ASHEVILLE - A reader wonders what happens to grocery stores’ food once it’s reached its expiration date. Got a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Interim Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.
Question: If a supermarket product is not purchased by the expiration date what do the supermarkets do with those products? Does it make a difference if that product is perishable such as fish? Is there any data on how much product might end up in the landfill in terms of volume?
Answer: I’ve cashed in on some pretty good deals in the clearance sections of grocery stores, as well as in the seafood, meat and bakery departments, when the prices are slashed on products inching their way to or past their “best by,” “use by” and “sell by” dates. These items are still considered good and edible, as explained by our Southern Kitchen editor and former ACT food writer at usatoday.com.
Supermarket companies have their own way of handling these products, and those that are no longer safe for consumption and use.
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Mother Earth Food, an Asheville-founded and family-owned grocery home delivery service, strives to prevent food waste by not ordering too much from suppliers so there’s a reduced chance of unpurchased food by consumers left to go bad.
“At Mother Earth Food, we utilize consumer demand trends and farmer supply data to place orders and help our farm partners crop plan,” Andrea DuVall, co-founder of Mother Earth Food, said in an email. “Because we are attuned to these trends and data, we manage to keep our food waste quite low, less than 1%.”
She estimated 0.3% of the company’s total food inventory is donated, and 0.09% is composted.
“As it is not 0%, we partner with community organizations in our area, such as Bountiful Cities and Appalachian Wildlife Rescue to donate leftover food to those in need,” she said. “As we primarily deal with perishable foods, a small % is not salable after donation, and is composted.”
MANNA FoodBank, a WNC-based organization, works with grocery store companies including Ingles, Food Lion, Publix, Walmart, Sam’s, Aldi’s, Trader Joe’s, Harris-Teeter, Fresh Market, Earth Fare and Whole Foods Market. Many items are close or just past sell-by dates but still good to eat. The food bank gets the food to food pantries "very quickly," which then distributes it to neighbors.
"All of our partner networks must be trained in food safety guidelines to become a grocer pick-up partner," Director of Food Sourcing Lisa Reynolds said in an email.
Food waste, which she said is the last option, is maintained at about 3%-5% of MANNA FoodBank's total donations.
"Items that are deemed to be unfit to be consumed are composted, food cycled and recycled where possible, given to local farmers for animal food or composting and finally discarded if there are no other options available," Reynolds said.
Whole Foods Market partners with the national organization Food Donation Connection to donate perishable and nonperishable food to local food banks and food rescue agencies across the U.S.
In 2022, more than 30 million meals were donated to nearly 1,000 food rescue and redistribution programs, a Whole Foods Market spokesperson reported. Since 2013, an estimated 184 million meals have been donated.
“We have active organic diversion programs at nearly 450 locations and collectively diverted more than 107,000 tons of food waste from landfill by the end of 2022,” the spokesperson said in an email. “Another 2,529 tons of food waste were sent to anaerobic digestion facilities through an organic waste recycling system called Grind2Energy.”
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Walmart has set a sustainability initiative aimed to achieve zero waste in the areas of food and plastic by 2025 in the company’s four global markets, the U.S., Canada, Japan and the U.K., according to the company’s corporate website.
Regarding food, steps to reduce food waste have included increasing the sell-through of food products, improving inventory flow, and offering discounts on food close to its expiration date.
Unpurchased food is donated to food banks and other charities ― in FY 2022, Walmart reported having donated more than 696 million pounds of food in the U.S.
Inedible food was converted to animal feed, compost or energy.
“Our stores in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom and the United States, for example, send a portion of their food waste to anaerobic digestion plants, which break down the food into gases that can be used as fuel and fertilizers,” the website states.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched a challenge to encourage businesses to change their wasteful ways.
The U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions was designed to “recognize businesses that have made a public commitment to reduce food loss and waste in their operations in the United States by 50 percent by the year 2030.”
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From its inception in 2016 through May 2022, more than 45 food businesses that included grocery stores, joined the charge, including Albertsons, Aldi, Food Lion, Kroger and Walmart.
“Food Lion is committed to donating 1 billion more meals by 2025 to its neighbors in need since achieving the 500 million meal goal in 2019. More than 152 million meals were donated in 2021 through Food Lion Feeds and more than 902 million have been donated since 2014,” the USDA states in its milestones report, published in September 2022.
Read more about the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions website, usda.gov/foodlossandwaste/champions.
Food waste is an issue beyond supermarket shelves.
According to Feeding America, a charity that works to end hunger, 34 million people in the U.S. face hunger, yet 119 billion pounds of food is wasted ― nearly 40% of all food in the U.S. is wasted.
"That equates to130 billion mealsand more than$408 billion in food thrown away each year," according to Feeding America.
Tiana Kennell is the food and dining reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at tkennell@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter/Instagram @PrincessOfPage. Please support this type of journalism with asubscription to the Citizen Times.
As an enthusiast with a deep understanding of food waste management, I can shed light on the intricate processes that grocery stores employ to handle products approaching or surpassing their expiration dates. The article explores the fate of unsold items, particularly perishable goods like fish, and delves into the data surrounding the volume of products that may end up in landfills. Let's break down the key concepts discussed in the text:
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Clearance Sections and Markdowns:
- Grocery stores often have clearance sections where products with approaching expiration dates are sold at discounted prices.
- The article mentions finding good deals in clearance sections, especially in departments like seafood, meat, and bakery when prices are slashed.
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Mother Earth Food's Approach:
- Mother Earth Food, a grocery home delivery service, aims to minimize food waste by aligning orders with consumer demand trends and farmer supply data.
- The company boasts a low food waste percentage, with less than 1% of its total food inventory going unused. A portion is donated, and a small percentage is composted.
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MANNA FoodBank:
- MANNA FoodBank collaborates with various grocery store companies to distribute food close to or just past its sell-by date to food pantries.
- The organization emphasizes training partner networks in food safety guidelines and maintains food waste at about 3%-5% of total donations.
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Whole Foods Market's Donation Programs:
- Whole Foods Market partners with Food Donation Connection to donate both perishable and nonperishable food to local food banks and rescue agencies across the U.S.
- The company actively diverts food waste from landfills, with over 30 million meals donated in 2022 and a cumulative total of 184 million meals since 2013.
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Walmart's Sustainability Initiative:
- Walmart has a sustainability initiative with the goal of achieving zero waste in the areas of food and plastic by 2025.
- Steps include increasing sell-through of food products, improving inventory flow, offering discounts on items close to expiration, and donating unsold food to charities. In FY 2022, Walmart donated over 696 million pounds of food in the U.S.
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U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions:
- The U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions program, encouraging businesses to commit to reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030.
- Over 45 food businesses, including grocery stores like Albertsons, Aldi, Food Lion, Kroger, and Walmart, have joined the initiative.
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Feeding America's Statistics:
- Feeding America reports that while 34 million people in the U.S. face hunger, approximately 119 billion pounds of food is wasted annually, equating to nearly 40% of all food in the country.
- The wastage translates to 130 billion meals and over $408 billion in discarded food each year.
In conclusion, the article provides a comprehensive overview of how grocery stores and organizations are actively working to minimize food waste through various strategies, including donations, composting, and diversion programs.
