Does anyone know of studies that show how much food supermarkets throw out every day/month/year?

[Zalatix]

I'm interested in figuring out how much food gets thrown out due to people not buying it.

It would present a much clearer picture from a whole new perspective of how wasteful America's food and grocery industry really is.

[leftstreet]

1. You mean how wasteful the stores are, not 'America'

Right?

[Zalatix]

3. Yes, thank you!

[Luminous Animal]

2. 30 million pounds a day.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703440004575548391291973152.html

[Zalatix]

4. Holy crap! WTF, I never imagined it was that much.

What I know already is why they waste food like that... if they didn't, food prices would be MUCH cheaper.

[HughBeaumont]

5. And we ain't allowed to touch ANY of it.

Most of the stuff they toss is very edible. That's the saddest shit of all.

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Not true everywhere.

A local charity collects food donated by supermarkets, considered 'surplus' because it's not selling fast enough, or too close to its sell-by date. Google 'second harvest' and your location to find one in your area.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. A heartbreaking amount. I once asked after the discarded food for the poor

and was told if anyone got sick, the store would be liable.

[RevStPatrick]

7. 40 percent of our food gets thrown out.

This was talked about earlier this year...

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/22/40-of-u-s-food-wasted-report-says/

[MysticLynx]

8. Google the gov food secruity site

They usually post a PDF file with all the info each year. Been a while since I checked the stats but the last time I check it was like 40% of our food is thrown away. While we have 1 in every three children malnourished due to food insecurity. The logic to this just escapes me, 40% just thrown away while children starve - for what reason to 'protect' our monetary systems? * shakes head.

[mrmpa]

10. I don't have any stats but I do have a story that made me angry......

I have a friend whose son is a Loss Prevention Executive for a grocery store (southern region store moving northward). One of his stores threw out about 100 dozen ears of corn. A young man, a stocker, after work went out to the dumpster where the corn was. The stocker took 2 dozen corn out of the dumpster and put it in his car.

The young man was fired for theft. I asked the exec, why if the corn was still edible, it wasn't it donated to the food pantry. The answer was "we don't do that." I then asked, why the young man, couldn't be written up, suspended, and not fired. Answer was, "we don't do that.

[MadrasT]

11. I know someone fired from Target for a similar offense. n/t

[lame54]

12. At Trader Joe's...

We donate most of our "spoils' every day - every store

[Aerows]

13. Not all of them throw it away...

I was in the grocery store on Sunday, you know, September 30th and went to get my normal gallon of milk, and they were selling a gallon with an expiration date of, wait for it - Oct. 01.

Thankfully I caught that before I bought it. I had to get 2% instead of the 1% I usually get. Want to guess which store I was in?