Spud CEO Peter van Stolk introduces #LETSNOTWASTE 2016.

Why #LetsNotWaste ? Spud CEO Peter van Stolk tells us what inspired him to start the #letsnotwaste 2016 campaign to reduce waste in Canada.

For most of my life I took food for granted. I love food, I love to cook, I love to eat and food has been a huge part of my life, but I took food for granted. I assumed that my child would have it in abundance and I believed that food sold in grocery stores was healthy because the ingredients were approved by the government. I also understood the relationship and passion people have for food.

I am the founder of Jones Soda, and formerly was the CEO. In 2008 I decided that I didn’t want to sell sugar water anymore. I could see that our society was losing our healthy relationship with food and not only that, I directly contributed to the problem. So I joined the board of Vitamin Angels and learned the importance of nutrition for a child’s development. I also learned about the damage that pesticides do to our planet and our bodies.

I found my way to Spud, a grocery store that was committed to local and organic food. An online grocery store that didn’t have massive displays thrown in the garbage. A grocery store that could save people time, money and had a much lower carbon footprint. What I truly love about Spud is that our team truly cares about the products we sell. I think we are the only large grocery store that sells exclusively non-GMO produce, or products that do not have ingredients that are known to cause disease. The fact is that it’s easy to sell conventional produce or Kraft Dinner, Coca Cola, and it’s also easy to sell cigarettes, but that’s not who we are.

We are a company that is passionate about learning and understanding the role that food has in our lives, in our planet, and in our local economy.

Recently we started a campaign called “Let’s Not Waste 2016.” Our goal is to highlight the ways that we waste food, time, and resources. I was shocked to learn food waste is a huge problem that we can solve.  Over the next few weeks we hope to shock you with figures and facts that make you think. We will ask you to share what you do to not  waste food, time, resources (money and or environment) and we will start the conversation that in the end will save us money, time, food, and our environment.

Please join us on this adventure.

#LetsNotWaste 2016