Food waste is always upsetting if you work in the restaurant industry, but it's even worse when your manager used to let you take home leftover food and now enforces a new policy where that's no longer possible.
When that happened to a Starbucks employee, they made sure to share it with the "r/starbucks" subreddit, and commenters were understandably upset.
What happened?
The employee shared a photo of a trash can full of bread, bagels, and pastries that had been thrown out due to a new policy at least at their location, which they'd just learned about that night.
"The reason given was because it is seen as 'stealing', even though we are not allowed to sell it if it is out of the packaging," they wrote.
The OP added, "No one else is going to eat it. It is complete waste now. It hurts to see this."
"Love how Starbucks talks about not wasting food yet does this everyday at every store," one person said.
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"Why isn't Starbucks signing up for toogoodtogo so this s*** doesn't happen?!" another shared.
"It's also ridiculous that employees can't take any home. Most lower level service employees don't get paid that much and this would be a blessing if times are rough. Good gravy."
Another commenter provided the perspective that the issue lies more within food safety and health codes and isn't that Starbucks wants to waste food — though the original poster had said the reason they were given was it was perceived as "stealing," and others pointed out that Starbucks doesn't have to display its items in open-air cases while selling others that are not on display.
"It is messed up, but it is actually a health code thing," that user said. "There are strict rules that dictate what to do with unbought food. It does depend on the type of food, how it's packaged, stored, etc. But it is totally possible that, instead of navigating the rules, whoever was in charge didn't want to bother, so they just threw it all out. Any chance of foodborne illness will put the company on the hook for a huge lawsuit, so it's easy to trash it.
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"I get it, it looks bad. But it is hardly Starbucks' fault."
Said a reply: "Well sure, but it's not like Starbucks' hands are tied and the only solution is to keep wasting food. They could do a number of things to eliminate the waste while also respecting food safety concerns." Another suggested to "give us fake food to put out."
Why is food waste concerning?
According to Recycle Track Systems, retail food waste is a major issue, with 16 billion pounds of food going to waste each year. When stores discard food, it increases costs for consumers and can also be perceived as greenwashing if these businesses advertise themselves as environmentally friendly.
When food goes to waste, most of the time it ends up in landfills, where it releases potent, planet-warming gases. It's also a huge waste of valuable resources such as energy, water, and labor used in food production.
Is Starbucks doing anything about this?
Starbucks partnered with Feeding America and other hunger relief organizations to donate leftover food at the end of each day. It's not clear from the website if unwrapped pastries in food cases are eligible to be donated, however. Through these programs, it has diverted millions of pounds of food from landfills and provided over 63 million meals.
It also participates in the U.S. Food Waste Pact, aiming to reduce food waste in its operations by 50% by 2030. It is unclear if the policy is just from that store's manager or if the policy the worker spoke to is broader. The Cool Down has reached out to Starbucks for further clarity.
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Giving me money back 💰 What's being done about food waste more broadly?
While food waste is sometimes a complex issue since it has to be deemed safe for consumption before being approved for donations, stores such as Kroger and Trader Joe's have shown it's possible when their freezers malfunctioned during a power outage. Both stores gave away thousands of dollars' worth of food to customers or food banks, resulting in plenty of meals for those in need. Even when food can't be donated, it can be recycled into biofuel, animal feed, or compost.
At home, you can help reduce food waste by composting leftovers, which also gives you free fertilizer for your garden — a win-win.
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