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Research, explainers and guidance from The Neighbour’s Table, newest first.

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What we publish

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Research

A week inside a chapter

Quality and standards

A system that wastes less

Talking to growers

Overhead pile of freshly harvested carrots

Research

The cost of wasted food

Building the farm list

Food insecurity in Canada

Landfill and methane

Top-down view of a fresh cabbage head

Research

Six things people get wrong about food waste

Building the farm list

Working with farms

Landfill and methane

Recent explainers

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Cardboard box packed with fresh mixed vegetables overhead

The cost of wasted food

8.8 million tonnes of edible food is wasted in Canada every year, according to Second Harvest and Value Chain Management International, 2024. Target 12.3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals commits the world to reducing food waste and food losses by 2030.

Single red apple hanging on a sunlit tree branch

Six things people get wrong about food waste

That it is scraps, that it is a kitchen problem, that it is cheap. Six things people say about food waste, set against the published numbers from Second Harvest, the National Zero Waste Council and the UN Environment Programme.

Autumn harvest still life with pumpkins and flowers

Why 12.3 is the target that matters

The Neighbour’s Table is aligned to three UN Sustainable Development Goals. Goal 12 on responsible consumption and production, Goal 2 on zero hunger, and Goal 13 on climate action. Target 12.3 is the one we exist to serve, and the deadline on it is 2030.

Research

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Assorted heirloom pumpkins and squash at farm stand

Food bank use in Ontario

Feed Ontario

Hunger Report 2025

Feed Ontario’s Hunger Report 2025 sets out food bank use in Ontario between April 2024 and March 2025, and how it has changed since 2019.

Pile of whole orange pumpkins in sunlight

Canada grows enough to feed everyone

Statistics Canada

Census of Agriculture 2021

Canada has 189,874 farms, according to Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture 2021. The food exists, and the distance is the problem.

Rows of apple crates fill sunlit barn

A week inside a chapter

One weekly session, minute by minute, from the greeting at the door to the count read out at the end.

Overhead basket of celery, zucchini, carrots and tomatoes

Household food insecurity in Canada

PROOF

University of Toronto

24.0% of people in Canada lived in a food-insecure household in 2025, about 9.8 million people, according to PROOF, University of Toronto, 2026. That is the demand side of the gap. On the supply side, 8.8 million tonnes of edible food is wasted in Canada every year, according to Second Harvest and Value Chain Management International, 2024.

Cluster of ripe red tomatoes still on the vine

What happens to food in a landfill

Second Harvest, 2024

The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste

8.8 million tonnes of edible food is wasted in Canada every year. Second Harvest and Value Chain Management International, 2024.

Field notes

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Aerial view of rural road cutting through farmland

The farms nobody asks

A chapter asks every farm on its list the same question. One follow-up, about two weeks later, catches emails that were missed in a busy week. Then the record is closed.

Ripe red apples hanging in orchard rows

From field to food bank

When a farm says yes, the chapter gives it the published contact of an organization that collects, free, with its own vehicle. The farm arranges the pickup directly, and the chapter records the outcome.

Aerial patchwork of green and gold farm fields

What a member actually does each week

A member holds a named role: Chapter Lead, Deputy Lead, Outreach Editor, List Builder, Follow-up Clerk or Records and Hours Clerk. Forty-five minutes a week, at lunch, at their own school, building the farm list and asking farms one question.

Autumn farmland with golden trees and country road

Why students run this

A chapter is a club of its own school. It meets on the same day every week at lunch, with the same named roles, and its Teacher Advisor is copied on every message that leaves it.

Wide grassy field with tractor tracks under blue sky

One season, one region

One farm record carries the published business contact, the source it came from, the date it was checked, the contact dates and the outcome. The Records and Hours Clerk keeps it current. A chapter that cannot show its record cannot show its work.

Bring a chapter to your school

Start a chapter at your school.

Start a chapter at your school

Where to start

Why we exist

We ask Canadian farms whether they have produce they cannot sell, and connect every yes with a food bank that collects it.

What we do

The Neighbour’s Table is a student-run nonprofit. Chapters at Canadian high schools ask farms one question, whether they have produce they cannot sell, and hand every yes to a food bank or food rescue organization that collects it with its own vehicle.

How you can help

A student-run nonprofit that asks Canadian farms about produce they cannot sell and connects every yes with a food bank.

Red tractor beside hay bales in rolling hillside field

Updates

Green tractor with mower attachment silhouetted at sunset

Questions

Get in touch

Write to HQ at andrew.sun.adair@gmail.com.