COMM 484

Fighting food waste one surprise bag at a time

Like many university students, I love a good cafe – especially ones that offer amazing pastries. But where does the leftover food go at the end of the day? Unfortunately, the majority of this food will go to waste if it is not sold in time. The Too Good To Go app offers an innovative solution.

The food saving app

Founded in 2016, Too Good To Go is on a mission to “make sure good food gets eaten, not wasted”. On the app, you can buy perfectly good food via “surprise bags” from bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores that otherwise would have been tossed.

Connection to UN SDGs

Too Good To Go’s mission of reducing food waste supports the UN’s second sustainable development goal of zero hunger. The UN states that a staggering ⅓ of food globally is wasted yet over 800 million people are undernourished. One way the UN suggests we combat food insecurity is to fight food waste at home, at work, and in the community. According to Second Harvest’s report titled “The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste”, 58% of all food in Canada is wasted and 32% of this food could be redirected to feed Canadians. While there are various ways we can reduce food waste, the Too Good To Go app is just one way to save perfectly edible food in your local community.

Too Good To Go in Vancouver

I personally have been using the app for over a year and I believe it is a great way to save money, try new food and of course, reduce food waste. However, I do think there is room for improvement. Many of these “surprise bags” in Vancouver are often claimed within minutes as there appears to be lots of users but not as many businesses that are participating. Nonetheless, as more businesses adopt initiatives like Too Good To Go, I hope this helps create the expectation that food establishments will divert their surplus food.

For those who are interested in downloading Too Good To Go, there are several cafes and restaurants on campus that participate including JJ Bean, JamJar, and Honour Roll. Would you try it?

 

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