Dr. Kate Parizeau, professor in the Department of Geography, Environment & Geomatics, spoke to CBC News Network’s Canada Tonight about a United Nations report that found the average Canadian wastes 79 kg of food at home per year.

Parizeau said Canadians tend to be large food consumers and wasters in part because we have so much food choices around us and waste is disposal isn’t a concern.

“We often bring home a lot of food and then life gets in the way,” she said, adding that food ‘illiteracy’ also plays a role in that many of us don’t know what to do with food that begins to wilt. Our busy lives also make food planning challenging, she added.

Parizeau studies the social context of waste management, seeing urban waste practices as reflections of social organization systems.

Watch here on CBC Gem (interview starts at 25:00 mark)