Pressured in recent months by petitions, citizen actions and open letters, the Jean-Talon public market has finally acquired composting facilities, we noted during a visit with the general manager. The Maisonneuve and Atwater markets will follow suit.
Last November, The Press had revealed that tons of fruits and vegetables – whether still edible or not – were ending up every week in the waste containers at the Jean-Talon market, due to the lack of compost bins available to merchants1.
Since the article was published, the Association québécoise Zéro Déchet and the organization Mères au front have taken multiple actions to correct the situation. In particular, activists went to the market on Henri-Julien Avenue in May to raise awareness among customers about a waste situation that they considered “unacceptable.”
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Jean-Talon Market, in Montreal
Now 17 brown bins have officially made their entrance into the main waste room, a first phase while waiting for infrastructures better adapted to organic materials, for example with regard to refrigeration.
“The pressure has increased, yes, but at the same time, everyone understands the challenges,” emphasizes Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet, general manager of the Marchés publics de Montréal, as he presents the new facilities to us.
What came out a lot from the discussions was the contribution that public procurement can make to the food system, but also to “eating differently”, in the idea of being as zero waste as possible. It is clear that this is in line with our values.
Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet, General Manager of Montreal Public Markets
The new sorting system imposed since the beginning of the summer on the hundred or so merchants is clearly stated on an imposing poster. The priority step is to hand over unsold fruits and vegetables to the food recovery organization La récolte engagé, which redistributes the food to the community.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet, from the Montreal Public Markets, shows grapes that will be redistributed by the organization La récolte engagé.
All surplus and leftovers that are not edible must now be directed to the compost bins, not to the waste container. Merchants who do not respect the sorting rules are liable to a fine of $500.
This collection system must be replicated at the Atwater market – it received seven compost bins and benefits from food recovery from the organization Partageons l’espoir – and at the Maisonneuve market, where the management of organic materials is the subject of discussions with the City of Montreal.
The goal, in the long term, is to completely eliminate food waste in the metropolis’ public markets, explains their general manager. Until now, some 330 tons of organic waste generated by the Jean-Talon market were heading to the dump each year.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Merchant Jérôme Arlabosse showing still-edible broccoli destined for the dump, last November
The Press had noted during a visit in November that fruits and vegetables were being thrown away even though they were still fit for consumption. The merchant Jérôme Arlabosse, from the Crêperie du marché, denounced the administration’s inertia in the matter.
Logistical and commercial constraints
In terms of public education, the institution, inaugurated in 1933, has been quick to promote composting, for example through workshops starting in 2008 and by distributing thousands of free bags of compost year after year.
Why did management wait so long to set an example? Because of logistical and commercial constraints, according to Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet.
The social economy hotspot does not fit in with the City of Montreal’s selective collection of organic waste, while private suppliers were slow to find a satisfactory alternative, he explains. It was ultimately the Matrec company that was able to meet the specific needs of the four-season market.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet, General Manager of Montreal Public Markets
The supplier brings clean, dry bins and leaves with the full bins to process them and bring them back for the next collection. It’s a system that reduces management for us and ensures clean and safe facilities.
Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet, General Manager of Montreal Public Markets
Thanks to funding from the City of Montreal, the administration has hired the services of the environmental firm Stratzer to raise awareness and guide merchants regarding the new instructions.
A first step
In addition to refrigerating the rooms and installing compactors, a future component will consist of offering a composting option to customers forced to throw away their table scraps, “a challenge in the treatment of the material”, maintains the owner of the premises, Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Nathalie Ainsley during a mobilization against the lack of composting at the Jean-Talon market, last May
Along with other activists, Nathalie Ainsley, chair of the board of directors of the Association québécoise Zéro Déchet and member of Mères au front, met with the management of the Jean-Talon market and was given a tour of the new composting equipment.
While emphasizing that the two organizations will monitor the next steps, she welcomes the management’s openness. The positive outcome, she says, “is proof that collective action pays off.” “The composting issue was somewhere in the priorities, but we feel that it has come back to the top of the pile. [L’article de La Presse et notre mobilisation] have accelerated things a lot. We are very proud of it.”
1. Read “Jean-Talon Market: Lagging Behind in Composting”