Target employee sparks outrage after sharing photo of disturbing scene outside store: 'This makes me want to cry'

Grocers have no choice but to toss spoiled food, but it's still pretty heartbreaking when thousands of dollars' worth of products go to waste. In the r/Target subreddit, one outraged employee shared the aftermath of a freezer outage at their store, and commenters were equally disgusted. 

What's happening?

The original poster shared a photo of a dumpster filled with frozen and refrigerated foods, such as coffee creamers, cold brew coffees, orange juice, frozen dinners, and other items. 

"When all the coolers and freezers break," the OP captioned the photo.

"This makes me want to cry," one commenter said. 

"This happens all the time at my store and they refuse to let us call the food bank before the product gets too warm. It's infuriating," another shared. 

"Ugh, just thinking about how often this must happen nationwide is sickening," someone else said. 

Others believed the situation could have been easily avoided by donating or composting the food, depending on how long it had been since the freezers malfunctioned. 

Why does food waste matter?

Food waste is a major problem worldwide, with one-third of all food produced (more than 1.1 billion tons) being thrown away each year, according to the World Resources Institute. Meanwhile, 1 in 10 people globally face hunger or food insecurity. 

The massive amount of food going to waste also takes a toll on the economy and the planet. WRI reported that the global financial cost of food waste is an estimated $1 trillion annually. It also drives 8% to 10% of planet-warming pollution from the wasted energy used to produce uneaten food and the gases such as methane released when food rots in landfills. 

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Food also requires water, fertilizer, land, and other inputs to grow, and these resources are also squandered when food ends up in the trash. 

As the Reddit user above said, the scale of the issue is mind-boggling, considering how often stores throw away food due to freezer outages or other reasons. 

Is Target doing anything about this?

While food waste seems to be a widespread problem at Target, according to other employees who shared workplace experiences in r/Target, the company has made progress in reducing food loss throughout its supply chain. 

According to its website, Target achieved its goal to reduce food waste by 50% by this year through recycling and composting programs, improved inventory management, and increasing food donations. It offers organics recycling and composting programs at nearly 1,700 facilities and donated close to 155 million pounds of food to charities such as Feeding America in 2023.  

Because of food safety laws, it's unlikely that these donations included perishable items impacted by freezer outages, though one employee said their store regularly donates any salvageable foods. 

Grocery chains such as Kroger and Trader Joe's have donated or given away thousands of pounds of food after power outages in the past, showing that as long as food is deemed safe to eat, stores can partner with food banks to ensure it gets to the people who need it most. 

What else are companies doing to stop food waste?

In 2024, Albertsons partnered with Uber to redistribute surplus food to nonprofits and food banks. The company also offers excess food to customers at discounted prices through the Too Good To Go app. 

Walmart is also taking significant steps to reduce food waste by partnering with organic materials recycler Denali. Walmart is implementing Denali's "de-packaging" technology, which separates food destined for landfills from its packaging at Walmart and Sam's Club locations.

We can reduce food waste at home by composting food scraps and getting creative with leftovers (which can save you money on groceries).

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