Our cultural obsession with perfection extends even to the food we eat. If fruit is slightly bruised, we will turn up our noses at it. This attitude creates tons of unnecessary waste every day.

Due to current legislation, retailers and restaurants are prohibited from donating perfectly nutritious (and edible) food – simply because it’s nearing its labelled expiry date. As a result, hungry bellies remain empty as our landfills continue to grow. But a new organization called Feed It Forward wants to change all that. They have been petitioning the Canadian government to follow France and Italy’s lead to make it illegal to discard food fit to consume, so we can start to feed those in need instead of putting food to waste.

To draw attention to this cause, Feed It Forward is offering a Christmas Day dinner at Central Toronto Community Health Centre (168 Bathurst Street) to families in need – and you can help. Register here to become a volunteer. Feed It Forward is also seeking food donations for the day, as well as items to put into gift bags (e.g., toothpaste, deodorant, gift cards, wrapped food), toy donations for the children, scarves, hats and mitts. If you can contribute, contact Feed It Forward directly at feeditforward.ca@gmail.com.