A staggering quantity of milk has been wasted on Canadian dairy farms since 2012, based on a brand new examine led by Dr. Thomas Elliot from Aalborg College, Denmark, in collaboration with Dr. Benjamin Goldstein from the College of Michigan and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie College, Canada. Printed in Ecological Economics, the examine highlights a urgent concern in Canada’s dairy manufacturing system, which regulates milk manufacturing and gross sales. This waste, pushed by overproduction, ends in vital environmental and financial prices together with misplaced dietary alternatives.
Canada’s dairy manufacturing system was designed to steadiness provide and demand, however as Dr. Elliot explains, “The present system incentivizes farmers to overproduce milk, resulting in monumental quantities being discarded when provide exceeds demand.” Over the past decade, the discarded milk represents billions of {dollars} in financial losses, and its environmental affect contains the discharge of greenhouse gases equal to the emissions from a whole lot of 1000’s of automobiles. The quantity of milk wasted may have supplied the annual dairy wants of thousands and thousands of Canadians.
The analysis used a way referred to as materials stream evaluation to estimate the wasted milk, utilizing publicly out there knowledge from Statistics Canada. It revealed that whereas dairy farms produced huge quantities of milk between 2012 and 2021, solely a portion of that was offered, leaving a big share unaccounted for and presumed wasted. The misplaced milk not solely represents an financial loss but additionally an environmental burden, because the examine quantifies its greenhouse fuel emissions and the land and water required to supply it.
The analysis crew proposes a number of options to scale back milk wastage. One key suggestion is to reform the system by lowering incentives for farmers to overproduce. “Updating the quota system to higher replicate precise consumption wants, notably as plant-based options develop in recognition, may assist scale back overproduction and waste,” says Dr. Elliot. The examine additionally advocates for elevated transparency, urging the Canadian Dairy Fee to observe and report discarded milk volumes as a step towards larger accountability.
This massive-scale milk wastage isn’t just an remoted concern in Canada. Different nations with vital dairy manufacturing, together with america and New Zealand, additionally battle with surplus milk. Nevertheless, Canada’s manufacturing system, with its strict quotas, ends in a better wastage fee in comparison with different nations. Within the U.S., the place milk dumping can also be an issue, discard charges are usually decrease, due to extra versatile market-driven approaches.
The researchers argue that whereas Canada’s present system stabilizes costs and helps farmers, its construction results in inefficiencies. Eliminating the system altogether may have unintended penalties, resembling driving farmers to supply much more milk to remain worthwhile, additional exacerbating waste. Thus, reforming the system to penalize overproduction extra closely and encourage sustainable dairy farming practices is a extra viable path ahead.
In conclusion, the examine requires pressing reforms in Canada’s dairy sector to deal with the environmental, financial, and dietary impacts of milk waste. “We have to align dairy manufacturing with sustainability objectives, scale back overproduction, and shift in the direction of extra environment friendly and clear practices,” Dr. Elliot emphasizes. The findings elevate necessary questions on how Canada and different dairy-producing nations can strike a steadiness between supporting farmers and lowering meals waste.
Journal Reference
Elliot, T., Goldstein, B., & Charlebois, S. (2024). “Over 6 billion liters of Canadian milk wasted since 2012.” Ecological Economics, 227, 108413. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108413
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Concerning the Authors
Thomas Elliot is a number one researcher within the fields of sustainability and useful resource administration, presently affiliated with Aalborg College in Denmark and the École de technologie supérieure in Canada. With a robust tutorial background in environmental economics and concrete planning, his work focuses on addressing inefficiencies in international meals programs and sustainable growth. Elliot’s analysis usually makes use of revolutionary materials stream evaluation to quantify environmental impacts, particularly within the agricultural and dairy sectors. His latest work sheds gentle on the numerous environmental and financial penalties of meals waste, notably within the Canadian dairy business. Keen about coverage reform, he goals to offer data-driven options that promote transparency and sustainability in useful resource administration.
Benjamin Goldstein is an environmental scientist on the College of Michigan’s Faculty for Setting and Sustainability and McGill College’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in Canada. His analysis explores the intersection of agriculture, meals programs, and environmental sustainability. Goldstein makes a speciality of life cycle assessments and materials stream evaluation, serving to to quantify the environmental footprints of meals manufacturing. His work has garnered consideration for its concentrate on lowering agricultural waste and mitigating local weather impacts within the dairy sector. Goldstein is especially all for how sustainable practices will be built-in into large-scale meals manufacturing programs to scale back waste and emissions.
Sylvain Charlebois is a famend professor and researcher in meals coverage and agricultural economics, primarily based at Dalhousie College, Canada. He’s the Director of the Agri-Meals Analytics Lab, the place he leads quite a few research on meals distribution, sustainability, and shopper habits. Charlebois is well known for his experience in meals programs, contributing to public discourse on meals safety and waste discount. His analysis usually focuses on provide chain inefficiencies, notably in Canada’s dairy business, aiming to bridge the hole between meals manufacturing and sustainable consumption. Charlebois can also be a distinguished media commentator, regularly discussing developments in meals coverage and innovation.
