So much waste

[Jainarayan]

Americans, American “culture” and society. We have too much waste, yet we complain. We’re persnickety and fussy about things that are really all not that much of a problem. People want perfection. And they don’t want to pay for it. I had a customer today who told me to stop cutting her Land O Lakes cheese because the edges were ragged. Uh … when you want cheese cut paper thin it’s kind of hard to get perfect slices.

The pics below reflect part of my daily job. I do markdowns on prepared foods that haven’t sold from the regular display cases. For example, I reduced today’s expiration date prices to 30% off. Expired does not mean it went bad or is in imminent danger of going bad. We just set a limit on how long we keep items. Tomorrow I will take the 30% I did today and reduce them to 50%. Each night we take the 50% and remove them.

This is the result of that removal from the markdowns cases. What is in the brown trash receptacle was in the grocery cart. That is, it was full. All of that perfectly good food is going into the garbage.

Charities, shelters, food banks, etc. can’t or won’t pick up the food. Yet people are hungry. Supermarkets don’t have the resources to pack and deliver this, if anyone even wants it. Yet people are hungry. It makes me sadder and sadder the more I see it.

 

[Brickjectivity]

Charities, shelters, food banks, etc. can’t or won’t pick up the food. Yet people are hungry. Supermarkets don’t have the resources to pack and deliver this, if anyone even wants it. Yet people are hungry. It makes me sadder and sadder the more I see it.

We, too, throw out much food where I work. Food is perishable. This derives from nature. Sometime try making just enough food for yourself. You'll find that either you make too much or too little.

 

[Jainarayan]

We, too, throw out much food where I work. Food is perishable. This derives from nature. Sometime try making just enough food for yourself. You'll find that either you make too much or too little.

That’s true. My mother used to say that when it was just her and my father after everyone left home she did know how to cook for just the two of them, down from seven. But there’s got to be ways to get food that is still good to people who need it.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Restaurant culture, presentation also causes waste. Cut on the sides also is food. Why should people be fuzzy about that?

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

Charities, shelters, food banks, etc. can’t or won’t pick up the food.

Food is never wasted. Some part of the food chain needs it and will benefit from it. What I see in those photos that bothers me is the plastic waste.

 

[Sedim Haba]

I love date markdowns, THANK so much!
If I can't eat it, well, my chickens and other critters are not so discriminate!

(Really, food chains should offer expired food regularly)

@ local Woodmans I get tons of produce for my chickens for $.99

The girls gimme lots o eggs!

But, as per the topic, I hate HATE the plastic waste I find this stuff in.

TBH it pains my soul to KNOW that tho I will thro that in the recycle bin, it wont (likely) be actually recycled.

such is the lies we accept

 

[Vee]

This is one of the reasons why I cook. I rarely ever throw away food at my place. Meal planning allows me to buy only what I need, eat healthy and on a very decent budget. It takes a little time and energy, but it's so worth it.

 

[SalixIncendium]

It's unfortunately a balance between selection and waste. Either not enough is made to offer an adequate selection, thereby turning customers away and losing top line dollars, or making too much and taking a hit in bottom line waste.

As @Brickjectivity said, food is a perishable commodity, especially RTE food, and having waste to offer selection is inevitable. However, it would be nice to see food with a longer shelf life, such as breads, donated to charities. This is one reason I patronize Panera Bread. Any leftover bread at the end of the day is donated to local charities. https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/food-values/community.html

 

[wellwisher]

The primary purpose of eating is to nourish the body and supply it resources for energy and growth. The sciences of diet and nutrition can help us know what the human body needs.

The joy of eating is like a psychological, carrot on a string, that leads us to food, so the prime directive can be satisfied.

Part of the problem is too many humans wade in the shallows of instinct; carrot on the string, and loose track of the deeper meaning of eating; prime directive. This can cause healthy food to seen less appealing, psychologically.

The prime directive is an objective drive that can be supported by science. The wading in the shallows is much less objective, but is often ruled by ego-centric subjectivity. Vanity and compulsion is substituted for common sense; will and choice.

The subjectivity of eating; carrot on the string, is the main reason for eating disorders and/or eating styles that can bring poor health. Subjectivity is not objective and can fall short or in excess of the natural parameters of the prime directive.

Sometimes a balance can be achieved where both layers of the instinct of eating can be satisfied; variety and moderation. Variety spreads our subjectivity out, so it is less linear and compulsive, while moderation prevents too much of one thing, leading to gaps in essential nutrients.

The same instinctive hierarchy rules apply to sex. The prime directive is connected to procreation. The carrot on the string is the pleasure of sex that leads the horse to water; prime directive. This instinct can also be undermined by the ego and the subjectivity of the carrot on the string. This can cause side affects due to being different from the prime directive; sickness, disease and pathology.

 

[Nakosis]

Americans, American “culture” and society. We have too much waste, yet we complain. We’re persnickety and fussy about things that are really all not that much of a problem. People want perfection. And they don’t want to pay for it. I had a customer today who told me to stop cutting her Land O Lakes cheese because the edges were ragged. Uh … when you want cheese cut paper thin it’s kind of hard to get perfect slices.

The pics below reflect part of my daily job. I do markdowns on prepared foods that haven’t sold from the regular display cases. For example, I reduced today’s expiration date prices to 30% off. Expired does not mean it went bad or is in imminent danger of going bad. We just set a limit on how long we keep items. Tomorrow I will take the 30% I did today and reduce them to 50%. Each night we take the 50% and remove them.

This is the result of that removal from the markdowns cases. What is in the brown trash receptacle was in the grocery cart. That is, it was full. All of that perfectly good food is going into the garbage.

Charities, shelters, food banks, etc. can’t or won’t pick up the food. Yet people are hungry. Supermarkets don’t have the resources to pack and deliver this, if anyone even wants it. Yet people are hungry. It makes me sadder and sadder the more I see it.

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My niece who manages a Starbucks takes all the the food they would normally have to throw out an distributes it to the homeless in the area.
Individuals willing to take the time to help others is all of the resource you need.
Few are willing to "waste" their time to help others.

 

[SalixIncendium]

My niece who manages a Starbucks takes all the the food they would normally have to throw out an distributes it to the homeless in the area.
Individuals willing to take the time to help others is all of the resource you need.
Few are willing to "waste" their time to help others.

An employee taking waste from a restaurant or supermarket is considered theft in most businesses, regardless of what one intends to do with it.

It's also dangerous to take "all the food they would normally throw out" and distribute it for consumption. Prepared food has hold times for the purpose of serving before bacterial reaches levels that can cause food borne illness. Distributing expired food to people could lead to food poisoning.

 

[Nakosis]

An employee taking waste from a restaurant or supermarket is considered theft in most businesses, regardless of what one intends to do with it.

It's also dangerous to take "all the food they would normally throw out" and distribute it for consumption. Prepared food has hold times for the purpose of serving before bacterial reaches levels that can cause food borne illness. Distributing expired food to people could lead to food poisoning.

She got permission and has an understanding of how long past the date they can sale it, it remains safe for consumption.
Yes, one ought to get permission and ought to verify the safety of the food if they are going to do something like this.

 

[ChristineM]

Americans, American “culture” and society. We have too much waste, yet we complain. We’re persnickety and fussy about things that are really all not that much of a problem. People want perfection. And they don’t want to pay for it. I had a customer today who told me to stop cutting her Land O Lakes cheese because the edges were ragged. Uh … when you want cheese cut paper thin it’s kind of hard to get perfect slices.

The pics below reflect part of my daily job. I do markdowns on prepared foods that haven’t sold from the regular display cases. For example, I reduced today’s expiration date prices to 30% off. Expired does not mean it went bad or is in imminent danger of going bad. We just set a limit on how long we keep items. Tomorrow I will take the 30% I did today and reduce them to 50%. Each night we take the 50% and remove them.

This is the result of that removal from the markdowns cases. What is in the brown trash receptacle was in the grocery cart. That is, it was full. All of that perfectly good food is going into the garbage.

Charities, shelters, food banks, etc. can’t or won’t pick up the food. Yet people are hungry. Supermarkets don’t have the resources to pack and deliver this, if anyone even wants it. Yet people are hungry. It makes me sadder and sadder the more I see it.

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Since 2016, France has had a law that prevents foor stores from throwing food away that can be donated to charity. By law they must have systems in place to facilitate this.

 

[Jainarayan]

An employee taking waste from a restaurant or supermarket is considered theft in most businesses, regardless of what one intends to do with it.

It's also dangerous to take "all the food they would normally throw out" and distribute it for consumption. Prepared food has hold times for the purpose of serving before bacterial reaches levels that can cause food borne illness. Distributing expired food to people could lead to food poisoning.

Yes, it’s usually considered theft. One job I had was in the kitchen of a hospital. I was one of the pot washers. When we removed food at the end of the serving times in the employee cafeteria we were allowed to take as much as we could carry, either to stuff ourselves or take home. Generally we filled up food industry sized cans with beef stew, boneless chicken, vegetables … for our dogs.

Yes, expiration dates for food safety. It’s entirely possible a distribution program was never started because by the time the food is picked up and distributed it will have gone bad.

That aside, consumers, ours anyway, are fickle. For a while everything Italian was the rage, then the honeymoon was over. Recently it became everything Asian. Now the honeymoon is waning and I’m up to my armpits in Sesame Chicken and Pepper Steak with Black Pepper Sauce that’s not selling.

The corporate commissary hasn’t gotten the idea yet that certain things are not selling even at 50% reduction, and are being trashed.

 

[Jainarayan]

Since 2016, France has had a law that prevents foor stores from throwing food away that can be donated to charity. By law they must have systems in place to facilitate this.

I read something about that, which was what prompted my diatribe on the subject.

 

[Wildswanderer]

Food is never wasted. Some part of the food chain needs it and will benefit from it. What I see in those photos that bothers me is the plastic waste.

I don't care about maggots. I want to see people eating that food.

 

[Revoltingest]

Americans, American “culture” and society. We have too much waste, yet we complain. We’re persnickety and fussy about things that are really all not that much of a problem. People want perfection. And they don’t want to pay for it. I had a customer today who told me to stop cutting her Land O Lakes cheese because the edges were ragged. Uh … when you want cheese cut paper thin it’s kind of hard to get perfect slices.

The pics below reflect part of my daily job. I do markdowns on prepared foods that haven’t sold from the regular display cases. For example, I reduced today’s expiration date prices to 30% off. Expired does not mean it went bad or is in imminent danger of going bad. We just set a limit on how long we keep items. Tomorrow I will take the 30% I did today and reduce them to 50%. Each night we take the 50% and remove them.

This is the result of that removal from the markdowns cases. What is in the brown trash receptacle was in the grocery cart. That is, it was full. All of that perfectly good food is going into the garbage.

Charities, shelters, food banks, etc. can’t or won’t pick up the food. Yet people are hungry. Supermarkets don’t have the resources to pack and deliver this, if anyone even wants it. Yet people are hungry. It makes me sadder and sadder the more I see it.

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In my area, we have Food Gatherers.
They collect such food, & provide it to the needy.