Local residents to take part in County’s ‘Plan to Save Challenge’

Starting this month, residents will have the opportunity to join four local champions in a challenge to reduce food waste & save money.

The Plan to Save Challenge will launch on September 23rd to encourage residents to participate in weekly activities that will bring awareness to their food waste habits. Households throw away about 40 percent of their food, which consists mostly of fruits and vegetables. The majority of this food waste is edible, which is food that could have been eaten but was thrown out in the garbage or compost. By reducing food waste residents can save money and eat healthier!

“Food waste costs households an average of $125 a month. That's $1500 a year,” says Lisa Needham, Public Health Nutritionist at Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health. “The purpose of the challenge is to help residents reduce food waste by helping them build skills to create healthy meal plans, shop savvy and store food wisely, which will save them money and help them eat healthier in the process.”

Participants of the challenge will follow champions Phil Dewar, Lisa Post, Tina Thorpe, and Sara Wicks, who will engage in weekly activities and work through their unique barriers to reducing food waste. Each champion will post videos on social media on a weekly basis to update the public on their progress and challenges.

“Each household is different. Some have frantic families like Phil, while others are empty nesters like Tina. Many are busy professionals like Lisa, or foodies like Sara. The idea is to address each of these unique situations at home and help residents find the best way to change their habits when it comes to food waste,” says Scott Burns, Director of Public Works at Dufferin County.

Residents can sign up for the challenge on Join in Dufferin by visiting www.joinindufferin.com/plan-to-save-reduce-food-waste. The first 100 participants will be entered in a draw to win prizes, and will receive a kit with resources including a produce storage guide, infographics, tip sheets, and more.

This project is organized by Dufferin Waste and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health to address issues of food waste in Dufferin County. For more information about the campaign, please contact Dufferin Waste at 519.941.2816 ext. 2620 or Public Health at 1.800.265.7293.