Walmart employee sparks outrage after sharing shocking story about store policy: 'I feel the same way'

In an ideal system, food waste wouldn't exist because companies would redistribute any unsold or uneaten foods (as long as they're not visibly rotten or moldy) to employees or the public.

While some companies have made progress in reducing food waste, many corporations have a long way to go in adopting sustainable practices, as one new Walmart employee discovered. 

What happened?

In r/Anticonsumption, the employee posted that they felt "insane" about being asked to throw away perfectly edible fruits and vegetables without having the option to take the foods home instead. The worker said they'd just started working in the fresh department at Walmart about a week before the frustrating incident happened. 

Despite telling their team leader it felt wrong to throw so much fresh produce in the dumpster and practically begging to be allowed to save it, the TL explained it was against store policy to take home unsold foods. 

"She tried to say she understood my opinion on just taking it but then said, 'It's still considered stealing because Walmart isn't making a profit,'" the original poster said. "I actually feel crazy; how is it I am the only one who sees what's wrong with that statement? She had to throw the rest of it away for me, while I just watched."

One commenter sympathized with the OP, writing: "You're not crazy. There's a dumpster diving subreddit and they all feel the same way. I feel the same way. I think about how much food goes to waste every day. There's so much of it that we take it for granted and we're wasteful."

"Welcome to capitalism. Where we grow food just to pay hungry underpaid workers to throw it away against their will," another said.

Why is food waste concerning?

Many retailers, including Walmart, have launched composting programs to repurpose food waste and curb the negative environmental impacts of food decomposing in landfills. The fact the OP was asked to throw away the compost that contained food scraps instead of recycling it is concerning, as it seems to go against Walmart's goals of reducing waste in general. 

When corporations throw away perfectly good food instead of donating it to food banks or composting it, it releases a potent planet-warming gas called methane when the food breaks down in landfills. These wasteful practices may also lead to higher food prices, making it harder for families to make ends meet and afford healthy options such as fruits and vegetables. 

Is Walmart doing anything about this?

Walmart is addressing food waste by optimizing its supply chain and donating foods deemed safe for consumption to nonprofits through partnerships like Feeding America. It also marks down foods close to expiring and repurposes some unsold items — for example, turning French bread into croutons. With these strategies, it aims to cut its operational food loss and waste in half by 2030. 

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With its partnership with Denali, a company specializing in organic waste recycling, Walmart has recaptured 60% more food waste for compost and animal feed and reduced compactor trash by an estimated 12%. 

The situation at the OP's store could've just been a one-off fluke, as it appears Walmart is committed to tackling food waste on a companywide scale. 

What else are companies doing to curb food waste?

Some grocery stores, including Kroger and Trader Joe's, have donated or given away thousands of pounds of food when their freezers malfunctioned during power outages. HelloFresh has also teamed up with Denali to turn discarded food into nutrient-rich compost and animal feed. 

If you want to help with these endeavors, you can easily compost food scraps at home using a tiny countertop "kitchen composter" that will manage your compost with the push of a button.

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