Canada’s food-waste problem is out of control

A few years ago, when Josh Domingues was working as a financial adviser, he got a call from his sister, who told him she’d just thrown out thousands of dollars’ worth of food at her catering job at the request of her boss. After reading a few staggering food-waste statistics, Domingues began to wonder what happened to supermarket food no one purchased—like the many mounds of turkeys we saw in the supermarket in the days leading up to Canadian Thanksgiving. He spoke to one grocery store manager who confessed that he throws out perfectly good chicken when it’s within three days of its best-before date. An idea was born.

Domingues created a company called Flashfood. Here’s how it works: when clerks pull food from shelves before the food has reached its expiration date, the company is notified. Then, Flashfood users can buy those items through the app and pick them up from one of nearly 2,000 fridges across North America. Given inflation and the high cost of groceries, the app is growing quickly.

In his essay for Maclean’s, Domingues explains that his company is one way to divert food from the landfill. His essay outlines a variety of other solutions targeted at the government, at private companies, and at individual citizens too. “With all the resources Canada has,” he writes, “the problem shouldn’t be anywhere near as big as it is.”

—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief

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When Paluck Kohli and her fiancé, Ro, decided to marry in India this December, they never thought Ro (now a Canadian citizen) would have trouble visiting his home country. But India currently isn’t issuing visas to Canadians—and Ro can’t return without one. Now, their wedding is in jeopardy.

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