Saving Food from Going to Waste

Call places and ask what they do with their food.

For example, Panera and Whole Foods bakeries have to pitch ALL bread and bakery items every night. You'll need to pick it up at closing for delivery that night or the next day, depending on when the shelter(s) can receive it.

Be advised, many grocery stores have policies specifically prohibiting them from donating food and or produce to ANYONE.

A food bank is not going to take prepared foods--only packaged stuff.
Shelters generally will take prepared food.

Our grocery store throws enough edible food away every two weeks to feed my family for a year. The food laws are so strict and lawyers so agressive and dishonest and people so dishonest that stores fill our lansdfills with edible food.

I hope you can pull it off.

Good luck to you and yours.

City Harvest runs something like this in NYC. I think they collect from restaurants, shops, and even from corporate luncheons and formal affairs.

our local food pantry gets leftover bread from panera, so i know it can be done and can be used. from what i understand panera takes and bags it and tosses it in the freezer then someone delivers it to the food pantry weekly. While it isn't fresh enough for panera to use, it isn't stale and is very usable. Once it gets to the food bank they have someone (wearing gloves) wrap it in plastic wrap so people can take what they want and can use.

It is against the health codes to distribute food that is unfit to be sold in the store for human consumption. They used to do that here, the produce guy would call the group homes and the local food bank when he was going to throw stuff out. Someone turned them in and Walmart almost got closed for doing this. The got fined for it and promised to not do it anymore. They do allow them to call farmers to come in and take the rubbish for pig food though.

Think about it, the food is not good enough to be sold, it is rubbish, not food anymore.

However, food that is left over from a restaurant has been processed in a health department approved facility. They have sterile utensils and food handling practices. This food might be usable since they usually can't keep leftovers for the next day.

I used to work at a nursing home that always had leftover food and they would not let you take anything, despite it being thrown out. I did not know this policy and I took some leftover casserole. They sat me down and told me that if I did this again I would be written up for stealing... It was going to be thrown away by me!!!!

But... I also worked at a local cafeteria, which also had a lot of left over food and we donated the leftovers to the local rescue mission. I loved the thought that all that food was not going to waste. :-)

Love your big ideas and desire to help make our world a better place. No advice on how to get the ball rolling, but GOOD LUCK!!!!

Are you sure that your community doesn't already have such a service? I can't imagine that they don't. Food "closets" and such are the "in" thing.