Boxes of vegetables are shown at the Welcome Hall Mission grocery service for those experiencing food insecurity in Montreal on December 19, 2024. Parliament heard this fall that food waste is costing the economy billions of dollars while nearly two million Canadians, unable to afford a 23-percent hike in grocery prices since 2020, are lining up daily at food banks. A report by food rescue organization Second Harvest found 21.18 metric tonnes or 46.5 percent of all food produced in Canada is wasted every year. That ranks Canada among the most wasteful in the world. (Photo by Graham Hughes / AFP) (Photo by GRAHAM HUGHES/AFP via Getty Images)