How much food is wasted in Canada? Where does food waste happen and why? What are some potential solutions?

This episode takes a quick look at two for-profit solutions to food waste – the Odd Bunch produce delivery box and Sobey’s Food Hero app -- and concludes with an inspiring interview with Mike Layton of Second Harvest, a food rescue charity in Toronto that turns every dollar in donations into five meals for hungry people.

Donate to Second Harvest Here: https://www.secondharvest.ca/donate

Plan a party with Echoage: https://echoage.com/charities/secondharvest

Download the Food Hero App: https://www.foodhero.com/en/download

Order a box from Odd Bunch: https://www.oddbunch.ca/pages/boxes

Second Harvest Report on Food Waste in Canada: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6618114bae6895cc12d3dc1d/678fef92d23e957f68c00aee_ACFW_Roadmap2024_Digital_compressed.pdf

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

'Summer Vibes' by Pold. Released under a creative commons license.

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Matt interviews Yara El Murr, the Managing Editor of the Green Line, an innovative Toronto news outlet that is making community-driven, hyper-local news.

Our information ecosystem is full of misinformation and news fatigue and Yara shares insights on how journalists can produce useful and compelling journalism that responds to these growing challenges.

Learn about the 4-step action journey that structures their monthly reporting.

Learn More:

The Green Line: https://thegreenline.to/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thegreenlineto

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tglhelps/

Videos used in this episode:

St. Clare's Housing Organization: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoNeqKPMh84

Third Spaces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4tMHhsUTDc

Books:

The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Good_Place_(book)

Trust in Numbers by Theodore Porter: https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691208411/trust-in-numbers

I tried super-hard to identify the book I read about the big 3 networks and the evening news, but I read it 20 years ago and it is lost to history.

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Matt goes treasure hunting in Scarborough (a suburb of Toronto), using the amazing maps produced by the Scarborough Environmental Association.

After visiting a restaurant, a second-hand clothing shop and a repair cafe and clothing swap organized by the Scarborough Environmental Association (SEA), Matt sits down with SEA's co-founder Krissan Veerasingam. Krissan shares insights into effective community organizing, insights that modern political parties should take note of if the want to win back public trust and respect! Krissan argues that door-knocking should be the LAST thing you do, and his reasoning is sound.

Check out SEA's Scarborough maps here: https://www.scarbenv.ca/#resources

Follow SEA on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/scarb.env.asc/

Repair Cafe Toronto: https://repaircafetoronto.ca/

If you enjoyed our Solarpunk episode, you should buy the Bright Green Future's Anthology here: https://susankayequinn.com/books/bright-green-futures-2024-solarpunk-anthology

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Karma Coop has been selling ethical, organic food in Toronto for more than 50 years. Matt visits the store and interviews its General Manager, Zach Weingarten.

Zach explains how they source products and why having a wide variety of smaller producers and sellers increases the resilience of our food system.

Find out more on their website: https://www.karmacoop.org/

The subreddit Zach mentions is https://www.reddit.com/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol/

The article is Follow the Thing: Papaya by Ian Cook. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2004.00441.x

Art Credit:

The image for this episode includes a slice of Wandy Cheng's mural on the Karma Coop building. See the full mural here: https://www.wandycheng.com/publicart#e-11

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

'Summer Vibes' by Pold. Released under a creative commons license.

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Sound Effects:

Brightness by sonically_sound -- https://freesound.org/s/632762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

20110503_clucking.00.wav by dobroide -- https://freesound.org/s/120582/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Mending the future will require system change and personal change. And we can start with nudges in the right direction, because much of what we need already exists. The 4 reminders for individuals can help us live better and spend less time in the more toxic areas of modern society.

1. Be Where You Are

2. The Entire World is Real

3. Find the Others

4. Plant Trees

This episode is a companion to the 'Four Factors for Organization' which laid out the guidelines Matt uses to pick organizations.

Find the others by joining our discord: https://discord.gg/mDBuWYtwMh

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Shizuka by Aerohead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8VmUFPEg_w

Verdure by Kaizan Blue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJaHkR_8ehk

Poetry Credits:

Warsan Shire. 'What they Did Yesterday Afternoon' in Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth. (2011)
https://bookshop.org/p/books/teaching-my-mother-how-to-give-birth-warsan-shire/7604734?ean=9781905233298&next=t&next=t

Sound Effects:

Digging with Shovel OWI.wav by Allen2001 -- https://freesound.org/s/595105/ -- License: Attribution 3.0

Atmos chords c min.wav by LogicMoon -- https://freesound.org/s/645688/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

Spring is here and the birds are returning. You can hear them if you slow down and listen. In this episode, Matt and his old friend Alex play and discuss the calls of a dozen common birds that you can see and hear even in the city.

Alex Eddington is a composer, sound designer, theatre artist and amateur birder. Learn more about Alex and his work here: https://www.alexeddington.com/

Bird Resources:

https://www.bird-sounds.net/

https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/home

Birdnet App: https://birdnet.cornell.edu/

Ebird: https://ebird.org/home

Migration map: https://explorer.audubon.org/

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Sound Effects:

Black-capped chickadee - Mesange a tete noire.flac by micndom -- https://freesound.org/s/27387/ -- License: Attribution 3.0

Cardinal.wav by CGEffex -- https://freesound.org/s/96217/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Other bird recordings by TRP: https://freesound.org/people/TRP/ who is also online here: https://thomasryderpayne.bandcamp.com/

Gentle waves on a lake by TheFlyFishingFilmmaker -- https://freesound.org/s/614299/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

Matt visits Chocosol Traders on St. Clair, gets a hot chocolate and learns about their deep commitment to ethical and sustainable chocolate from Mathieu McFadden, Chocosol's 'Chief Chocolate Pedaller.' Chocosol takes real care of their entire supply chain from bean to bar, developing meaningful human relationships and supporting regenerative agriculture.

Matt and Matt talk about bikes, solar roasters, pumpkin seeds, popular education efforts in Mexico, forest gardens and more. It's surprising how many different problems chocolate can solve if you make it right!

Learn more at: https://chocosoltraders.com/

Book a Virtual Tasting: https://chocosoltraders.com/products/online-taste-and-tour

The sensory check-in in this episode is a 5-minute history of chocolate accompanied with sips of real hot chocolate based on the book 'The True History of Chocolate' by Sophie and Michael Coe.

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Sound Effects:
Jungle Quiet by tcbbk -- https://freesound.org/s/493896/ -- License: Creative Commons 0 (recorded in Mexico)

When I pick an organization for the podcast or the map at Futuremending.com, I’m not just picking businesses out of a hat – I have a system for evaluating orgs which I call the Four Factors for Organizations. The Four Factors are Multi-solving, Sharing, Sufficiency and Transparency.

This episode is in two parts. The opening minutes are a bit of an emotional check-in to see how people are processing the unprecedented political turmoil in the United States. The second part of the podcast discusses the Four Factors for Organizations and why seeking out certain vectors of change makes more sense than trying to lay out a detailed plan for a better future.

Read about the Four Factors: https://www.futuremending.com/what

Matt’s Blue Sky account: https://bsky.app/profile/mattliepaehlke.bsky.social

Wired Magazine coverage of the crisis in the U.S. : https://www.wired.com/tag/elon-musk/

Rebecca Solnit’s newsletter: https://meditations-in-an-emergency.ghost.io/welcome-to-meditations-in-an-emergency/

Google's AI Policy: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/05/google-owner-drops-promise-not-to-use-ai-for-weapons

Future Mending Map: https://www.futuremending.com/toronto

Music Credits:

'Epilogue' by The Slow Motions. Used with permission of the artist.

‘Fashion’ by Alex Productions. Creative Commons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV1miCgT7J4

‘Miss you’ by Middle Child. Creative Commons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dayIKHEIYqY

‘Opening’ by Phillip Glass. Arr. by Karl Michelson. Performed by The Union Guitar Trio. Used with permission of the artists.

Union Guitar Trio on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/track/2E0NidLjIzBAO7t0BBPFUD

Union Guitar Trio on Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-union-guitar-trio/1592543833

Sound Effects:

BBC News November 9th, 1989: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjNz1lvXgzU

wood hit low glass bowl 3.mp3 by ascap -- https://freesound.org/s/242388/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

Brightness by sonically_sound -- https://freesound.org/s/632762/ -- License: Creative Commons 0