A whopping 58 percent of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted every year. A third of those 35.5 million metric tonnes of wasted food could be rescued. Innovative Canadians are making a difference, working to eliminate food waste, protect the environment, and feed our communities—all through the power of upcycling.
What’s up with upcycling?
Unnecessary food wastage happens every step of the way between the farm and your fridge.
At the farm, surplus fruits and vegetables, as well as those that may be misshapen or “ugly,” are discarded or left to rot. Then, during manufacturing and processing, 20 percent of food is lost or wasted. A lot of that is due to discarded byproducts or parts of the raw ingredient that are not needed in the final manufactured product.
Upcycling aims to change that, transforming unwanted food or food manufacturing byproducts into something useful.
“The concept of upcycling is really about extracting every last bit of value that you can from a natural resource,” explains Shelley King, CEO of Natural Products Canada, an organization that works to identify and invest in innovative solutions in the natural products industry.
“When we upcycle any material, we’re reducing the number of resources needed to create a new item,” King adds. “In the case of upcycling food, we’re addressing the huge challenge of feeding the world without putting more strain on the planet.”
How upcycling works
From coast to coast to coast, Canadian farmers and food manufacturers are finding creative ways to transform previously unwanted food ingredients into nourishing, high-quality foods and supplements.
It’s all about looking at where food wastage is happening and then applying out-of-the-box creativity.
Take potatoes, for instance. Spuds are the most widely grown vegetable crop in Canada, making up nearly a third of all farm sales last year.
“When you’re processing potatoes to make French fries or other potato products, you use water, and the water becomes super concentrated in starch,” says Cara Kennedy at Solnul, a supplement company based out of Carberry, Manitoba. If you’ve ever cut a potato and noticed the white powder on your cutting board after the potato water evaporates, that’s what she’s referring to.
Solnul’s shareholders were originally potato farmers who now own a starch plant. “They had the foresight to do microbiome research on the starch,” says King, and multiple clinical studies showed how this potato starch was an effective prebiotic (helping to feed the healthy bacteria in your gut).
They’ve turned that starch—which would otherwise have been discarded—into a research-backed prebiotic ingredient that you can now find in protein powders, protein bars, and other health foods.
“Canada is the bread basket of the world, and there are a lot of opportunities for upcycled ingredients,” adds Kennedy, who is quick to point out that we shouldn’t be worried that upcycled foods are somehow inferior. “It’s all about how to use every part of an ingredient to its highest and best value.”
By Joshua Duvauchelle