Food Waste: A $31 Billion Problem

Food Waste: A $31 Billion Problem

 

By Anastasia Gal

In Indonesia, there is a legend about crying rice.  A rice farmer was harvesting her crop and heard someone crying. She looked around and saw no one.  She then realized that the crying noises were coming from a handful of rice she left behind in the field. This story, says Tammara Soma, a Ph.D Candidate at Food Systems Lab, is about the importance of not to wasting farmers’ labour and the natural resources. “As a kid, I was told that I must eat …

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The Sharing Economy

The Sharing Economy

In November, Why Should I Care was happy to have a large panel to discuss the sharing economy, the role of government and what can be done for the future.

 

The varied panel included Noah Zon from the Mowat Centre, Liam McGuinty from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and Ashley Csanady and Hamid Akbari, CEO of BlancRide.

 

Noah began the event by giving a general definition of sharing economy. The sharing economy can be either the sharing of assets for a short-term basis or the idea of …

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Carbon Tax vs Fee and Dividend

Carbon Tax vs Fee and Dividend

On Monday August 17th, WSIC explored the topic of carbon pricing and the benefits and risks to Canadians associated with these measures.  With Federal elections fast approaching, the environment is an increasingly important subject being tackled, and one with a broad impact.  WSIC was pleased to host two qualified speakers to go through the issues:  Brian Foody, CEO of Iogen – a leader in developing technology making clean burning, renewable biofuels from agricultural residues and organic waste – and Yannick Trottier, co-founder of Spectral Applied …

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The Complications of Basic Income

The Complications of Basic Income

WSIC participants turned up in force to the Wind-Up Bird on March 16th, keen to listen and participate on the powerful discussion of basic income rights in Canada.  Our expert panel consisted of Sheila Regehr, of Basic Income Canada, a non-profit dedicated to ensuring everyone has sufficient income to meet basic needs and live with dignity, and Jonathan Sas, Director of Research at the Broadbent Institute.

Sheila acknowledged that on one level, the concept of basic income is easy to grasp, and yet on another level …

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Canada’s Role on the World Stage

Canada’s Role on the World Stage

Canada’s role on the world stage was the topic of discussion on January 26 at The Pilot Tavern. We heard from Dr. Alan Chapnick, Associate Professor at the Canadian Forces College, and Paul Kirkconnell, Managing Direct at The Kirchner Group as they covered a broad set of topics on the issue of the evening.

Both Dr. Chapnick and Mr. Kirkconnell delivered succinct summaries of their views. Alan summarized his thoughts saying that on a macro level there has been no major change in Canada’s foreign policies, though …

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