Sustainable Food Production, Consumption, and the Generation of

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product quality, driven by consumer demands and food safety regulations, the minimization of raw material used for packaging is a challenge. Due to the inherent advantages of packaging, specifically for food safety, there is no doubt that the amount of food packaging has grown dramatically in the waste stream in many countries. For example, since 1948, paper, glass, metal, and plastic have increased their combined share of the municipal waste stream in Paris from 13.5 percent to 61.8 percent. In the United States, since 1960, packaging has increased by nearly 30 million tones (108 percent). Packaging represents about one-third of municipal solid waste in many countries, including Canada (McCarthy, 1993). It is widely recognized that consumers play a critical role in promoting environmentally friendly food products by making ecologically conscious decisions of where and what to buy, and how to properly dispose of the packaging. Consumer awareness and perception of food packaging waste is therefore an important initial step to move towards more sustainable urban waste management and resource conservation. Given the increasing concern over food packaging contribution to the solid waste stream, this research attempts to present an overview of consumer perception and awareness of packaging waste in the Capital Regional District (CRD). Suggestions and packaging waste reduction strategies used in the CRD are also presented, followed by a brief discussion of some initiatives that are working to reduce packaging waste This research paper presents an overview of packaging waste in the food industry in Canada, followed by a literature review of ecologically conscious consumerism, a case study of consumer perception in the CRD, and a discussion for future recommendations. The following research questions are central to the literature review on ecologically conscious consumerism and are discussed and analyzed based on qualitative field research collected in the CRD. 1. How do consumers perceive the generation of packaging waste in their food consumption in the CRD? 2. What ecologically conscious practices are adopted by consumers to reduce food packaging waste in the CRD? 3.2 Packaging waste in the food industry 22
The amount of packaging waste sent to landfills has gained considerable prominence as an environmental issue in Canada as a result of the 1990 National Protocol on Packaging (Labatt, 2004). This protocol recommended specific packaging waste reduction targets for manufacturing sectors and was further extended in 1995 to include regulations to enforce compliance with these regulations. The goals outlined in the protocol include reducing packaging waste by 50 percent by 2000 through source reduction and expanded reuse (25 percent) and recycling (25 percent). The National Task Force on Packaging, appointed by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, indicates that packaging stewardship is the “principle by which industries assume responsibility for the environmental impacts caused by the packaging that they introduce to the marketplace” (Sinclair & Fenton, 1996). The protocol and its principles have not yet been formalized in Canadian legislation that creates obligations on businesses, and mandatory take-back provisions at the national level do not exist under the protocol. Emphasis has been to require packaging stewards to contribute to the cost of municipal recycling programs (Hall, 2004), and in some provinces mandatory deposits on beverage containers has encouraged the take-back of containers (Sinclair & Fenton, 1996). The protocol does not impose specific waste-prevention performance obligations, but does focus on wastereduction as a primary goal. A Canadian Code of Packaging Practice has been developed as a guideline, ranging from no packaging, to reusable and recyclable packaging. Life cycle analysis is also included in the protocol, developed to identify the environmental impacts of packaging at all stages and to prepare action plans to minimize environmental impacts of the packaging. The Code of Preferred Canadian Packaging Practices was published in 1994 as a guide for industry in the design of products and the selection of packaging (Sinclair & Fenton, 1996). Despite these guidelines and goals the National Packaging Protocol lacks the necessary stewardship policy of industry obligation to reduce the impact of packaging on the environment. Since adopting the waste reduction goal of 50 percent, the Capital Regional District has commissioned four studies to assess the composition of the waste stream to the Hartland Landfill. The objectives of the landfill study are to determine the overall waste composition by material type, characterizing the waste by sector, and reviewing trends from different areas of the CRD. The most recent study, conducted in May 2005, revealed that approximately 30 percent of the waste stream is composed of paper and plastic products (paper and paperboard 15.8 percent; plastics 13.8 percent). Although these materials have not been identified to be solely coming from food products, it is highly suggestive that a significant amount derives from food packaging (Sperling, 2005). The composition study also identified waste disposal rates, revealing that each person within the CRD was responsible for 429 kg of landfilled waste in 2004 (CRD, 2005). A 23
Page 1 and 2: an online series of research papers
Page 4 and 5: Table on Contents 1.0 Sustainable f
Page 6 and 7: Consumer perception and public poli
Page 8 and 9: 3. What are the policies in place t
Page 10 and 11: 1.7 Key informant interviews analys
Page 12 and 13: 2.) What is the state of the art of
Page 14 and 15: 2.4.1 Conventional agriculture As m
Page 16 and 17: 2.4.2 Alternative food distribution
Page 18 and 19: This research revealed that awarene
Page 20 and 21: esponses 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 4
Page 22 and 23: farmers markets, processors communi
Page 26 and 27: comparison of these rates from 2001
Page 28 and 29: variety of ways such as buying beve
Page 30 and 31: motivations to purchase food produc
Page 32 and 33: use a lot of their containers…buy
Page 34 and 35: Gerry Watson Abstract: In Canada po
Page 36 and 37: This focus on profit is strongly su
Page 38 and 39: incentives as it falls under provin
Page 40 and 41: some local produce cannot be bought
Page 42 and 43: Beyond the programs mentioned above
Page 44 and 45: 5.0 Conclusion The reader provides
Page 46 and 47: Awai, G. 2005: Correspondence with
Page 48 and 49: Jones, Andy. 2002. An environmental
Page 50 and 51: Pottier, J. 1999: Anthropology of f
Page 52 and 53: Appendix A Sustainable Food Product
Page 54 and 55: Sustainable Food Production and Con

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