< PreviousSource: 1. Unite for Change AMPLIFIERS Problem The global crises we’re currently facing can feel incredibly overwhelming, to the point where many people may think that they have no power to make a difference. For example, 75% of Canadians say they are experiencing climate change anxiety and 5% say they don’t know how they can help fight climate change. 1 40 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINESource: 1. Learning for a Sustainable Future FACTS Progress Luckily, there’s still lots of positivity in the world. As more individuals and organizations engage with today’s problems by raising awareness, making lifestyle changes, and sharing their stories, we all have the power to help impact spread far and wide. Sixty-nine percent of Canadians believe that the work and voices of young people can inspire important climate action. 1 Together, we can make a difference. DECEMBER 2023 • ISSUE 06 41Love Food Hate Waste Canada Leading a prevention-fi rst approach to food waste Love Food Hate Waste Canada's "Labour of Love" campaign, which showcased real farmers across Canada. W hen it comes to our individual fi ght against climate change, where should we start? We all know the importance of reducing our individual environmental impact, and food waste is one area we can all work on right away, with the right tools, right from the comfort of our own kitchens. We spoke with Joanne Gauci, Campaign Manager at Love Food Hate Waste Canada, about how this initiative is helping to end food waste by educating Canadians on prevention at home. 42 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEWhat was the “spark” behind the Love Food Hate Waste Canada campaign? Metro Vancouver fi rst launched Love Food Hate Waste (LFHW) in the region in 2015. Th en, building on the success of the regional campaign, we launched the initia- tive across Canada through the National Zero Waste Council in 2018. Th e moti- vation behind launching the campaign was to take a “prevention-fi rst” approach to tackling food waste. Food waste is an urgent but solvable local and global chal- lenge, and through LFHW Canada we are able to work with many partners across the country to inspire and empower people to make their food go further and waste less. Today, LFHW Canada represents a unique national collaboration, uniting a variety of business, government, and community champions all working together to tackle food waste in the home. What do you consider to be your biggest success? Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you? Everybody has a role to play in tackling food waste, and I think our biggest success has been engaging a variety of partners across the country so that everyone hears the same consistent messaging, wheth- er they are at the grocery store or their community market, for example. LFHW Canada has grown to become Canada’s leading resource for preventing household food waste due to the eff orts of our part- ners and champions across the country. By working together, we are able to have a much bigger impact than we can on our own, and Food Waste Action Week, which has taken place in March for the past two years in a row, is a great example of the power of aligning messaging locally and globally. Th is is an event that we run in collaboration with the international network of LFHW Canada partners, and for that one week, diff erent organizations come together to raise awareness about the issue and opportunities for change. Food Waste Action Week 2023, which ran from March 6–12, was the most engaged campaign we have run since we launched in 2018, garnering over three million impressions across Canada for a week of coordinated activity. How do you feel having a platform and community help to make the world better? We hear fi rst-hand that the Love Food Hate Waste Canada website and resourc- es have helped families and individuals make their food last longer, save money, and ultimately prevent food waste. Our campaign partners are extremely active as well, sharing food waste prevention tips and messaging in their local communities, and you will see many of them at your summer farmers market. Food waste is one area where citizens can have a huge impact on climate change, and we feel proud to be working with others across the country to tackle this important issue. ■Forty-fi ve percent of avoidable food waste is fruit and vegetables, many grown locally by our Canadian farmers. Our campaign drives home the resources, dedication, and hard work it takes to get food to its fi nal destination: you and your family. In order to make the most of this food — in other words, prevent this hard- grown food from going to waste — we need to store it correctly. ■We met with farmers across Canada to discover the full journey of our food. We explored the time, labour, and resources invested in producing fi ve of our most wasted fruit and vegetables: apples, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, and tomatoes. Our A-Z guide provides the best storage solutions to ensure your food lasts fresher for longer. LFHW Canada has grown to become Canada’s leading resource for preventing household food waste due to the efforts of our partners and champions across the country. DECEMBER 2023 • ISSUE 06 431. The National Zero Waste Council. (2022). Love Food Hate Waste Canada: Making Every Bite Count. Our First Three Years - 2018 to 2021. What are some of the challenges you typically face in creating content or building out your audience? We are lucky — there haven’t been a lot of challenges in our content creation to date; people generally love to talk about food and share their own tips and strategies for preventing food waste. However, we do a lot of myth-busting! For example, people often think that if they put their food in the green bin, then there isn’t an environmental impact. Th e green bin is absolutely the best way to manage unavoidable food waste, like banana peels and egg shells, but the truth is Canadians are wasting much more food than they realize. Our research suggests that approximately 63%1 of the food we throw out could have been eaten. Th at leaves a lot of room for improvement! Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you'd like to share? Th is year we have a big focus on tackling fresh produce waste, which is the most commonly wasted food type in Canadian homes. We completed research that brings to life the journey of fi ve diff erent foods: blueberries, potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, and apples. Th is research can be found on our website and underpins our current “Labour of Love” campaign, which aims to connect Canadians to the farmers who grow our food and emphasizes the important role of storage in keeping produce fresher for longer. Ultimately, this campaign is about getting people to think about the story behind their food, and all of the resources, labour, and care that went into making it. Th is is a multi-phased project that has been partly funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and we look forward to reporting on our key fi ndings. How can people help support your mission? Share the message that #EveryBiteCounts and encourage fellow Canadians to visit lovefoodhatewaste. ca to get easy tips and tricks to prevent food waste at home. Our research suggests that approximately 63% of the food we throw out could have been eaten. That leaves a lot of room for improvement! lovefoodhatewaste.ca facebook.com/lovefoodhatewasteca twitter.com/LFHW_ca (@LFHW_ca) instagram.com/lovefoodhatewasteca (@lovefoodhatewasteca) 44 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINESocially Financing Our Future Together, we are building the circular food economy with relational lending, enterprise training, social investment and ecosystem connection. Harvest Impact supports Southern Ontario enterprises - including non-profits and charities - in the food, farm, and environment sectors. We provide lending of $2,500 to $50,000, wrap-around enterprise training, and offer impactful opportunities to community investors in support of circular economy transition. Let’s Connect! harvestimpact.ca Megan Franken, Seedswoman Franken Farm, Lion’s Head, Ontario email: investment@harvestimpact.caE very one of us has the power to make a positive change in the world and inspire others to do the same. Sharing the work changemakers are doing with like-minded audiences creates a powerful ripple eff ect that can spread across the world. We spoke with Whitney Larson, Creative Director of RIPPLE of CHANGE, about how this purpose-driven magazine uplifts changemakers by amplifying their inspiring stories. What was the “spark” that inspired you to start producing RIPPLE of CHANGE? In 2018, I travelled to India with Christy Schmid, another founding partner of the RIPPLE of CHANGE (ROC) team, to work with the Milaan Foundation. We were there to docu- ment stories of girls who are fi ghting to change the education system — quite literally the embodiment of “rip- ple of change.” Th ese girls are given resources from the Milaan Foundation to go out into their communities and form a group of 20–25 other girls who also want a continued education past the age that their society typically allows. We saw the confi dence and strength of these girls and started talking about how we could share their stories and similar stories of change- makers with a larger audience. As a creative duo — a designer and a photographer — we often found ourselves asking the question, “How can we take our talents and use them to make the world better?” We realized that we could use our creativity and RIPPLE of CHANGE Sharing stories of impact to inspire positive change Pictured here are the fi ve original co-founders of ROC. (Clockwise from top: Christy Schmid, Mel Sutjiadi, Cicely Belle Blain, Whitney Larson, and Kate Bouchard) 46 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINEinfl uence to share stories like that of Kushboo and Rajkumari, two girls from rural Uttar Pradesh who trans- formed their own community through education and empowerment. RIPPLE of CHANGE was born to highlight this story, and hundreds of others, in a way that will inspire and engage a global audience of volunteers, activists, and changemakers. And ultimately, encourage them to join in. What do you consider to be your biggest success? Th e story of our launch. In 2020, when everything felt dark and over- whelming, Christy and I, along with three other founders, were committed to telling stories of hope and change. As the struggle, pain, and inequity of our collective experience surfaced, we came together, built the brand, and produced and launched the fi rst issue of ROC in under six months. We chose grounded optimism to off er clear, tangible suggestions for how to take action. I’m proud that our perspective on how to mobilize change was able to connect others in ways we never had before. Can you share any stories of the impact your work has had that have surprised you? Before ROC was born, while Christy and I were in India, we spent our fi rst full day with an incredible girl named Rajkumari. She showed us around her village and told us stories about the challenges she overcame to pursue an education. She opened her heart to us and told us about the people who lifted her up and those who tried to stand in her way. At the end of the day, we stood on the roof of her house, taking her picture as the sun went down. She turned to us and said, “Th ank you — you made me feel like Superman today.” It was such a beautiful moment and has become a kind of internal bar, amplifying people and stories like hers to create that positive ripple eff ect of goodwill, support, and encouragement. Since then, we feel it when hearing people talk about what they learned from our articles or seeing the ex- citement on someone’s face when we discuss how we can tell their story to inspire others. We have that excite- ment on our internal team, but it’s so RIPPLE of CHANGE was born to highlight this story, and hundreds of others, in a way that will inspire and engage a global audience of volunteers, activists, and changemakers. And ultimately, encourage them to join in. One of ROC’s favourite steps in the production process is hanging the pages on the wall and reviewing the book from a bird's eye lens. Here, their Chicago mascot Hass, is giving it a fi nal review. DECEMBER 2023 • ISSUE 06 47encouraging to have it reinforced by the responses and actions of others. How do you feel having a platform and community help to make the world better? Hopeful. And proud of all the people who have opened their hearts, arms, and minds to the ideas. We often talk about the power of small conversations. We encourage people to speak up and ask questions, even if they’re talking to an audience of one, because you never know how far that conversation will travel. Th ere’s no telling how your ideas and perspective might open the mind of someone who was closed off to change in the past. What are some of the challenges you typically face in creating content or building out your audience? Fear and anger can be conversation stop- pers. We’ve worked hard to build a plat- form that encourages inclusivity. Th at is why the foundation of each of our stories is a personal or lived experience. Even if you don’t understand the entire experience, you can usually relate to a person on some level and that starts to open hearts and minds. We hope readers approach our stories and content with a sense of curiosity and willingness to engage with a perspective other than their own. Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you'd like to share? We have a few projects in the idea-building phase and will be sharing more in our newsletter soon. We’re looking at how we can engage indi- viduals but also off er opportunities for companies to inspire their staff and act on their goals for social change. We’re thrilled to have three new partners on the team, Bob Roth, Jimmy Watkins, and Kara McPherson, and are working on a mix of digital and in-person events and community-builders, including an Issue 04 launch party! How can people help support your mission? Join our email newsletter and jump into conversations on our social platforms. We believe change happens when people with diff erent experiences and viewpoints are willing to share and speak honestly with each other. Small, constructive conversations lead to em- pathy and positive movement all across the world. We encourage people to speak up and ask questions, even if they’re talking to an audience of one, because you never know how far that conversation will travel. rippleofchangemag.com facebook.com/rippleofchangemag twitter.com/roc_mag (@ROC_mag) linkedin.com/company/ripple-of-change instagram.com/rippleofchangemag (@rippleofchangemag) youtube.com/@rippleofchange3445 #StartARipple Part of ROC’s grassroots distribution ef- forts included taking magazines around to local partners. Earnest Ice Cream was an early supporter and continues to help spread the work of ROC. ROC writer Jenn Wint and Whitney Larson meeting and learning from Race Dinner Co-Founders Regina Jackson and Saira Rao in . 48 MAKE THE WORLD BETTER MAGAZINENext >