A Pizza Hut employee took to Reddit with revealing, behind-the-scenes photos that highlighted the enormous amount of food waste that the restaurant allegedly produces.
"Every few days, we throw out tons of uncooked pizzas and stuff, and it makes me sick," the Redditor wrote, along with photos showing shelves stacked with leftover pizzas, breadsticks, and pasta.
Some attributed the problem to mismanaged inventory, while others claimed this was a common practice in the industry.
As one commenter explained, "Casually tossing this stuff is probably the most profitable option."
"The biggest financial mistake you can make is not having something when someone wants to buy it," another replied.
"Wasting food causes me [physical] pain, I don't know if I could work at a restaurant," said a third.
When restaurants lose money from food waste, they often pass those costs on to the consumer, making every pizza order a little more expensive. Beyond its effect on our wallets, food waste uses up valuable resources while producing polluting gases that warm the planet. As one commenter put it, the worst part is that "the problem is completely avoidable."
A few Redditors reported instances of restaurants sending unsold prepared food home with employees, while others said stores often donate the excess to those in need.
According to Feeding America, nearly 34 million people in the U.S. face hunger, despite the fact that nearly 119 billion pounds of food is wasted each year.
The myth that restaurants or grocery stores can be sued for donating food has created a lot of cognitive dissonance around the fact that donation is, in fact, a simple and viable solution. While surveys of food safety regulations have shown that there are some regulations in place, the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act offers certain liability protections for food distributors such as restaurants and grocers that provide good faith donations.
Thankfully, there are also companies like Too Good To Go that work to reduce food waste from restaurants and grocery stores. The app works with businesses to sell discounted leftover food that would otherwise be thrown out to those looking for a cheap meal.
Think tanks, universities, and like-minded organizations are also searching for solutions to this complex problem.
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