It was the carrot tops that caught my eye. Usually destined for compost bins or garbage bags across the country, here they were transformed into a vibrant pesto, spread across freshly baked bread.
“Most people throw away about 40 percent of the food they buy,” says Emma Bryce, founder of Upcycled Kitchen, as she gestured toward tables filled with dishes made entirely from ingredients that typically end up wasted. “We’re showing that those carrot greens, broccoli stems, and slightly bruised apples still have tremendous value.”
Last Saturday, the Guelph Community Food Hub hosted “Waste Not, Want Not,” a community dinner that transformed what most consider garbage into a gourmet experience for over 75 attendees. The event showcased how everyday food scraps can become culinary treasures while highlighting the growing problem of food waste across Canadian households.
Food waste has become a pressing environmental and economic issue. According to Second Harvest, Canadians waste approximately 2.3 million tonnes of edible food annually, worth nearly $21 billion. When that waste decomposes in landfills, it produces methane—a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
“We’ve forgotten the wisdom of our grandparents,” says Chef Marcus Wilson, who led the culinary team. “Nothing was wasted in those kitchens. Bread became bread pudding. Bones made stock. We’re just rediscovering what they already knew.”
Wilson moved confidently through the kitchen, directing volunteers as they prepared a four-course meal that included soup from vegetable trimmings, pasta from overripe tomatoes, and dessert featuring fruits past their prime. The aromas filling the room suggested anything but leftovers.
The event, sponsored by the City of Guelph’s Circular Food Economy initiative, represents a growing movement in the city. Guelph has positioned itself as a leader in creating circular systems where waste becomes resource through its Our Food Future program, one of Canada’s first circular food economy projects.
“This isn’t just about reducing what goes to landfill,” explains Barbara Swartzentruber, Executive Director of Smart Cities Initiative for Guelph. “It’s about rethinking our entire relationship with food—from how it’s grown to how it’s distributed, consumed, and what happens to the remains.”
City councillor Dominique O’Rourke, who attended the dinner, noted the broader implications. “When we waste food, we’re also wasting all the resources that went into producing it—water, energy, labour. Events like this help people see the full picture.”
For attendees like Marianne Thompson, a local teacher, the evening was eye-opening. “I came thinking this would be about guilt, but instead it’s about possibility. My kids and I are going to start saving our vegetable scraps for stock instead of trashing them.”
The evening included interactive stations where guests learned practical skills like turning stale bread into croutons, making vinegar from fruit scraps, and creating cleaning solutions from citrus peels.
According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian household spends approximately $1,300 annually on food that ends up uneaten. As grocery prices continue to rise, with food inflation outpacing general inflation in four of the last six months according to the Consumer Price Index, finding ways to maximize food usage makes financial sense too.
Guelph has particular reason to focus on food systems. The city and surrounding Wellington County represent one of Ontario’s agricultural heartlands, with the food sector contributing over $2.6 billion annually to the local economy according to the Wellington-Guelph Agri-Innovation Cluster.
“We’re sitting at this perfect intersection of agricultural production, research through the University of Guelph, and an engaged community,” says Jennifer Vettor of the Guelph-Wellington Food Round Table. “That creates fertile ground for changing how we think about food waste.”
The event also highlighted the social dimension of food waste. Volunteers from The SEED, Guelph’s food security hub, spoke about redirecting surplus food to those experiencing food insecurity—a growing concern with food bank usage up nearly 35 percent since 2019 according to Feed Ontario.
“When we have people going hungry while perfectly good food ends up in landfills, we need to ask ourselves hard questions about our systems,” says Gavin Dandy, director of The SEED.
As the evening wound down, attendees received take-home guides with practical tips for reducing waste in their own kitchens, from proper food storage to creative recipes for using leftovers.
Emma Bryce surveyed the nearly empty plates with satisfaction. “Success tonight isn’t just about serving a delicious meal. It’s about changing mindsets. When people leave thinking differently about that wilted spinach or those chicken bones in their fridge, we’ve accomplished something important.”
For Guelph, these community initiatives represent more than just environmental responsibility—they’re about building resilience in local food systems that can better withstand supply chain disruptions like those experienced during the pandemic.
As I gathered my notes and prepared to leave, I watched families lingering over dessert—a bread pudding made from day-old baked goods topped with compote from slightly bruised berries. Nothing about it suggested compromise or leftovers. It simply looked like good food, shared in community, with a side of wisdom we’d do well to remember.
