France to force big supermarkets to give unsold food to charities

[kpete]

Source: The Guardian

France to force big supermarkets to give unsold food to charities
Legislation barring stores from spoiling and throwing away food is aimed at tackling epidemic of waste alongside food poverty



French supermarkets will be banned from throwing away or destroying unsold food and must instead donate it to charities or for animal feed, under a law set to crack down on food waste.

The French national assembly voted unanimously to pass the legislation as France battles an epidemic of wasted food that has highlighted the divide between giant food firms and people who are struggling to eat.

As MPs united in a rare cross-party consensus, the centre-right deputy Yves Jégo told parliament: “There’s an absolute urgency – charities are desperate for food. The most moving part of this law is that it opens us up to others who are suffering.”

Supermarkets will be barred from deliberately spoiling unsold food so it cannot be eaten. Those with a footprint of 4,305 sq ft (400 sq m) or more will have to sign contracts with charities by July next year or face penalties including fines of up to €75,000 (£53,000) or two years in jail.

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/france-to-force-big-supermarkets-to-give-away-unsold-food-to-charity

[samsingh]

1. kick

[PatSeg]

2. Cool

[7962]

3. Good for them! We'd need a law here before stores would do it though.

Stores would have to be free from being sued by someone claiming they got sick from a bad loaf of bread.
Thats the main reason they dont give it away in the first place

[JDPriestly]

12. Yes. Meat could be a problem. But packaged goods and a lot of fruits and vegetables

are actually edible if properly chopped, trimmed of bad parts and served quickly.

[beveeheart]

13. The food bank where I work

receives frozen meat, produce, dairy products, bakery items from Kroger, Safeway and Whole Foods stores that are close to the sell by dates and they are not required to do so. We welcome all their contributions and what we can't use goes to a pig farm.

[7962]

15. Thats wonderful! I bet there is a LOT of it too.

[Kablooie]

4. In the US the former president of Trader Joe's has a plan too.

Doug Rauch, the former president of Trader Joe's, is determined to repurpose the perfectly edible produce slightly past its sell-by date that ends up in the trash. (That happens in part because people misinterpret the labels, according to a report out this week from Harvard and the Natural Resources Defense Council.) To tackle the problem, Rauch is opening a new market early next year in Dorchester, Mass., that will prepare and repackage the food at deeply discounted prices.

They will provide pre-cooked meals and the stores will be located in low income areas as a more healthy alternative to fast food franchises.

http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/09/21/222082247/trader-joes-ex-president-to-turn-expired-food-into-cheap-meals

[shockedcanadian]

5. Whats wrong with this idea?

Absolute genius. People who can't afford food miss meals while good food goes to waste. I didn't even need to read the article, the outline says enough. Where is the humanity in spoiling food while some starve in your own country?

[msongs]

6. modern supermarkets are the cause of this, by changing the way food is sold...

when I was in France eons ago giant supermarkets were extremely rare and most food was sold in mom n pop shops. Freshest food got premium display and price, then as quality deteriorated the food was marked down progressively until it was tossed when rotten. customers dictated what they bought. now people are offered only the glitziest of "fresh" foods and lower quality is not available.

a local mega store used to have racks of fading veggies in big bags cheap but had to stop doing that because of health concerns.

Also, food that is tossed by design can be written off as a loss for business purposes. much easier for a business to deal with.

and finally, there is just too much food in the pipeline that has to be dispensed with quickly as the premium quality is only very limited timewise

[cstanleytech]

9. They used to mark down alot of produce in my brothers department at his old store

where he was an assistant department manager (Bi-Lo here in Georgia before they fired him and alot of other long term full timers to hire cheaper part timers last year after 18 years with them) but about 5 or 6 years ago the store stopped the practice and started forcing them to toss it all.

[independentpiney]

16. The produce store I shop at still has a discount section.

They have a section where they sell 1-2 lb bags of bruised or slightly over-ripe fruits and veggies for $1.00/bag. All perfectly fine if they're used in a day or 2. They also put a few crates of things they won't be able to sell the next day out behind the store at the end of the day for the homeless and indigent.

[edgineered]

7. kick

[valerief]

8. Vive la France! nt

[mopinko]

10. geeeez. at least feed it to animals.

i am sure my chickens could eat for a week on what most stores toss in a day.
lots of chicken keepers i know have arrangements w small stores for spoils. and some just dumpster dive.
insane not to do this at the very, very least.

the greater chicago food depository is a shining example of gleaning this sort of thing for the hungry. goes for food manufacturers, too.

[JDPriestly]

11. Great. I think a lot of US supermarkets will do this voluntarily if charities

work with them on it. The charities need to ask and to give credit to the companies that help out. It's good publicity for the supermarkets and helps really needy people.

K&R for this report.

[leftyladyfrommo]

14. HyVee here in kansas city gives a ton of food

To charity. Someonecomes and picks it up every morning.