A few blips from Nova Scotia crossed my desk last week. This article gave a behind-the-scenes look at fast food restaurants there. From reading it, I learned that the Canadian province has three distinct waste streams–trash, recyclables and organics.
Some restaurants may be scandalously combining the three, but at least it’s an exception to the rule. Way back in 1995, Nova Scotia barred food and other organics from landfills, effective as of November 30,1998. To enable food diversion, the Atlantic province provides centralized compost facilities, and more than 70 percent of Nova Scotians have curbside organic composting service.
In another article, Ralph Martin, the founder of the Organic Agricultural Centre of Canada, discussed abundance on Nova Scotian farms.
When it has come to food production in the past, farmers have focused too much on quantity, Martin said, which has resulted in over production. “It’s been leading to a lot of wasted food, in my opinion.”
Nova Scotian farmers, like their American counterparts, are literally growing food waste. Unlike the U.S., though, Nova Scotia has a system in place to prevent organics from reaching landfills.
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