This month’s AnthroDish Transcript is with Dr. Tammara Soma, the director and co-founder of the Food Systems Lab, and an Assistant Professor at the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. Tammara conducts research on issues pertaining to food system planning, community-based research, waste management and the circular economy.
In this interview, we explore what influences people’s food waste globally and nationally, and how food systems planning methods can be used to better contribute to our food planning and security in Canada, and the limitations of individualistic approaches to reducing food waste amidst corporate monopolies around food production.
The episode first aired on November 16, 2021. The following is an abridged transcript of the show, lightly edited for clarity. If you want to listen instead, you can check out the audio link below, or on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
“A lot of the solutions being put forward are basically scratching the surface, or they're Band-Aid solutions. We're not really changing the system. We're just saying to people things like, "Hey, you need to plan better, bring a list when you go grocery shopping and oh make sure that you portion your food better and measure it!"
These are very much focused on individualizing food waste practices, and food waste reduction, but not really saying we have a really messed up system where we are constantly overproducing to make sure that prices keep on being lower!”
- Dr. Tammara Soma
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