Slightly stale bread is a surprisingly versatile kitchen ingredient. However, one Publix location had multiple bags of end-of-day baked goods ready for the dumpster. While Publix stated in 2020 that it was "intolerant of waste," an employee at this store begged to differ.
What's happening?
In Reddit's r/publix, the employee shared a photo of the offending goods and called out the grocery retailer for not living up to its stated sustainability ethos.
"What was that line about being intolerant of waste again?" they asked.
Other employees shared their experiences with Publix.
"Practically all the stores I've worked at put the days leftover deli subs on the bakery donations cart at the end of the night," one person replied.
However, another said, "For some reason the store I work at doesn't donate the bread anymore. We have to throw it away at night."
Why is this important?
According to Feeding America, nearly 40% of food in the country goes to waste each year while millions struggle with food insecurity.
All the while, growing, processing, transporting, and preparing food requires significant land, water resources, and energy — and these processes often rely on toxic chemical pesticides, dirty fuels, and other environmentally degrading practices (like land overuse).
When food goes to waste, so does everything that went into producing it.
Meanwhile, food releases potent planet-warming gases, like methane, as it decomposes — uneaten — in landfills, contributing to changes in climate that are disrupting our food systems and causing prices to inch ever higher at the grocery store.
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Set strict regulations 🚫 Is Publix doing anything about food waste?
Back in 2007, Publix began trialing a perishable recovery program to combat hunger and ensure items from its dairy, deli, meat, and produce departments don't go to waste if they are still fit for consumption. (If food spoils or surpasses certain temperatures, it can be unsafe to eat, which is why many retailers will jump into action to donate goods in the event of power outages.)
According to the company, it donated more than 600 million meals to food banks in the first 11 years after the program's official launch in 2011.
Last year, it also diverted 59-plus million pounds of food waste by partnering with farmers and bakery production to transform scraps into animal feed.
However, as one Redditor pointed out, continued refinement of food recovery processes may help Publix take its food recovery game to the next level at all of its stores.
"The system isn't perfect," they wrote. "The production plan most likely looks at previous sales to determine how much should be mixed for the next day. It can be close but you can't force people to buy the bread on any given day. Sometimes this happens."
How can I save money by limiting food waste?
Uneaten food can hit consumers where it hurts the most: their wallets. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American family loses $1,500 to wasted food annually.
Getting creative with leftovers, storing food in the freezer, and composting can help you keep food in circulation for longer or recoup value for scraps that are no longer edible.
Too Good to Go and Misfits Market are other resources that empower retailers to limit food waste while enabling shoppers to score incredible deals on perfectly good yet unsold items.
Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more and waste less, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
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