This farmer says he’s begrudgingly dumping enough cauliflower to feed the state

Richard Melvin hopes the time will come when most of the food waste from his farm will end up in the mouths of those who need it most.

Nova Scotia farmers estimate that up to 40% of Melvin’s 36 hectares of cauliflower is returned to the ground each year, even though it is “perfect for eating.”

“We’re wasting enough cauliflower on our farms to feed everyone in Nova Scotia and Maritimes for that matter,” he said. cross-country medical examinationof Ian Hanomansing.

Many farmers can’t afford to harvest, box, and transport non-purchased produce, Melvin says. Especially vegetables like cauliflower he can spoil in two weeks.

“It’s a fresh produce, so it means it has a pretty short shelf life. Often when you try to do something, you end up in a situation where the market demand isn’t as good as you think.”

According to 2019 federal reportan estimated 13% of fruits and vegetables grown in Canada are unharvested or wasted.

Melvin also said grocery stores and retailers have strict standards when it comes to product size and color tolerances.

“If it’s a little too creamy, people might call it a snow-white color, but I don’t like it,” he said. will be the area of [of concern]The ideal size for cauliflower is 13-18 cm in diameter.

solution seed

To get the rest of the produce into the food bank system, Melvin said, new cash flows for producers are needed.

Feed Nova Scotia is one possible option to achieve that.

A registered charity that provides food banks, shelters and meal programs in the state is in talks with Melvin.

Executive Director Nick Genery said the organization currently buys products from farmers on an ad hoc basis, but hopes to secure a long-term deal with Melvin, depending on volume, cost and quality. .

“We called him and other farmers regularly and said, ‘Well, it looks like we need more root vegetables and potatoes for our Christmas program. There seems to be more of that need.'” From our standpoint, we need a steady supply.”

Genery says they also use food conversion strategies such as making soups with vegetables such as cauliflower and freezing them to save costs and extend the shelf life of produce.

“Will that final product be cheaper than the cost of buying a canned product? It would certainly be more nutritious. So we’re looking at that now.”

Genery says gauging the need and demand for the communities and programs Feed Nova Scotia offers is important because not everyone eats or knows how to cook vegetables like cauliflower.

“When you buy or bring in more perishable products than you can put into circulation, you create waste and you have to spend money to get rid of that waste. It may be used to make it accessible.”

Second Harvest CEO Lori Nikkel isn’t surprised to hear that farms are having to clear so many food crops.

Second Harvest is billed as a food rescue charity that collects and redistributes surplus food from across the supply chain.According to the organization’s description 2022 Annual ReportCanadians waste 58% of their food each year.

“No farmer grows food and then plows underneath,” Nickel said. “What we’ve found on the farm is that if they can harvest it and put it in big bins, they can take it and repackage it or change it.

“We are used to working in agriculture to ensure that this perishable food can be moved as quickly as possible.”

Federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said the Trudeau government is committed to addressing Canada’s food waste problem. food rescue When Reducing food waste initiative and policy introduced in the last few years.

“The Canadian government will continue to seek opportunities to make food waste reduction a priority, bringing together stakeholders to drive meaningful reductions across the food system and inspire innovative solutions,” said Bibault. said in an email to the CBC.

Encouraging Canadians to reduce food waste can save businesses and consumers money, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase food availability, she noted.

Bibault did not say whether the government would consider providing special funding for farmers to save some of their crops.

However, according to Sylvain Charlevoix, professor and director of Dalhousie University’s Institute for Agro-Food Analysis, there are “positive signs” of what is happening now with food waste and rising food prices.

“More people are actually looking at food waste,” Charlebois said. “Up the food chain, companies are paying more attention to ingredients, so they are trying to upcycle some of them.”

He added that as food prices rise, people tend to value food more, so they pay more attention to how they manage their inventory. This may affect demand from farms.