In this follow-up to their 2010 documentary The Clean Bin Project, Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story follows filmmakers Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin on a six month challenge to live entirely on food waste. One third of all food produced is not consumed, with much of it being thrown away, despite still being quite edible. We live in a culture of abundance, where there is more than enough food for everyone and it not taboo to just throw it way. Over the course of their challenge, Jen and Grant learn some important lessens about food waste and how we take it for granted. One of the more striking images in Just Eat It is Grant finding a dumpster the size of a swimming pool, which was filled to the brim with containers of hummus, all of which still had weeks before the expiry date. Even though Jen and Grant feared that they would end up scrounging for food during their challenge, they ended up being surprised at how much they recovered. Often it was just a whole lot of one item, which they often found themselves rushing to consume, before it expired. It is kind of shocking how much perfectly good food is just left behind, whether it be crops left on the field or grocery stores discarding items past their shelving dates. Expiry dates themselves are a misconception, since they tend to me more about quality than safety. Of course, stores still won't sell items past their date, in fear of possible lawsuits. All together, Just Eat It is a very eye-opening documentary, which will likely cause you to reconsider how much food you buy and/or throw away. 8 | LIKED IT Screenings:
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Sun, April 27, 9:45 PM – TIFF Bell Lightbox 1
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Tues, April 29, 4:00 PM – Scotiabank Theatre 4
