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When food ends up in a landfill, it releases greenhouse gases as it decays. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that from 2010 to 2016, global food loss and waste contributed 8-10% of human-caused green-house gas emissions.
According to the food rescue organization, Second Harvest, 58% of food produced in Canada is lost or wasted, amounting to 35.5 million tonnes a year. Much of that could actually be rescued and eaten. But how? Well, now there’s an app for that.
Flashfood is a startup that partnered with grocery giant Loblaw earlier this year to sell surplus food at a discount — typically 50 per cent or more — at hundreds of Loblaws locations across the country (including Zehrs in Orillia).
Through the Flashfood app, each store posts daily offerings, including meat, dairy, bread or packaged foods that are approaching their best-before dates.
App users shop and pay on the app, then pick up their order from a designated fridge at the store any time during the day. Fruits and vegetables, for example, are sold as a random, five-pound assortment for $5.
Josh Domingues, Flashfood’s founder and CEO, said the app has more than a million downloads so far and has diverted more than 907,000 kilograms from the landfill.
“It’ll actually dictate what I buy for dinner,” Domingues said.
For Toronto residents who don’t want to cook themselves, there’s another option: an app called Feedback. It offers discounts of 15-50% at hundreds of restaurants at off-peak times, such as between lunch and dinner and at the end of the day.
The app was inspired by a pizzeria offering free pizzas at the end of the evening, saying they would otherwise be thrown out.
Flashfood and Feedback help reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions, but also they offer a more immediate perk — a chance to save money.
