The Limitations of Using Wasted Food to Feed Hungry People

In this research brief, we report on findings from research on organizations that distribute recovered food in Metro Vancouver, Canada in the context of widespread food waste. Our findings suggest that there are challenges and costs associated with the redistribution of recovered food, and that there can be a stigma associated with using wasted food in food programming. We recommend further study of the large-scale diversion of uneaten food to food security programs, and we argue that food donation should be viewed as a limited, short-term and partial response to food waste crises, rather than a systemic fix.