Amazing waste

[Bold Believer]

I am recycler of aluminum, which many times I gather from dumpsters and trash bins and roadsides. I have NEVER seen so much waste in my life as I have here in America. I am seemingly always finding things in the trash which are still good. In just the last few days, I have managed to glean, perfectly good soda, perfectly good beer, perfectly good yogurt, all with 'expiration dates' or 'sell by' dates a week, even months (on the soda and beer) in one case. Last month, I got four loaves of perfectly good bread, in September, I got a perfectly good bag of delicious onion rolls a couple days over the sell date, perfectly sealed.

Yesterday, it was about 15-20 bottles of soda, all still sealed. How in the world can this waste be justified by companies, let alone the average Joe? There is one local family just down the street from me who throws away every week good cereal, cereal bars, instant cream of wheat, and other good items. With times as tough as they are, it surprises me that people and companies are willing to commit this sort of thing.

[Guest LadyC]

ok, was it a company or an individual throwing away the cases of beer and soda? that just seems really weird to me! i am pretty surprised that companies aren't donating this stuff to food banks. i wasn't aware that you could find groceries in dumpsters anymore.

[Believer1997]

I saw a story on the news recently about a woman in Michigan who started a 'Second Harvest" project there in central Michigan. They have 5 refrigerator trucks that pickup each day from area grocery stores and distribution centers - they pick up perfectly good produce and perishable foods that are going to be thrown out. They have several distribution food banks and they manage to save and redistribute 50 million tons of food annually - Just there.... I was just so impressed with this operation - that is an economically devastated area with many people out of work - many volunteer in the food banks and distribute this food - everything from milk, cheese to bananas, strawberries, peppers - everything!! Meat, eggs... ALL this food would have been thrown in a dumpster and it is still good.

We have a local grocery chain that is closed on Sunday - we go at 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. Saturday night and get produce on the 1/2 off rack and bread, etc. Nothing wrong with it at all - but they are closed on Sunday ..... I try not to waste anything - I make a LOT of soup and freeze it ....

[Bold Believer]

ok, was it a company or an individual throwing away the cases of beer and soda? that just seems really weird to me! i am pretty surprised that companies aren't donating this stuff to food banks. i wasn't aware that you could find groceries in dumpsters anymore.

Both. The beer and soda were found in the dumpster of a local convenience store, which I have permission to get aluminum cans out of. The onion rolls were a nice find in a pile of stuff set out as trash from a building changing renters. The loaves of bread were from another convenience store. The law is that items items past the sell by/expiration date can't be sold. So, rather than do the right thing, the chain stores throw it away. God forbid (their god, mammon) that they should give away anything and lose money. (Apparently, it never occurs to them that when they throw away the stuff, they lose money anyway.) Yes, it is still possible on occasion to find good food in dumpsters.

One other good find in the convenience store dumpster: 12 Snickers promotional candy bars, all still sealed. I took them home, froze them and enjoyed them.

[Believer1997]

ok, was it a company or an individual throwing away the cases of beer and soda? that just seems really weird to me! i am pretty surprised that companies aren't donating this stuff to food banks. i wasn't aware that you could find groceries in dumpsters anymore.

Both. The beer and soda were found in the dumpster of a local convenience store, which I have permission to get aluminum cans out of. The onion rolls were a nice find in a pile of stuff set out as trash from a building changing renters. The loaves of bread were from another convenience store. The law is that items items past the sell by/expiration date can't be sold. So, rather than do the right thing, the chain stores throw it away. God forbid (their god, mammon) that they should give away anything and lose money. (Apparently, it never occurs to them that when they throw away the stuff, they lose money anyway.) Yes, it is still possible on occasion to find good food in dumpsters.

One other good find in the convenience store dumpster: 12 Snickers promotional candy bars, all still sealed. I took them home, froze them and enjoyed them.

Actually one thing to consider here is that no one wants the liability of giving away products that are past their expiration date - that is what some stores here tell our food bank. Many food banks sign waivers that they will not resell or repackage the products. We have a local restaurant that wraps in plastic all their "leftovers" at the end of the day and piles the food neatly in clean boxes on top of the closed dumpster - each night there are a number of people who go there and divide up the food. It's very kind of this restaurant owner to do this.

[Guest LadyC]

your second harvest program sounds kinda like our threesquare program here... threesquare was funded originally by one of the hilton's. all the grocery store chains deal directly with them when it comes to stuff that would be thrown out or returned to the company (in the event of damages, such as dented cans, crushed boxes, etc.) threesquare provides food for every food bank in the las vegas metroplex... and they have a hard time stocking enough food to provide! it is nice though... i loved it when i ran the foodbank from our church. it was such a wonderful feeling to be able to provide meat, milk, eggs, cheese, produce, breads, canned goods and sometimes even toothpaste and toiletries, and occasionally even pet products.

[Guest markbh]

I think the time may come when people waste less. My grandparents didn't waste much because they knew what it was like to do without.

[Bold Believer]

I think the time may come when people waste less. My grandparents didn't waste much because they knew what it was like to do without.

I think that is exactly what it will take...deprivation and hardship. I don't waste doodly. People call me a cheap auld Scotsman. My answer: I'm nae cheap, I'm frugal! LOL

The local food bank here gives out canned veggies, chocolate treats, pasta, taco shells and that's about it. There's never any meat. If I want meat, it comes out of my disability check. It's no wonder food stamp people seem so fat, all they can afford is pasta and cheap foods. It's a shame really. For all of the griping by conservatives, and I know they do, they don't do a whole lot for the poor. The liberals don't either. My disability isn't a whole lot, by the time I pay my bills, I survive the month on less than $100. I'd like to see some of the welfare bureaucrats survive as I do. (Not gonna happen). They give me a mere $16 in food stamps per month. The rest of my food comes out of the $100 (or less) I have left. That makes the waste that much harder to swallow.

[south]

i understand what you mean by all the waste, but in a different case with my brother. i spent a vacation in my brother's house in texas a few years back and i cleaned his kitchen. wow! i found so many canned goods and other food stuff past their expiry dates unused. some of them still in their grocery bags. i don't know if it was because he was single and living alone or what

he got a scolding from his little sister

now, everytime i visit him and we plan to go to the grocery store, i take a look at his cupboard and ref and tell him if we still have something he wants to buy. of course, if it's something i love to eat, i dont mind him buying a little more after all, he gets to spoil me only once a year

blessings...south

[2Joyful]

The United State is a place of abundant and no lack. I just pray that because of some people who can't find a place to give their over flow to those in need or those that service the needs of others, won't cause us to reap what we sow. It took gas prices to reach an all time high, for folks to began to carpool, let their windows down, not using their air condition so much, buy smaller gas saving cars, and rather than drive that car walk to the corner store, let's not talk about credit card debt. We are experiencing a lot today, mainly because of our need to have too much, then waste it.... I feel someday, our lack to get and use what we need, save and sometime wait for what we want, will cause us to suffer some day, just to teach us a lesson on being thankful....jotful