Grade by Grade
E. Liveable Communities · Liveable Communities: Land Use and Sustainability in Canada

From Field to Fork: Sustainability of Canada's Food System

E2.1 A1.2 A1.5About 75 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe the stages of Canada's food system.
  • I can analyse sustainability issues in the food system, including farmland loss, food waste, food insecurity, northern food costs, climate change and reliance on imports and seasonal workers.
  • I can describe strategies used by governments, communities, businesses and individuals, including First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities, to make the food system more sustainable.
  • I can calculate the cost of household food waste and suggest ways to reduce it.

Words to know

food system
All the steps and people involved in feeding a population: growing, processing, distributing, selling, eating and disposing of food.
food security
When all people at all times can get enough safe, nutritious food that meets their needs and preferences.
food insecurity
Not having reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food, often because of not having enough money.
food sovereignty
The right of peoples to define their own food systems, including producing and harvesting food in ways that fit their cultures.
country food
Traditional foods hunted, fished, trapped or gathered from the land and water, such as caribou, seal, Arctic char and berries, important to Inuit and many First Nations.
food loss and waste
Food that is grown for people but never eaten, lost on farms and in processing or thrown away by stores, restaurants and households.
food miles
The distance food travels from where it is produced to where it is eaten.
urban agriculture
Growing food in or near cities, in community gardens, rooftop farms, backyards and greenhouses.

Hook: strawberries in January

In July, Ontario strawberries come from farms an hour or two away. In January, the strawberries in an Ontario store usually come from much farther south, often thousands of kilometres away. Meanwhile, in some fly-in communities in the North, a small basket of fresh fruit can cost several times the southern price.

The food on your plate is the end of a long system. Is that system sustainable: can it keep feeding everyone fairly, without harming the environment, for generations?

The food system: from field to fork (and beyond)Productionfarms, fishing,harvestingProcessingwashing, cutting,canning, packagingDistributiontrucks, trains,ships, warehousesRetailgrocery stores,markets, restaurantsConsumptionhomes,schools, cafeteriasFood loss and waste happen at EVERY stage: unharvested crops, trimmings, spoilage, unsold food, leftoversDisposal: landfill (methane) OR rescue, compost, biogas
Food moves through five main stages. At each one, some food is lost or wasted. Where it ends up matters: in a landfill, rotting food releases methane, a strong greenhouse gas; rescued or composted, it becomes a resource.

Issues in Canada's food system

Environmental issues

  • Loss of farmland: good farmland near growing cities, especially in southern Ontario, is being turned into subdivisions, roads and warehouses.
  • Climate change: droughts, floods, heat and new pests affect crops; farming itself produces greenhouse gases (from fertilizer, livestock and fuel).
  • Food waste: a 2019 study for the food-rescue charity Second Harvest estimated that more than half (about 58%) of the food produced in Canada is lost or wasted somewhere along the chain, and that much of it was still edible and could have been rescued.
  • Water and soil: fertilizer runoff can pollute lakes and cause algae blooms; soil can erode if not cared for.

Social issues

  • Food insecurity: many households in Canada struggle to afford enough nutritious food. Rates are highest in the territories, and Nunavut has the highest rate in Canada.
  • Northern food costs: remote communities depend on air transport and sealift, which makes store food very expensive.
  • Farm workers: many Ontario farms rely on seasonal workers from other countries through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, which began in 1966. Advocates have raised concerns about workers' housing and working conditions.

Economic issues

  • Imports in winter: Canada imports much of its fresh fruit and vegetables in winter, so prices and supply depend on other countries' weather, trade and transportation.
  • Concentration: a few large companies dominate grocery retail and food processing, which affects prices and farmers' incomes.

Food miles: helpful but not the whole story

Shorter distances can mean fresher food and support for local farmers. But studies of food's carbon footprint (for example, the work summarized by Our World in Data) find that for most foods, how the food is produced creates much more greenhouse gas than how far it travels. Food shipped by boat produces relatively little; food flown by air produces much more. So "local" is not automatically the lowest-carbon choice.

Worked example

Let's calculate the cost of household food waste

A family spends $300 a week on groceries. Suppose they throw away 15% of the food they buy. (a) How much money is wasted each week? (b) Each year? (c) If meal planning cuts their waste in half, how much do they save per year?

  1. (a) Weekly waste = 15% of $300 = 0.15 × 300 = $45.
  2. (b) Yearly: $45 × 52 weeks = $2 340.
  3. (c) Half the waste = 7.5%: 0.075 × 300 = $22.50 a week; × 52 = $1 170 a year still wasted.
  4. Savings = $2 340 − $1 170 = $1 170 per year.
  5. Connect it: less waste also means less methane from landfills and less land, water and energy used to grow food nobody ate.

(a) $45 per week, (b) $2 340 per year, (c) about $1 170 saved per year by halving waste (using the example's assumptions).

Strategies for a more sustainable food system

Governments

  • Protect farmland through the Greenbelt and other plans (Ontario's Holland Marsh, a rich vegetable-growing area north of Toronto, lies in the Greenbelt).
  • Ontario passed a Local Food Act in 2013 to promote local food. Canada released a Food Policy for Canada in 2019 and announced a National School Food Program in 2024.
  • Nutrition North Canada is a federal subsidy that lowers the price of some healthy foods in eligible isolated northern communities; it also supports harvesting of country food. Critics have questioned whether enough of the savings reach shoppers.

Communities and businesses

  • Food banks and food-rescue organizations collect surplus food from stores and farms.
  • Community gardens, school gardens and urban farms grow food in cities. In Inuvik, Northwest Territories, a community greenhouse was built inside a former hockey arena.
  • Greenhouses extend the growing season: the Leamington–Kingsville area in southwestern Ontario has one of the largest concentrations of greenhouses in North America.
  • Green bin programs turn food scraps into compost or biogas.

First Nations, Métis and Inuit food sovereignty

  • Many Indigenous communities are strengthening country food harvesting, sharing programs, community freezers, gardens and greenhouses, and teaching youth traditional skills. These approaches connect food security with culture, health and relationships with the land.

Individuals

  • Plan meals, store food properly, use leftovers, compost, buy seasonal and local when it makes sense, and donate extra food.
Toward a circular food systemGrowProcess and sellEat (including rescued extras)Compost scrapsnutrientsgo back to soilExamples:food banks andfood-rescue charities;municipal green bins;composting at home
In a circular system, extra edible food from stores and farms is rescued so people eat it (yellow), and scraps are composted so nutrients return to farmland instead of a landfill.
Just for fun

What did the lettuce say to the farmer at the farmers' market?

"Romaine calm, I'm only travelling 50 kilometres today."

Hands-on activity

Fridge and pantry audit

You need: your kitchen, a notebook, and permission from a grown-up.

  1. With an adult, look in the fridge, freezer and pantry. List 10 foods and, using labels or asking, write where each was produced (province or country) if you can find it.
  2. Mark each as local (Ontario), Canadian, or imported.
  3. Keep a 3-day log of any food your household throws out and why (spoiled, leftovers, too much made).
  4. Suggest three changes to reduce waste, and estimate the money saved per week using the method in the worked example.

What to look for: a clear table, honest records (no blame), and practical suggestions such as a shopping list, an "eat first" shelf or freezing leftovers. (Do not taste anything you think may be spoiled.)

Your turn

1

List the five main stages of the food system in order.

2

Why is food in many northern communities so expensive?

3

What is country food, and why is it important to food security in the North?

4

Give one environmental problem caused by food waste in landfills.

5

A family spends $200 a week on food and wastes 10%. How much is wasted per year?

6

Why is "local" food not always the lowest-carbon choice?

7

Name one government strategy and one community strategy for a more sustainable food system.

More practice: warm-up

1

What is food security?

2

What are food miles?

3

Name a vegetable-growing area north of Toronto that is in the Greenbelt.

4

What do green bin programs do?

5

Which territory has the highest rate of food insecurity in Canada?

More practice: on your own

1

Explain how losing farmland near cities affects the sustainability of the food system.

2

How could climate change affect Ontario farming? Give one risk and one possible opportunity.

3

Why have some people criticized the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, even though it helps farms?

4

Describe how the Inuvik community greenhouse is an example of sustainability.

5

A store throws out 40 kg of edible food a day. If a rescue program collects 75% of it, how many kilograms are rescued in a 30-day month?

Challenge

1

Assess Nutrition North Canada as a strategy. Give one strength and one weakness, and suggest an improvement.

2

Using the concept of interrelationships, explain how a drought in California could affect an Ontario family in January.

3

Design a plan to make your school's food system more sustainable. Include at least one action at three different stages of the food system.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which stage of the food system includes trucks, trains and warehouses?

2.

Food waste in landfills is an environmental problem mainly because it:

3.

A family wastes $30 of food a week. How much is that per year?

4.

Which statement about food miles is MOST accurate?

5.

Country food refers to:

6.

Which is a federal program that lowers the price of some healthy foods in isolated northern communities?

For parents and teachers

Food is an easy topic to explore at home. The fridge-and-pantry audit should be judgement-free; the goal is noticing patterns, not blaming anyone. Be sensitive: food insecurity affects many families, possibly including classmates. If the topic is personal for your family, it is fine to do the audit with a made-up list. Common difficulties: thinking local food is always lowest-carbon (see the tip), and percentage calculations (15% means multiply by 0.15). Talking about where foods come from in different seasons makes the system real.