Let’s talk about food – We're glad you're here!

Overhead view of people collecting harvest in community garden at a picnic table with bowls of produce and plants.

Changing our food system is one of the most impactful things we can do to address climate change, create healthy communities, and regenerate natural systems. We’re re-imagining our relationship with food, and some innovative new products, services and ideas are cooking up! Let's explore the circular food economy movement together!

Explore how your food and
waste habits fit into the bigger picture!

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What's On

What is the Circular Food Economy?

Food System
Resiliency Table

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What a great opportunity it was to be able to prom

What a great opportunity it was to be able to promote the work being done by the Food System Resiliency Table at Food Secure Canada's Concerning 2024 Toward Affordable and Just Food Systems in Montréal last week. Many great conversations were had about how this grassroots initiative came together and what the Charter for Food Justice represents.

#foodsecurity #foodjustice #guelph #wellington

Join us for a walking tour of a couple Two Rivers

Join us for a walking tour of a couple Two Rivers neighbourhood spaces that are doing wonderful work in supporting food access in Guelph! Together we will tour the Huron Street - Two Rivers Neighbourhood Group Community Garden and check out their brilliant composting system. After which, we will walk over to The SEED warehouse and get a tour of their facility which is host to a number of great community rooted projects and programs. Following our tours we will walk to the Double Rainbow Cafe where Chef Yasi’s team at FEWD (Food Equity With Dignity) will be set up and ready to provide some great eats and then to the Alice Block Condo kitchen condo space where there will be time to eat our dinner together while networking with each other! Together we will tour the Huron Street - Two Rivers Neighbourhood Group Community Garden and check out their brilliant composting system. After which, we will walk over to The SEED warehouse and get a tour of their facility which is host to a number of great community rooted projects and programs. Following our tours we will walk to the Double Rainbow Cafe where Chef Yasi’s team at FEWD (Food Equity With Dignity) will be set up and ready to provide some great eats and then to the Alice Block Condo kitchen condo space where there will be time to eat our dinner together while networking with each other!

A couple notes: this event will include a lot of walking, if you prefer to attend a certain part(s) of the evening, feel free to meet at whichever spot is best for you at the time specified on the Agenda and we will be just as happy to have you. If you would like a chair to sit down and eat your dinner, you may wish to bring one with you as seating options will be limited in the kitchen. Please reach out to us at thetablegw@gmail.com if you have any further questions or accommodation requirements!

#guelph #food #wellington #thetablegw #reimaginefood

Join us on Wednesday, September 18th at Aboyne Hal

Join us on Wednesday, September 18th at Aboyne Hall in Fergus for a community meal and build a deeper understanding of how community collaboration can lead to shared prosperity!

Click the link in our bio for more details!

#FoodSecurityMatters #food #guelph

🌍🍽️ Did you know that every country in the

🌍🍽️ Did you know that every country in the world is affected by malnutrition and that 42% of the world’s population cannot afford a healthy diet?

On World Hunger Day, we urge everyone to amplify the voices of our own local community groups and institutions that are advocating for and working toward sustainable solutions to food insecurity right here at home.

For local examples of community-based food access work and advocacy, start by checking out these great reports:

Guelph-Wellington Food Security Action Plan here: https://foodfuture.ca/wp-content/uploads/COG-SC-ActionPlan-22-Food-Security-SB-.pdf

Our Food Future’s final report ‘Seeding Circularity in Communities’ here: https://foodfuture.ca/wp-content/uploads/COG-SC-Annual-Report-SB-Web-Nov1523-FINAL.pdf

For more information on how we can collectively break this cycle of malnutrition globally, check out worldhungerday.org and join us in amplifying this conversation beyond World Hunger Day.

#WorldHungerDay #EndHunger #FoodSecurityMatters

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A circular economy could reduce greenhouse gases by 39%

Greenhouse gas emissions are directly linked to the way we extract, produce and consume resources. The Circularity Gap Report tells us that by doubling global circularity, by 2032 we could reduce global emissions by 39% and reduce our material footprint by 28%. This could ensure that we keep below a 2 oC temperature rise.

Many businesses and industries are already leading the way, using circular business models to save money, improve efficiency, and open up new market opportunities.

Some ways that businesses are unlocking circular economic opportunity are:

Designing products for a longer life
Using recycled material
Recovering and refurbishing used products
Repurposing and selling waste materials

Circular food businesses make the most out of food, reducing food waste and finding value in creating new products out of food by-products.

Know the lingo!

Upcycling / Creative Reuse:

The process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value.

Upcycled Food:

Made with ingredients that otherwise would not have gone to human consumption, and are sourced and produced using verifiable supply chains, and have a positive impact on the environment.

Upcycled Certified:

Soon, consumers will be able to identify products that contain upcycled ingredients with ease. Click here to learn more about Upcycled food product certification.

Support circular businesses

Supporting local businesses that are innovating with upcycled ingredients is an important way you can support the circular food economy.

Circular businesses are popping up everywhere but here you can check out what some local circular food businesses are cooking up:

Beck’s Broth – Beck’s Broth is owned by a recent graduate of holistic nutrition who is looking to innovate and create more awareness surrounding the benefits of bone broth. Our focus is providing a drink rich in delicious nourishment to our neighbours in the community, while practicing sustainability measures and

supporting local farmers and businesses.

Winterhill Farm and Garden – A regenerative local farm specializing in organic vegetables, pastured chickens, pastured eggs, pastured beef and sustainable sawmill

Quinta Local Superfoods Inc.

Superfood company implementing circular economy principles by growing and supplying 100% Canadian High Nutrient Quinoa to stores, and communities in need, while reducing emissions and implementing sustainable packaging alternatives.

Escarpment Laboratories is a Canadian yeast lab offering a wide range of liquid yeast cultures for craft brewers and homebrewers. Escarpment Labs strives to provide brewers with accurate quantities of fresh, high-quality yeast for optimal fermentation.

Green Table Foods manufactures plant-based, certified organic probiotic foods using farm-direct ingredients. We supply the retail and food service markets through a network of nation-wide distribution partners. Our 12-product lineup has received awards for innovation, and we private label for in-store grocery brands.

Fill It Forward creates interactive technologies, global giving initiatives, and reusable products that inspire the world to reuse.

Friendlier is a company on a mission to make reusable packaging the default food packaging. We supply food service businesses with reusable takeout packaging and use our app to return your deposits.

Groceries from the SEED food project at the Guelph Community Health Centre. Our goal is to work with others to make Guelph-Wellington one of the first communities in Canada where everyone has access to nutritious food. We operate social enterprises and health programs to achieve this goal.

Saputo Dairy produces, markets, and distributes a wide array of dairy products of the utmost quality, including cheese, fluid milk, extended shelf-life milk and cream products, cultured products, and dairy ingredients. Saputo is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world, a leading cheese manufacturer and fluid milk and cream processor in Canada.

12% of people in Guelph-Wellington don't have enough food

This crisis of food insecurity grew rapidly as COVID-19 led to unprecedented job losses for families that were already struggling to make ends meet. Many of the charities that provide food relief have estimated that the need has nearly doubled.

A circular food economy prioritizes access to affordable, nutritious, culturally-appropriate food for everyone.

Know the lingo!

Food insecurity, also called household food insecurity, is not having enough money to buy food. Individuals and families living on low incomes struggle to pay for basic living expenses such as rent, utilities, phone, childcare, clothing, medication, transportation and food.

Food security exists when all people at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet dietary needs and food preferences for an active, and healthy life.

Notice! Food security and food insecurity are not opposites. Household food insecurity is defined as insecure or inadequate access to food due to financial constraints. Individuals and families living on low incomes struggle to pay for the rent, other basic living costs (such as utilities, phone, childcare, clothing, medication, transportation) and food. Food security is a community condition to strive for, while household food insecurity is one area for action to achieve food security for a whole community.

Learn More!

Build awareness about food security issues in our community

Interested in taking a deep dive into some of our data we compiled to understand the food environment? Visit the Our Food Future Data Hub to experience interactive maps including grocery stores and food outlets and urban agriculture.

Food Environment Assessment (link)

Food insecurity isn’t always not having enough to eat. It is balancing a limited income with all expenses, and food is often compromised. This contributes to a reduced nutritional quality of food intake, further affecting physical and mental health. If you are struggling financially, here are some ways to access affordable food:

Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination provides a directory of emergency food access points in Guelph.

Community FEWD Pay what you will – A mobile food security initiative that centers dignity, quality and accessibility – while diverting high quality foodstuffs from landfill.

Too Good To Go – The Too Good To Go app lets customers buy and collect Surprise Bags of this food – at a 1/3 of the price – directly from businesses.

Groceries From The SEED the first sliding-scale online grocery store in Canada! When you shop at full price, you help people in your community afford good food. If you’re having trouble affording good food, you can access groceries at a discounted rate.

67% of the food we throw away could have been eaten

According to the National Zero Waste Council’s research on household food waste in Canada, almost 2.3 million tonnes of edible food is wasted each year, costing Canadians in excess of $21 billion.

Food waste has substantial environmental impacts. Wasted food squanders the resources used to grow, produce and distribute that food to consumers and produces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Food and other organic material incorrectly put in garbage bins ends up in landfill where it decomposes and produces greenhouse gases (GHG) like methane. Putting it into perspective. For every 1 kg of food waste, just over 2.5 kg of CO2 is emitted. And when food ends up in landfill, it generates methane, a GHG 25 times more potent than CO2.

To put it in perspective, the carbon produced from avoidable food waste of the average household is equivalent to about one-quarter of a car’s annual emissions.

Per household, approximately 348 m2 (0.0348 hectares) per year of agricultural land is wasted to grow food that is not eaten
Per household, the water loss from wasted food is equivalent to almost 7,500 five-minute showers per year

In a circular food economy, residents value the food we consume and do our best to prevent or limit food waste.

Know the lingo!

Sharing Economy: An economic system that is based on people sharing possessions and services, either for free or for payment, often using the internet to organize the transactions.

Learn More!

Avoiding food waste can save an average household as much as $1,456 each year. You can prevent unavoidable food waste at home by…

Plan it Out

Use it Up

Getting creative with the food you already have (MyFridgeFood)
Revive wilted, stale, salty, burned or overcooked food
Check out Love Food, Hate Waste’s 5 Ways with Commonly Wasted Foods resource
Learn to preserve food by canning, fermenting and dehydrating (Minga (10C))
Share extra food with neighbours, friends and family (Palz Trading Zone Facebook Page)

When you have unavoidable food waste, ensure you are properly sorting:

In the City of Guelph? Check out the Waste Wizard
In the County of Wellington? Check out the Recycle Coach
Ensure you are only using a compostable bag in your green bin (no plastic!), and leave the top of the bag untied to help facilitate the composting process

#circulareveryday
#nofoodwastenoproblem

The way we grow food is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions

In 2016, Canada’s agricultural soils removed 11.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. We know that our soils have the capacity to trap and hold a whole lot more. Regenerative agriculture is a group of practices that benefit soil and it’s ability to store carbon while still producing the amount of food we rely on it for.

On the farm, it aims to improve farmers’ livelihoods, crop yields and quality by restoring soil health, enhancing biodiversity and reducing the impact of synthetic inputs.

These practices can happen on any scale, including in your backyard garden. Reducing the amount we disturb the soil, planting year-round green cover and planting diverse crops are all ways to increase biodiversity, fight soil erosion and care for the planet.

In a circular food economy, consumers support farmers growing regeneratively, improving the health and stability of soils, biodiversity, air and water quality.

Know the lingo!

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is constantly moving and recycling through plants, animals, the atmosphere and the oceans. Through the cycle, Atmospheric CO₂ (carbon dioxide) is transformed into stable carbon compounds through photosynthesis. Plant roots release the transformed carbon into the soil, where they are trapped (carbon sequestration).

Atmospheric CO₂, one of the primary greenhouse gases, is a well-known accelerator of climate change. CO₂ has increased by about 43% since the First Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, and these human activities, and the subsequent Green Revolution, have put the carbon cycle out of balance.

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration is the process where atmospheric carbon dioxide is removed from the carbon cycle, and stored in soils, oceans or forests. Once carbon is sequestered, it is unlikely to re-enter the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.

Regenerative agriculture is one way to help the carbon cycle remove more CO₂ (carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere. If soils are degraded by poor nutrient management and soil erosion, the ecosystem’s capacity to support plant life, and therefore carbon drawdown, is severely limited.

Supporting local farms that are testing regenerative practices is a surefire way to ensure that local soil health is being supported and enriched.

Get to know your farmer and get to know your food!

Our Food Future is supporting local farms to experiment with regenerative practices. Visit here to learn about the journey of these trailblazing farmers
Learn about all the opportunities to experience local food in Guelph and Wellington County by visiting Taste Real
Visit the heart of Guelph’s food community – the Guelph Farmers’ Market
Did you know the County of Wellington has 7 Farmers’ Markets? Find the one closest to you – Taste Real – Farmers’ Markets – Wellington County

These local organizations could support your learning about about how you can regenerative gardening and soil building at home

Add additional circular businesses to list:

3Gen Organics produces food in a different way. By following organic and regenerative principles, 3Gen hopes to improve the environment for the next generation.

Heartwood Farm & Cidery has it all from cider to grass-fed beef. This Erin-based farm welcomes you to stop by and see what regenerative agriculture looks like in action.

Blue Sky Beef raises Speckle Park cattle in Arthur, Ontario on 100 acres of holistically managed pastures.

Beech Stone Farm raises grass-fed beef cattle while practicing intensive rotational grazing (a regenerative agriculture best practice!)

Land Acknowledgement

The City of Guelph is situated on treaty land that is steeped in rich indigenous history and home to many First Nations, Inuit and Métis people today. As municipal governments, we have a responsibility for the stewardship of the land on which we live and work. Today we acknowledge the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation of the Anishinaabek Peoples on whose traditional territory we are working as well as other nations who steward this land including the Attawandaron and Haudenosaunee. This territory is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Anishinabeg and Haudenosaunee allied nations to peaceably share and care for the lands around the Great Lakes. It characterizes our collective responsibility to each other and the Earth – we should take only what we need leave enough for others and keep the dish clean.