally grown food.
- Packaged foods are often incorrectly perceived as being less sustainable than fresh, locally grown produce. However, packaged food delivers on the 4 key components of FAO’s “Sustainable Diets” definition: nutritious, environmentally respectful, affordable and accessible, and consumer relevant
- A food’s True Value must include the nutritional contribution and not solely the carbon footprint of food production
- Packaging can help improve food sustainability by reducing food waste, improve access, protect nutritional quality, and reduce use of preservatives
- Food industry can move towards more sustainable farming practices that serve to protect their supply chain while improving soil health, increase biodiversity, and create more resilient farming communities