Circular Food Economy: Canada's $50 Billion Opportunity

In this episode:

Currently, 60 per cent of the food produced in Canada is wasted – representing an extraordinary $50 billion in avoidable economic losses. This extreme level of waste coincides with a reality where six million Canadians live in food insecure households. In terms of environmental sustainability, food waste is a significant driver of greenhouse gas emissions due to the generation of methane in landfills and the energy and resources embodied in wasted materials. This systemic problem requires a system solution: the circular economy.

The circular economy is a new paradigm of production and consumption where materials never become waste and nature is regenerated. In a circular economy, products and materials are kept in circulation through processes like reuse, recycling, and composting. Canada is seeing the emergence of significant circular innovation in the food system, with ‘hot spots’ emerging in places like Montreal and Guelph, where networks of firms are connecting to ‘upcycle’ or utilize the bi-products of others.

In this episode produced in partnership with the Ivey Centre for Building Sustainable Value and moderated by Bryan Benjamin, Executive Director at The Ivey Academy, we’re joined by guests: Jury Gualandris, Associate Professor, Operations Management & Sustainability and Faculty Director, Ivey Centre for Building Sustainable Value; Denise Philippe, Senior Policy Advisor Metro Vancouver and National Zero Waste Council; and Julie Poitras Saulnier, CEO & Cofounder at LOOP Mission. In this session, our panelists explore emerging innovation for reducing, and ultimately eliminating, food waste and examine opportunities to increase the scale on practices that support the circular economy through finance and policy.

Other ways to listen:

• Apple Podcasts
• Spotify Podcasts

Additional Resources:

Good to the last bite? Data-driven insights to reduce household food waste by Paul van der Werf, Jason A. Gilliland, Matthew Lynch, Carly MacArthur, and Lauren Turner (Report from Ivey Centre for Building Sustainable Value)

"Unchaining supply chains: Transformative leaps toward regenerating social–ecological systems" by Jury Gualandris et al. (Article in the Journal of Supply Chain Management)

Circular Waste Exchanges in Supply Chain Networks (Interactive Map)

The Future of Agri-food Series

The Future of Agri-food Event Series is convening key Canadian thought leaders to explore Canada’s role in the future of the agri-food system, and the key opportunities and challenges facing the sector. The series is jointly convened by the Ivey Centre for Building Sustainable Value (BSV Centre), Ivey Academy, and the Institute for Sustainable Finance. The primary goal is to build awareness in the key networks of the partners (executive leaders in business and finance) of key opportunities and challenges in agri-food for Canada, especially the critical issues associated with the transition towards net zero.

About The Ivey Academy at Ivey Business School

The Ivey Academy at Ivey Business School is the home for executive Learning and Development (L&D) in Canada. It is Canada’s only full-service L&D house, blending Financial Times top-ranked university-based executive education with talent assessment, instructional design and strategy, and behaviour change sustainment. 

Rooted in Ivey Business School’s real-world leadership approach, The Ivey Academy is a place where professionals come to get better, to break old habits and establish new ones, to practice, to change, to obtain coaching and support, and to join a powerful peer network. Follow the Ivey Academy on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.