Our Mandate

Second Chance Food Saskatoon is an ad-hoc committee dedicated to reducing food waste in Saskatoon. Comprised of members from various local food security, poverty, and waste reduction focused agencies, Second Chance Food seeks to advocate for and enable mechanisms that increase donation of surplus food, and encourage a more sustainable food system in our city.

It's an environmental issue!

35.5 million tonnes of food (including 58% of the food we produce) is wasted in Canada each year – this accounts for almost 60% of the food industry’s environmental footprint.
27% of the waste in Saskatoon’s landfill is organic matter.
Organic material in the landfill breaks down into methane gas, which is 25x more harmful to the environment than CO2.

It's a social issue!

1 in 8 Canadian households does not have enough money to eat a healthy, balanced diet.
More than 25% of Saskatchewan children are living in poverty – well above the national average of about 20%. 45% of Saskatchewan food bank users are children.
40% of UofS students report some level of food insecurity.
The Saskatoon Food Bank & Learning Centre packs hampers for about 20,000 each month and The Saskatoon Friendship Inn soup kitchen makes 1000 plates of food per day.

It's a matter of economics!

The average Canadian family wastes about $1700 worth of food each year.
Food waste costs the Canadian economy $49 billion dollars every year.

Sources: Dieticians of Canada (2016), Second Harvest & Value Chain Management (2019), Statistics Canada (2016), Hunger Count (2018)

Created by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food Recovery Hierarchy is a useful tool designed to help divert surplus food in the most beneficial ways possible. It asks food waste creators to start at the top, and work their way down, placing the focus on diversion strategies that offer the most social, economic and environmental benefits.
Source: United States Environmental Protection Agency