A Kelowna teen is doing his part to end food waste.
As of Friday, a petition created by Okanagan Mission Secondary student Justin Kulik, which aims to get rid of food waste in Canada, gathered 150,000 signatures on .
害羞草研究所淚nitially it was just the shock of finding out food was wasted in Canada per year, while also recognizing the number of Canadians living in food insecurity,害羞草研究所� he said.
Kulik will personally present the petition to the Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay on World Food Day Oct. 16 in Ottawa as well discuss food waste with the prime minister害羞草研究所檚 policy advisor for health, he said. Kulik害羞草研究所檚 original goal was to reach 100,000 signatures.
害羞草研究所淚 was quite surprised to log on today and see the spike in the number of signatures from a couple days to today,害羞草研究所� he said. He attributes the number害羞草研究所檚 sudden increase to a Huffington Post article which was published Oct. 11.
害羞草研究所淚 felt like hitting 100,000 was not necessarily going to be easy, but I did see it as going to be possible,害羞草研究所� he said.
As for the meeting, 害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檇 say I害羞草研究所檓 optimistic about it,害羞草研究所� Kulik said.
害羞草研究所淚t wasn害羞草研究所檛 out something I was planning for. I was optimistic about it gaining some traction and conversation about waste in Canada and the impact of that waste. So was I expecting this happy? Absolutely not. Was I hopeful? Of course.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淓very year, $31 billion of food ends up in a landfill in Canada alone. This isn害羞草研究所檛 just stale bread and mouldy produce. This is good to eat food of all sorts. Produce, dairy, grain, protein, and everything outside of those,害羞草研究所� the petition said.
害羞草研究所淵et, nearly one million Canadians rely on food banks each month, and about four million Canadians are food insecure, of which 1.5 million are children.
In just a few days, Justin will be delivering your signatures to the Minister of Agriculture on .
害羞草研究所� Change.org Canada (@CdnChange)
He is asking our government to end food waste coming from supermarkets in Canada.
Why do you think we should end food waste?
害羞草研究所淚n 2015, the French government passed a law forbidding supermarkets from wasting and deliberately destroying food that can still be eaten. Instead, supermarkets have since been required to donate all unsold food products to charity such as food banks.
害羞草研究所淎 similar anti-food waste law can and should be implemented in Canada, nationwide. As it is, Quebec is now requiring that all supermarkets give unused food to food banks. Doing the same on a federal scale is not inconceivable. It is doable, and it is already being done in communities worldwide,害羞草研究所� the petition said.
carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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