Furious shopper calls out shocking food waste at major big-box store: 'It makes me so angry'

While some retailers have taken steps to tackle food waste, restaurants and major corporations throw away billions of pounds of food each year. It's not such a cut-and-dried issue, though, as stores often toss food to avoid liability if someone gets sick from eating expired or contaminated products.

Still, it's disheartening to see a box full of food headed for the dumpster, as one Reddit user did at Target.

What's happening?

In r/Anticonsumption, the dismayed onlooker shared a photo of a giant cardboard box filled with various cured meats, cheeses, sushi, refrigerated protein bars, and Good & Gather lunch kits ready to be thrown out.

"The waste at Target this morning. Going right into the dumpster. Imagine all the people this box would feed," they captioned the photo.

It's unclear why the food was being tossed. Maybe there was a power outage or problem with the coolers, or perhaps the products were past their best-by dates. Whatever the reason, it's an upsetting scene, and many commenters were as outraged about it as the original poster.

"I don't like any kind of waste but there's something that feels doubly terrible about wasting meat - an animal suffered and died for absolutely nothing," one user said. "It makes me so angry … even if they aren't suitable for human consumption for legal reasons, can't some of that food at least be used in some way to feed animals?"

Another commenter suggested that stores could donate unsold food to shelters. Someone else replied, "A lot of grocery stores have exactly this, but most of them make your organization jump through paperwork hoops before you can become part of their donation program because they do it for the tax write-offs, not the general good."

A corporate tax accountant offered a different perspective, explaining: "It's not the company requiring the organization to jump through paperwork hoops. It's the government requiring every little thing to be documented just in case they want to audit you."

Why does food waste matter?

While there are various reasons for food waste, some of which relate to food safety laws designed to protect public health, that doesn't change the fact that discarded food harms consumers, corporations, and the planet.

Should grocery stores donate food that's past its sell-by date? Yes — as long as it's not bad 🤢 Yes — but only certain foods 🥫 Only if it doesn't cost the store 💸 No — it could lead to problems 👎 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

When retailers have to throw away food that hasn't expired or been sold, they must raise prices to cover the losses, and consumers pay more for the products. This is also a major waste of resources, such as land, water, energy, and labor, that went into growing and transporting the food.

Feeding America estimates that around 92 billion pounds of food go to waste each year in the U.S., equal to about $473 billion worth of food. Food waste accounts for 8% of all global heat-trapping pollution and makes up the majority of trash in landfills. When it breaks down, it releases a potent gas called methane, a massive contributor to the changing climate. 

Is Target doing anything about this?

Target has a robust plan to reduce or eliminate food waste across its supply chain. It already achieved the significant goal of diverting 85% of its operational waste from landfills in 2023. By 2030, it aims to make that 100%.

Regarding food waste specifically, Target hit its goal to cut food loss in half through recycling and composting programs, better inventory management, and food donations. In 2023, it donated nearly 155 million pounds of food to charities.

While these food donations likely didn't include perishable items impacted by power outages due to food safety concerns, grocers such as Trader Joe's and Kroger have shown that it's possible to salvage food and give it to people in need.

In both cases, the food had to be deemed safe for human consumption, and only still-cold or frozen foods were given to customers or donated to food banks. 

What else is being done about food waste?

Other retailers have also made progress in reducing food waste, including Walmart, which has teamed up with organic recycling company Denali to turn millions of pounds of food into valuable products. Albertsons has also started donating unwanted foods to nonprofits and pantries or using them for compost.

Supporting companies that participate in these planet-friendly initiatives and planning before weekly grocery runs can benefit our wallets and the environment.

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