Loop Resources: Stemming the waste of grocery store food

Dec 29, 2022

Every day, hundreds of farmers descend on grocery stores across Canada to save thousands of pounds of expired groceries from ending up in garbage dumps and landfills, taking what can't be sold and using it to feed their livestock and enrich their garden soil.

Instead of being wasted, farms are able to use wilted lettuce, expired deli meats, sagging watermelons, close-to-expiring dairy, stale bread, coffee grounds and any other discarded product not fit for human consumption to save the earth and ease the burden of rising feed costs for livestock.

The program is based on a simple idea,

“Food should be put to its highest and best use ... we handle 100 per cent of the in-store, organic waste.” according to Loop Resource's website, the organization that jump-started the program.

Loop Resources was started by a family in Dawson’s Creek and has expanded to over 60 stores in Western Canada alone, and worked with over 2,500 farms in 2022 to help complete the loop and end food waste.

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Video: What Does 20 MILLION Hogs a Year Look Like?

?? The Multi-Plant System Processing 20 Million Hogs Annually in the Midwest JBS USA operates multiple large-scale pork processing facilities across the Midwest, including major plants in Iowa, Minnesota, and Indiana. Combined, these facilities have the capacity to process approximately 20 million hogs annually.

Each plant operates high-speed automated slaughter systems capable of processing up to 20,000 head per day, followed by fabrication lines that break carcasses into primals, sub-primals, and case-ready retail products.

Hog procurement is coordinated through electronic marketing platforms that connect regional contract finishing operations and independent producers to plant demand schedules. This digital procurement system allows for steady supply flow and scheduling efficiency across multiple facilities.

Processing plants incorporate comprehensive food safety systems, including pathogen intervention technologies, rapid chilling processes, and integrated cold-chain management. USDA inspection is embedded throughout the harvest and fabrication stages to ensure regulatory compliance and product integrity. Finished pork products — from bulk primals to retail-ready packaged cuts — are distributed through coordinated logistics networks serving domestic and export markets.