Food waste: How much food do supermarkets throw away? (CBC Marketplace)

[@NymphetaminexXxGrrrl]

I remember working at a grocery store years ago where i was asked to throw out some perfectly good food, and i was actually really hungry and hadn't got my check yet, so i put the food in my bag to take home and was confronted about it and accused of theft...how can it be theft when they considered it garbage and wanted it thrown out? They said i could either pay for the food and eat it, or throw it in the garbage, but that i couldn't eat the garbage for free. I could never understand why, it's absolutely cruel to throw out good food in front of a hungry person and not allow them to make use of it.

[@itsmesia2469]

Wooowww......

[@itsmesia2469]

That was really cruel and don´t make any sense at all.....

[@NymphetaminexXxGrrrl]

I really don't understand it either.. it's bad enough to go hungry, but to be accused of theft and denied food that would be wasted? Just another way to kick someone while they are down.

[@lockergr]

Did you explain to them that you were actually hungry? People are heartless. I would have gone back behind the store and dumpster dived.

[@Oceiota]

In E.U. countries, they usually reduce the price to food that is about to expire and then when it's the day it does expire they have to try to donate it if it hasn't gone bad (and most foods tend to last more than what the expiration date would have you believe). So the employees are allowed to take expired food home and in big supermarkets you can usually find poor people waiting outside for the food that would be otherwise thrown away. There are poor and homeless even in relatively rich countries and it is ridiculous that companies would rather let people starve than give them their expired food that's actually still edible. Most of that expired food is still safe for human consumption! If someone has no money to eat, they seriously won't mind if their free food is past its expiration date.

[@KMBrown-ro7dh]

The fact that they said that it is too many extra steps to get it to food pantries is just plain lazy!!!! I know plenty of pantries and shelters that have vehicles and volunteers that are willing to come and pick it up. Let’s stop with the excuses and do better!

[@agirlinjeans77]

Heck i will volunteer to deliver food

[@shereygould9307]

Absolutely. I am one of them. And maybe/hopefully things have changed with Walmart in general in the three years since this aired, but I can say from personal experience that in my very small town in northern California (7000 residents), Walmart donates hundreds of pounds of food to our food bank every week. In fact the very first day I drove the truck alone after training, there were 300+ pounds of bananas alone.

[@Vertex-nm3ug]

@Tuho Giving unused food to charities rather than throwing eddible food is better.

[@ironman2326]

Agreed

[@thehilaryglow]

Exactly! They just don't want to think about it... that was a very elusive, self-centered answer to begin with. You can't really talk sense into these people, they only care about their paycheck.

[@sakminis]

*Puts on gloves* -I don't usually wear this when shopping. That didn't quite age well

[@Thicc_Boi]

Ahead of the curve

[@rebekah4761]

I always get one of the produce bags or use a paper towel. With gloves, there is a lot of cross contamination that occurs.

[@chainuser7401]

oof

[@bencethejew]

This didnt age well either

[@Matt-kl7qc]

indeed

[@TheRajarancho]

This is the kind of journalism that is needed. Changing things which helps the society. Kudos.

[@ovenbird50]

Any food returned to a store is never put on the shelves. It is trashed. I once saw a woman return containers of food she bought then decided to make her own from scratch. That food had to be thrown away because it was outside of their secure food distribution stream. If you change your mind about food, please do not return it to the store. Donate it to a food bank.

[@christiecrawford1653]

Or give it to a friend, put it in the break room at your job, etc.

[@goldnnchild4520]

But you ain't gonna get ya money back

[@zavier3644]

@@goldnnchild4520 you can keep it in your pantry then if that's such a big deal

[@suides4810]

or just give it to a random person next to you

[@jju2131]

We could only understand why stores won't put it back to selling shelves because of H&S protocols whic is reasonable. But stores like Walmart (which I'm sure not just this store waste food but many other big stores) could reassess their protocols in returned foods or any other foods that are still safe to consume.

[@alexagurrola170]

Bless the man who is picking up the food in the dumpsters, he is helping the world by picking food that is still good :D

[@viktorsayenko8953]

YES

[@NazriBuang-w9v]

Lies again? Beggar's Paradise vs Bio Perine

[@jbaby007]

There's no reason why anyone on earth should have to go hungry.

[@itsmesia2469]

Yes .... agree....!

[@goodgardenersINTL]

No, especially with our HH-2 recycling and food growing system. ANYONE in Africa for example can grow food this way without any pests or diseases on their plants. It is a revolutionary technology but can we get it out there. None of the Biggies will sponsor us. It's practically disgraceful. AND as the Oxford professor says on his pod cast to us there is a deafening silence..... in this area. It makes you wonder why........see ggi.org.uk

[@nutlover3609]

Well hold on

[@yahkemaj7818]

You see these are the lies they are telling the public about world hunger but at the same time throwing away tons of food everyday and global warming when they are making the machines to create the global warming. Stop believing these lying devils they lie about absolutely everything in the world there is not over crowing of the planet either and they get away with it because people believe everything they are told and don't use their own common sense and do any investigation

[@Koslita77]

You are right, everyone should copy and imitate how nations with lots of food do to produce for everyone, like countries in America, and South America, who were poor, and work hard and for more than 12 hours a day to get a better life. God bless Peru, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay, Mexico, Panama, Brazil, USA, Canada.

[@TreiaSaint]

I worked for a trucking company and Walmart ended up not taking about 3 refrigerated trailers full of mixed salads and grapes. My boss had no idea what to do with them. I ended up filling up the back of my soul (to the front passenger seat) a few times just to take them to shelters and places I knew would appreciate them. Also they did that with a trailer of dog food (premium "organic and gluten free" dog food) the local animal shelters got SOOOO many pallets of food. This is not uncommon practice for them and honestly I don't think they care.

[@natyspaghettighetti6726]

thank you so much for doing that!

[@madman2u]

That's very nice of you. Maybe you could do this more often to show that the thrown food you donate is still edible and that the companies throwing them away should focus at providing for those in need rather than wasting.

[@marig1972]

Good for you...I totally agree...Walmart doesn't care and a lot of other grocery stores don't either...Bottom line is money. :((( #Shameful

[@adamas_dragon]

Great work! I would have done the same! ;D

[@kellycastles5159]

Well done for doing that

[@michellereed479]

This has been happening across the world for decades. 26 years ago when I was 8 years old I discovered that there was heaps of food/ fresh produce thrown way to my local supermarket (in Australia). I had 10 chickens and 24 guinea pigs as pets at the time so I used to collect the suitable fresh produce to feed my pets. When I showed my mum how I fed my pets so well she was amazed and disgusted, she couldn't believe how much waste there was. So we started to collect extra and dropped it off to a few local animal shelters, especially the shelter's with livestock. The shelters loved it, they would let me and my brother feed the animals and it made for a great childhood experience. We just couldn't let all the produce go to waste.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Apex Predator Raise Pigs

[@patshhi4620]

I used to work in a grocery store. One night, while I was pulling bread that was to expire the next day, I asked the deli manager if maybe we could donate that bread to a soup kitchen or someplace like that. He said he would love to do that, and that he used to sell the bread to a pig farmer at a deep discount. Apparently, somewhere along the line the store got sued. That’s all it took for the company who owned the store to change policy (he had even let us take a loaf of expired bread every night). Everything had to be tossed. It would be nice if the government would inact some sort of legislation stating that no one could be sued for giving away food for free. As this video shows, there is a lot of good food that is wasted. Let’s make some noise so all that food won’t be wasted !!

[@marisacherry8328]

This has already been passed and its called the good Samaritan law. They cant be sued, its just an excuse they use, typically its worth more money to throw the food out and claim it as a business loss than admit it wont sell before the sell by date

[@snideremark]

My church gets bread from panera. We have to put a sticker on every one of them before we give it away saying that the bread was a donation, not to be sold.

[@gerikyang1780]

Actually the Good Samaritan law in Canada refers to bystanders giving first aid to a stranger in medical distress, not to protect against liability when donating food...

[@henrichvonstaufenberg4841]

Expired food is not good food

[@angelika_munkastrap4634]

As was shown Andrei, most food thrown away is not expired. People weren't talking about expired, just best before or day old or sometimes just with packaging that's dented or damaged, nothing wrong with food inside. And don't always go by the expired date either, that sometimes only means they've only tested to that date and not beyond and sometimes things are fine even a week afterwards, believe me I should know

[@faybradnock6805]

I would understand if the food was mouldy or expired but throwing away PERFECTLY GOOD food is outrageous

[@Marklapfeifer]

The only thing wrong with this video is that they make WAY TOO MUCH of a deal out of the expiration dates. Even if it's past the best-by date almost ALL THIS FOOD is still safe to consume for many additional days or even weeks. Heck, anything with sugar in it, like candy, can be eaten even a year after its best-by date and still be SAFE to eat. These dates are NOT about food safety but rather about the so-called MAXIMUM FRESHNESS of an item. That's all they are meant. NOT ABOUT FOOD SAFETY>

[@sortathesame8701]

@@Marklapfeifer Yes, much of it is safe to consume after the sell by date, but if you watch this channel enough, you will find their video's on how quickly bacteria and mold grow on foods that sold BEFORE their sell by dates. So in that case stores cannot win for losing with these folks! The problem is not whether or not the food could safely be eaten, but whether or not the stores have liablity if someone should get sick from food past it's date. Plus there is a huge expense, an extra layer of cost, to packaging up and finding someone to take food past it's date. Shelters and food banks cannot take it, because THEY don't want to risk lawsuits. They cannot take anything within three months of its expiration date, because donated food doesn't get distributed immediately and they cannot give out expired foods, so most would end up in the trash anyway and they don't have the man power to sort and trash it. People do not go to grocery stores and pay good money for expired foods and who could blame them for that! The problem is much larger and more difficult than it appears on the surface.

[@petervansan1054]

@krepnata kadara so?

[@byronchavarria4954]

They Should Just Give The Food To The Seagulls

[@zenzeleluckymtshali8433]

its nearly every city in the wotrld issue as with prices kicked out to buy difficulty prices to lower michelin write ins..quickly...where do u stand for that in tghe shop not outside who is doin the fauklt..yes who...the boss i the shop...

[@shan22777]

I worked at a Walmart bakery in Ontario, every single morning we would throw out 3-4 carts FULL of bakery goods alone.

[@lordspongebobofhousesquare1616]

why didn't the manager tell you to bake less goods? I mean it saves money so there's definitely an incentive for doing so

[@shravanikumari6907]

Walmart is doing good if it reaches the needy... Y not

[@daffadillia2007]

Me too, and if you were to keep it, your considered stealing it. I make me sick how much food is thrown out. I could be donated to people.

[@Spookex166]

1. Make friends with the people who throw the food out. 2. Convince them to give it to you. 3. Free food for life.

[@APerson-ui5zq]

4. give the money you dont have to spend to poors (safe organisation or directly )

[@theishaanandankitashow]

Very Interesting!

[@shikha5246]

I may do this now. I spend $20 per week on groceries. Spending 0$ be great though 🤔

[@SK-ck9qu]

But what if you became sick from eating that food. I bet you would gladly sue the corporation.

[@letsdiscussitoversometea8479]

@@SK-ck9qu how do you imagine that that would happen?? Would it instead have to have been _purchased_ to be edible?? Or is it the fact that it wasn't *_purchased_* that's (really) the problem? Think of it this way; You buy an item of food 5 or 10 minutes before the shop closes. You then take half an hour getting back home with it. Does that mean that the food has gone off in those 20 minutes since the shop closed?? The argument is flawed!!

[@momomelons]

At the checkouts at my local Walmart, they were collecting donations for Feed the Children and accepting food donations for local homeless shelters. This is so ironic.

[@1USAUSA]

+Amerie Welcome to Planet Earth. Things are not always what they seem. If you keep digging deeper for the truth, you will find this and more ironic things that will make your head spin. lol...

[@athonynesbitt7956]

Amerie Ash that dont make no sence a foodstore dont need donations to give food they have all the food kml

[@krystakizito7244]

Irony

[@valeriecoleman9755]

Exactly...yet throw theirs away

[@vanilla7266]

a good idea, if someone has access to the fresh packaged food, or processed food in the dumpsters, put it in the food donation bins so there is the slightest chance it might get used or eaten

[@zahrarezaie9662]

How much of this has changed since 2016? I'd love to see an update by CBC News.

[@rotatorcuffs8140]

Not much I would say. I used to work at this store called Fortinos (until last year anyway) and it was insane how much good food would get thrown away EVERY SINGE DAY. I felt really bad every time I had to do it, but it was store policy. You couldn't take home food about to be thrown away either as an employee, or you'd be accused of theft, which I though was also kinda messed up.

[@JayBelafonte]

Only thing that has changed is that they are wasting even more food! This is just grocery stores not even including restaurants.

[@brettdomenick]

I work at a bjs wholesale in the us, we donate everything we can. The particular store I work at gives our close to date or badly packaged foods to philabundance, an organization that supplies food kitchens in the Philadelphia area.

[@thegigadykid1]

Brett Domenick I respect that

[@adamas_dragon]

Hehe BJs...

[@amyleigh3277]

I was also thinking of great business' that do the same.

[@susanneseiler5113]

@@adamas_dragon wholesale to lol

[@tropicanahana]

I heard that it was a good company to work for, I had a cousin who worked there and said she was allowed to take home expired items also before they were donated.

[@simearsov]

well, I know where I'm going next time I visit Walmart

[@Stella-js4bf]

Sime Arsov i

[@tobiassol8343]

Sime Arsov 😂

[@flparrotz1]

They have big dumpsters that you can't get in down here in florida.

[@ZygimantasA]

We forgot to count fast food restaurants. They throw thousands of tons of food every week: Sandwiches, kebabs, chicken, fries, sauces etc. It's pretty sad.

[@yossefworetaw4672]

#1gfriend its like im in heaven lots of >> vegetables and fruits and some juice, frozen pizza, yogourt and most of them are 1 or 2 days before there expiration date >> there comercial is really true save money live better

[@DJ-yz4fe]

They should put those foods into a super sale like 80% off. It could have helped people who are on a limited budget

[@adachi4043]

The reason why they didn't do that is to stay...idk expensive. Cause when they give 80 percent off, people will always expect to buy it in that price instead and they will wait to buy always with a discount. Cause example for me, why would I buy the 100% price when I could wait for 80% off at the end of the day?

[@DJ-yz4fe]

@@adachi4043 imagine making a spaghetti and waiting for the spaghetti sauce to go on sale

[@adachi4043]

@@DJ-yz4fe yeah, that's what I'll do especially if the discount is high

[@Benary96]

@@adachi4043 that's not I really true some stores actually do discount at a very substantial rate it's just his mostly Mom and Pop type grocery stores not a box store like Walmart or Kroger's or something like that

[@PrinceChris93]

Having grown up in foster care and not having food this just hurts

[@itsmesia2469]

:(

[@anwarabdullah1304]

PrinceChris93 it’s okay one day

[@Koslita77]

I lived with my parents and there wasn't food, It was 6 pm and my mother would not prepare anything, my father was away, my neighbors had worst time. I remember one day, they were so hungry, they found cabbage leaves and ate them with salt, with such a pleasure, and wash it down with water, that was the meal for the day. Stop complaining. If there were an extra bread I would save it, one day I had one in my pocket, sat on my old bed with my siblings, and a mouse got into my pocket; I got so scare; everyone laugh their heads off; but me.

[@ritaassefa1778]

Ohhh my God why they don't give for who don't have food and stuffing!

[@barbfrontczak1791]

My grandma taught me not to waste anything. She grew up during the depression. She later on had 9 children to feed,and this video would shock her so much. I believe that yes all the food should be donated. The reason companies don't is because it's all about money. They don't want to get sued if someone gets sick off donated food.

[@reece_harding]

That's actually never happened

[@ladycrystalr-u.s.a]

Over 20 years ago my grandma and my siblings would go dumpster diving for food to supplement our food stamps. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found.

[@llamaliammm]

On a sidenote, im obsessed with this series and im not even canadian. Such interesting investigations

[@nancymoraa2722]

Me too! Greetings from Germany

[@spraystruck1375]

Same

[@empresssk]

Same. In the US

[@hayleygrimes8804]

Same!

[@carmenroupp653]

All the stores would have to do is make a phone call to the church or food banks and I am sure they would come pick up the food to feed to the poor who can not afford to feed their families.

[@suides4810]

carmen roupp Yup they could even put it up so that other people can just take it but no thats iLLegAl

[@notmyname2507]

but the poor people shop at walmart, the business model is based on artificial scarcity, next they are gonna tell you overpopulation is the cause of climate change

[@dreamrabbits5072]

Yeah but what if it was sitting out of the fridge for a long time... or returned? It may look like they're randomly throwing away shelves full of food for no reason, but there is a reason. Most of the time the food is spoiled because it's been left out. That has potential to make people sick.

[@billmartins5545]

A lot of these items retire refrigeration and food banks don't generally provide this.

[@eginteractive]

The problem is, a lot of the "waste" in the bins are things that people picked out, and then didn't want so they put it on a random shelf (not back in the refrigerators they got the items from). This is why your predominately see perishable / refrigerated food in these bins. I worked for Walmart, and it's about limiting liability. If you put a frozen meal that's been sitting on an unrefrigerated shelf back in the freezer, depending on if it's had time to thaw, it can actually develop mold very quickly. Our stores official policy was that if it's sitting on a shelf, even if it's still cool, it gets binned because you can't be sure how long it was sitting out. The store I worked at had composting bins that all this food would go into. Canned / dry goods never got pitched unless they were expired, and even then we had a discount bin where they were marked down, so it's not every store. I agree it's a problem, but there's actually context to why food gets disposed of by grocery stores.

[@UrbanHomesteadMomma]

This actually makes me want to cry... we are a food insecure family... we struggle to buy food because much is too expensive for us... to see such waste hurts

[@michaelyun2407]

And if I tell that cart of milk or tahr watermelon or that pack of pasta or that yogurt was returns by customer and we put it back on the shelf to sell will you buy it? Not knowing if the food is been tempered with or is it good and haven't gone bad? Not only if the store did that and customer for sick the store gets sue and no one wants to buy them

[@malacki6554]

Just because food is oddly shaped or a few days past its best before date doesn't mean its bad to eat. It should be illegal to waste good food,instead of throwing it in the trash or dumping it in landfill,how about supermarkets sell it cheaper,compost it or donate it to food banks!!!

[@barbfrontczak1791]

I totally agree with you on the subject of food waste. There are so many who can barely afford groceries and stores are just throwing it away.

[@treacherousviper]

Food can't be be sold after the sale by date no matter what it looks like

[@sortathesame8701]

In the US, there are very few programs where you can donate food that is close to it's sell by date. Food banks take it if it is within 3 months of the date, but after that they cannnot do so, because it takes time to distribute that food. Same for shelters. None of them can use or give away food that is past it's sell by date for fear of lawsuits. My father's church goes and picks up food from places such as Starbucks and some other food oriented places near them and that food is immediately frozen and given away on a specific Friday of every months. But even then, sometimes much of it ends up being taken home by church members because people coming to the church for help don't really want food, they want money. Social programs, state and federal, provide food or money for food for free to the poor, what they don't give a lot of is money and people want money to pay for their phones, their cable, their internet or their alcohal and drugs. The areas where the true poor are in America, the Appalachian mountains, etc. cannot be reached by the programs you are talking about. At the very least, food waste should be seperated from other waste and sold cheaply for food to pig farmers where ever possible!

[@charlesmurphy1510]

Malacki 655 illegal to throw your own food? What’s next?

[@willn8664]

@@charlesmurphy1510 can you finish your food instead of throw it away?

[@Spiritueli]

Watching this makes me so sad, how little appreciation, truly people have in respect to food.

[@ZealandiaMapping]

Thankfully, I work in Big Lots, and we never do stuff Walmart does with their food. If the product is damaged (chips and crackers mostly) and the date is fine, we reduce the price by 1/3 the original price.. If the best by date is a month away, we reduce the price by 1/2. Once the item is expired, we put it in a shopping cart labeled for donations. Once a week, we have a woman who will come pick it up and take it to the local shelter in town. Something as simple as this can not only reduce waste, but help your community as well. Even if the product is expired, as long as everything is taken care of, most products will last an extra week at most. :3

[@Food-Dharma]

Zealandia Mapping I never know this about big lot. I hope that’s a companywide policy and not just specific to your store. I rarely shop at Big Lot, but that will change. Thanks for sharing this info.

[@joyfulsoul4537]

Why can't the grocery stores just give it to employees? I work in a store and I have to throw good food every morning. It makes me so sad. People are dying because of hunger.

[@suides4810]

Anna Bhatta because they are greedy capitalists I dont even get any benefits at the Supermarket i work at.

[@davidmcnelley8672]

I know how you feel, that’s why when I worked at a store that sold food I refused to throw out anything good.

[@utubestalker.dotcom]

because they likely know what is wrong with them. else, the employees would take them home. there's always 2 sides of the story. you are only seeing what the dumpster diver and media see

[@jessefisher1809]

The correct answer is that if you give free food to your employees... they wont buy it from you. So as a business you're losing out on that money.

[@SunnyGirlFlorida]

Giving returned or expired food is a liability for the company. And it promotes unscrupoulous employees throwing things out on purpose, so they can get it free. I worked in a clothing store where district manager had to watch us destroy and dispose of returned items, so that was not abused for employee gain.

[@melissasturgis]

I'm so glad that he's doing this because people are going hungry. I need some of this food for myself, my daughter, my neighbors, my family, and others that I know.

[@plumbingstuffinoregon2471]

Wow! I could probably live off the food that's thrown out behind my local Walmart! Now let's just hope I don't get caught.

[@cjmurray5806]

Once they throw it in the garbage, its anybody's!

[@timothyclift5945]

Just take a can of mace

[@ldygzlle1291]

Rob, the guy from Orlando in the video, will help you if you have legal troubles from diving.

[@incanada83]

@@timothyclift5945 I would HAVE to! LOL We got bears LOL

[@suides4810]

Ldygzlle two girls from germany might now face jailtime for it! Be careful

[@jacksonwangsfan8681]

I went dumpster diving with my cousin (it’s actually pretty fun) We found a lot of food, that wasn’t even close to be expired.

[@yoleeisbored]

damnn.. bring me along with you guys

[@paulinedivingdeepincincinn1962]

I DUMPSTER dive i have a youtube channel on this

[@serenellis6993]

watching in April 2020, the gloves thing aint that weird anymore

[@johnsaunders8882]

Don Mega pissoff

[@beavisroadhog9629]

Yeah, they still are.

[@andrewisvrycool]

Now its masks

[@shaneruddock-pedallingtheg8114]

i hardly ever buy my food anymore. i live out of bins. it is fun. just buy a bin key off ebay and most of your worries are done with. i stick to convenience stores especially that dont keep it behind barbed wire fences. its disgusting that we hide the problem behind dangerous fences under camera sometimes even punish those that eat it. I plan to only eat like this for the next year see how much money i save. maybe itll be enough to travel a few countries

[@whyjustwhy2168]

Bin key 🔑?

[@timothyclift5945]

So this key your talking about is a universal key or something like that does it work on padlock 🔐

[@brysoncherry9884]

Critical thinking at its finest. Odinspeed.

[@ladyb9108]

Shane Ruddock - Pedalling the Globe how’s it going so far? I didn’t know about the key, I will have to look this up 👍🏼

[@suides4810]

I myself and me In germany two girls might now face jail time... what a shame

[@michaelgalarza9954]

Is illegal to shoplift , but throwing food alway in the garbage is ok , is this world nuts or what ? 😠

[@itsmesia2469]

Totally agree...... a really crazy world....

[@CheapSushi]

AND they often ask for donations at these places for food banks. So you use your money to buy goods and then donate. All while the same place is throwing out a ton of good food.

[@jesseluciano1388]

its a scam, cant play fair in this world period

[@gary7846]

There's a "lotte mart" near my home, basically a ghost mall. But the supermarket are always so complete, you can find everything there. I can only imagine how much are thrown away

[@DestructiveBurn]

The homeless would love that place.

[@TripMcSleazestack]

I would pooh in all the bins!

[@DestructiveBurn]

TripMcSleazestack You nasty

[@DestructiveBurn]

Sarah Lunafire You need details? Really? It's all good food. It's not mixed with actual garbage. It's just put into bins. It's still good. Instead of throwing it out. Give it to the homeless and donate the rest to others that need it.

[@MrBeard17]

Now you know why you see the homeless peoples tents within a short walking distance away.

[@Ari-gm9gk]

TripMcSleazestack really

[@sensei9437]

It should be illegal to throw out that much food. I've been so poor before that I had to eat only once a day, if that, for nearly a year. It appalls me that this happens when there are people out there starving, families starving, because the costs are so high.

[@chloemarshall8574]

It is illegal in France

[@marig1972]

Totally agree...Me too! Been there done that.

[@Bobrogers99]

With many foods, exceeding the "best by" or "sell by" date doesn't mean it's unsafe to eat. The flavor or texture may be affected by age but it's still edible. People throw away perfectly good food because they're programmed to think that it is in some way "expired".

[@pteechka1]

Not sure if they are "programmed" to think that, they just assume that.

[@seriousspaceparty6037]

Thank-you Marketplace for exposing a huge problem!

[@ekop1778]

THEY DONT DO THIS OVERSEAS THEY SAVE ALL THE UNUSED STUFF FOR THE POOR AMERICA IS OPPOSITE

[@isakjohansson7134]

E Kop They waste it allover the world

[@shazizz]

This world makes absolutely no sense to me. I am at a loss for words. :(

[@tanwodan3689]

it a spoil expiry food or almost expiry. yeah i also feel it waste, it can be a fertilizer for tree. but it illegal to take it in supermarket during throwing.

[@honesttruthblessing5206]

They do it here as well

[@FalenAnjel2]

Everyone votes with their wallet and money is what makes sense for investors/ stockholders, bosses, chair people... etc.

[@darxlord7857]

shazizz I agree and we need to do something about it

[@charliemanner1914]

shazizz MONEY

[@suffer4fashion]

When I worked at Walmart, we threw a lot of stuff away because of inconsiderate shoppers. People would load a shopping cart up and then abandon it for some ungodly reason. Everything that is refrigerated had to be dumped because the store can't accept the potential liability that it may have spoiled. I was also surprised at how much-returned food was brought back. I vividly remember the day a woman walked in and threw $40 of steaks on the counter while demanding a refund. She made a mistake and had left them in her car in July heat for a few days.

[@heatherlynsey3092]

Ughhhhhh the meat just pisses me off, how do you buy $40 worth of steaks and just forget them?!

[@EricZhaoYT]

Now I can go grocery shopping for free! Just look in the garbage!

[@sabrina28]

lol right

[@ruthsenouci5048]

Eric Zhao haha this is what I was thinking about just now

[@tranlily3001]

+werise55 This, ppl who still can afford food, need buy food. All these food bin (as market, gorvenment count as out of date food) need collect them if they're still can use, then give it to fund or poor ppl. I don't mean poor ppl or homeless only deserves out-date food. I mean as long the food still can use, it's just not look beautiful or fresh, as long as it not bad or harmful. Need collect these out date aka food-bin, give them to fund center so they can cook them to give ppl free meals or give it for poor/homeless ppl. (I don't speak English well) As long as you can buy or afford food, please buy the food, don't use food-bin. I mean that.

[@LadyBeritanavatarius]

Why not? They are being highly wasteful, throwing out perfectly good products, and adding to the landfills needlessly. It's disgusting, why should all of that go to waste?

[@cutiepie3012]

But most grocery stores lock their dumpsters

[@ajmomoho]

I worked at Walmart in Produce. Doing "throws" was the part of the job which involved scanning food out of the inventory system and then throwing it out. I distinctly remember watching my co-worker fill an entire industial sized garbage bin with just strawberries, with probably 90-95% of them being perfectly fine. On the other hand we did at times take some of the "throws" and put them in assorted bags sold at $1.00 each. Still though, what was in this video as far as food waste goes, rings very true.

[@margieo1507]

Thats sad!!!

[@RoyalCaymanian]

Young ADV I don't blame them. I collect binned items all the time from supermakets. There was a cool Asian worker who would usually give it to me before tossing it, even against store policy.

[@你老婆-c5l]

Wouldn't it be nice if Walmart let employees take some of that food home.

[@686Nadeau]

I used to work as dairyman/ dairy manager in a grocery store in canada "IGA" and tried multiple time talking to my superior about food wasting, giving them solution (local organisation giving food to less fortunate would've taken this food for free. they bring couple of bins, we call them when its full and they give you back empty bins). Always ended with the same answer, it would cost more to do something about it than wasting. We were often told to throw something good just because its discontinued or simply to make place for new products. Other grocery store in this area have so much wasting they have an extra industrial size refregirator for that.

[@Mrazzakov]

As a Produce manager at Walmart, it is ACTUALLY cheaper (free) to donate the food rather than composting it out (~$500 per bin), or even throwing it in the trash (~$800 bin ). So not sure if it was a while ago, but in the USA, donations are very much active and encouraged.

[@eckankar7756]

I do home canning and have a food dehydrator for vegetables. After eating a steak the bones will freeze till I get enough to boil for broth to pressure can for soups later on. For a quick lunch I pop open a jar of my home canned steak bone broth add some of the dehydrated vegetables and have a delicious meal. Bread going old and drying out I pulverize into crumbs and store away to thicken soups or for crispy fried chicken. Bread crumbs mixed with egg, milk and baking powder make great pancakes.

[@rayfire50]

Seeing this there should be no such thing as being hungry

[@brysoncherry9884]

It's about distribution methods and availability. Not about food quantity. It's hard getting food to undeveloped countries,especially the wartorn ones.

[@saveUyghurs]

North America, the continent of waste and excess. There is no food waste in my home. We respect our food, only buy what we need and eat everything we buy.

[@eternalobi]

not just in NA there is waste food everywhere in the world

[@ioanna_vsl]

I do that too... And I've never seen supermarkets throwing food in my country

[@brendanschwartz1929]

3 years since this was posted and nobody has still taken action. 😢

[@Bebedollie]

Thats sad.

[@darrekcoates9306]

Because to take action would be to challenge capitalism and most people aren't ready for that conversation

[@notmyname2507]

they hide it better every year, the iga renovated and doubled it size and added a compactor to protect the wasted food from hungry people

[@renamamiya5115]

meanwhile I just ate 2 week expired bread (still good tastes fresh) and half a year expired peanut butter (also still good) and this morning had a blueberry banana (over ripened dark skinned) and a 3 day expired yogurt.. (still good) I dont understand people wasting food at all. if it doesn't smell and if you can still eat it dont throw it! take out the rotten part and eat the rest thats still edible. I grew up all my life in Canada and have always been disappointed when I see people waste food whether in fast food or grocery. (used to work in Real Canadian Superstore and Walmart.) I'm proud how my parents raised me, how they taught me not to waste food and more. edited: I just realized the walmart they shown in the video (Edmonton) is 7-10 min away where I live and I always go there for grocery or clothing. now they gave me an idea to either ask or just go right ahead and dive at the back see if they have thrown out food thats still edible instead of buying. -_-

[@flammaferus2998]

I'm often diving behind the supermarket at night. Quality food!

[@sillytea8084]

They could have donated that food too homeless shelters instead of throwing it away. Lots of people could use that food.

[@Koslita77]

If someone in the shelter gets stomach ache; they will sue the donors; that is why they do not donate. but you can pick up that food.

[@MrBilioner]

@@Koslita77 I can imagine homeless people ate way worse food,but again not a solution to throw the food. They still can DONATE not throw it I dont care how crazy is the reason

[@johnl1295]

If they gave the food away, it would ruin the whole illusion of value on this planet. They would rather those homeless folks pick themselves by the bootstraps, pop a medley of pills, put a nice shirt on and go to work to get their boss a nice BMW, that way they can buy a sandwich that would be put in the trash tomorrow, but for 8 dollars! And 5 of those dollars goes back to their boss with the BMW.

[@jju2131]

The reason why they don't donate is costing them more money. But there are ways to do it without cost which is their failure to find solution.

[@issyyyh6711]

At the supermarket I work at we donate food to homeless shelters/ charities but it can only be things like fruit and stuff, we can't go giving out of date meat and animal products which is a shame because even after doing this we still waste so MUCH

[@christinerobinson9372]

In the US laws were passed to prohibit the sale of marked-down produce. In my first job and my first apartment, the mark-down bin was the first place I headed to in the grocery store, I might not have survived without it. It saved me all kinds of money and provided me with perfectly healthy fresh produce that might have needed a little bit trimmed off. Dumpster diving is now legal in all 50 states, but local municipalities may prohibit it.

[@SW20FL]

This isn't just Walmart. It's almost every place that makes food. Every store. Every restaurant (high quality or fast food. Doesn't matter). The problem is US law. It's a legal minefield when you give food away. Give someone some food, they get sick and you have a law suit on your hands..over free food. Now you have the potential to lose your business. This is a problem, but there's more to it. This is just scratching the surface.

[@Marklapfeifer]

Heh, I almost agree with you. These dumpsters and compactors are really tools of the devil.

[@JSkyGemini]

916david, it's true. People are trying to present this as a black & white issue but it's not that simple in the real world. I would also have thought if you went on their property and took even garbage, that would be theft. If it's at the curb, no but it looked like the media had strolled onto private property. It's surprising to see the expiry dates in the garbage because the Walmart near me has past expiry dated items on the shelf.

[@jelicianorwood24]

@@JSkyGemini Yeah its deeper than that. People out here hungry

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

This is complete nonsense. This is what company's keep saying but it simply isn't true.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

@Amy Sternheim yes, this.

[@xkuqgamingtutorial2224]

And people complain about global hunger

[@oldtwinsna8347]

It's different when you have a dictator in control of a country that literally steals all the food given to them by "caring" countries when it was supposed to be distributed to the poor.

[@stacyely8722]

I used to work at a Walmart in the bakery, and it was one of the few departments that sent food to food banks, this is in the US. So cakes, bread, donuts, etc, would go to the nearest food pantry at the end of the day. Most other departments had to throw the stuff out, unless it was canned or heavily preserved. They send more now, and can write it off as a charitable donation, but if you want any of it and you need it because they don't pay enough to make ends meet, they would fire you for stealing. I never understood that policy. Employees routinely have trouble making ends meet, and they should get first dibs if they need it. Like if they're on food stamps, they should get first dibs on stuff that would just get tossed anyway.

[@Coolsomeone234]

2:01 WTF why would someone chuck out water bottles! They don't look opened

[@maverick1993]

Some times lazy stuff leave raw food or may spill stuff so it could be cross contamination.

[@youtubechannel-uz9sh]

Exactly water doesn't even ever expire

[@chunkchips4554]

Water does not expire but plastic bottles do..

[@youtubechannel-uz9sh]

@@chunkchips4554 ok but why didn't they use the water inside because now there is water in the trash.

[@peterreid6096]

@@chunkchips4554 yes!! It makes the water taste disgusting.

[@bambimountaineggo193]

I work at a bakery and we donate all of our 2 day old bread to a food pantry, so none of our bread goes to waste

[@umidjabbar3754]

Bambi Mountaineggo that’s great

[@andrewisvrycool]

Good for you! You guys actually have common sense

[@lingth]

I thought they will put it on the "REDUCED TO SELL" section, to cut the prices to sell it off faster.

[@danor6812]

That's for the items that they can sell. If say the water bottles were near a pipe the was leaking. They can't be sure the water isn't contaminated. So they can't sell it even if the outside may have some kind of bacteria on it. Because someone could get sick, and that's a lawsuit.

[@MonkeyDelicious]

Manufacturers don't want their product sold at a discount.

[@rachelfrench5837]

they should donate the food

[@rachelfrench5837]

Lots of people starving

[@bp9392]

The reason they don't donate food is because throwing it away is more profitable. If you scan it and throw it away, the individual Walmart is partially reimbursed. If you donate it, you are not making that profit.

[@RicJG7]

They would rather have money for themselves than give it to people that need it even though they make millions already. We shouldn't be surprised though because the Jesus said that there would be food shortages in the time in which we live in (Matthew 24:7) Just thinking though... you have to be very evil to deny donating food or be moved to donate food to starving people who need it the most. The outcome for those kinds of people is mentioned in Proverbs 2:22.

[@jcrowley1985]

Donations can get them tax writeoffs and incentives. There is no excuse to throw it out.

[@RicJG7]

Yea but people don't think like that. Don't worry though have a read of those scriptures and you will receive a measure of happiness when you know what will become of them

[@artaria22]

Damn....people are starving on the streets and we are wasting food. Ugh...

[@athonynesbitt7956]

Nehthelania Jackson i know right, by the way your very beautiful

[@squidward420]

Nehthelania Jackson they should make a shelf that have a 50% discount and sell after best before date but not expired food

[@athonynesbitt7956]

@@squidward420 your right bro

[@Alice-mr2gf]

It's also created a lot greenhouse gas, too.

[@badgerpa9]

I worked for a company that gave away computers to a school and library and gave them away as is telling them they are older computers the company did not use anymore. The library and school sued the company when the computers did not work like new and had issues. After that the policy was nothing ever could be donated or given to any place for any reason ever. They ended up buying new computers for them and replacing the computers donated. The school and library continued to have many problems with the new computers they got.

[@dannyosolo2752]

We must feed the poor&homeless

[@taylorbritt499]

@KingMacintosh working class people with 3 jobs falls under "poor" in "poor and homeless"

[@gerikyang1780]

A lot of “perfectly good food” needs to be thrown out for our very stringent food safety reasons. If someone buys a package of steak, leaves the grocery store for an hour, and returns the steak later, it can’t be put back on the shelf. We have no idea if anything was done to the steak or if it was kept at the proper temperature. Would you buy steak knowing that it was taken out of the store to an unknown location by a stranger? Trust me, grocery store managers stress out over food that needs to be thrown out. It costs money and is wasteful. Consumers are very, very picky in North America. If you leave 6 bruised apples out for sale, it’s almost a guarantee that no one will buy those apples. When you’re dealing with the public, you encounter a lot of lazy people as well. Refrigerated items abandoned on random shelves need to be thrown out if they’re not found in time.

[@snflwrchan8019]

Here in where I live, instead of throwing it all away, stuff like that are sold at way lower prices. And buyers are well aware of the risk that comes with buying them.

[@therealtedcruz8897]

@@snflwrchan8019 that also happens at some independent grocery stores but the big ones like Walmart, metro, and costco don't practice it.

[@dhrgkbqxtjr2743]

Still doesn't explain why the food can't be donated. Beggars aren't picky.

[@CyclingMartialartswithMusic]

@@dhrgkbqxtjr2743 donated or shelved out food can lead to lawsuit thats why.

[@ebriggs3498]

@@dhrgkbqxtjr2743 yup; lawsuits!

[@paullie1963]

So what if people are properly screened, and volunteer to do pickups at the stores to bring it to the foodbanks. Those foodbanks will certainly report back to the stores if the delivery doesn't happen. I'm sure there is many out there that would be willing to do something good for the homeless community. If they don't deliver and take the food home, they get dropped from the trusted delivery list. It doesn't seem terribly complicated?

[@machi-full-of-coffee]

watching this from a developing country is sooooooo painful..

[@thegigadykid1]

Machi fr

[@einahpets7391]

Im watching it from the Philippines, and this hurts so much. Blueberries like the box he opened and tasted goes for $10 here. So so much waste.

[@JoshJudgement]

Welcome to North America, enjoy your stay! Don’t forget to be extra wasteful and indulgent on things you don’t need!

[@helenabayato4747]

I know.

[@moodini99]

Live in a better one, then

[@marvanbee]

CBC, I'd LOVE an update on this for 2019/2020!!

[@sortathesame8701]

Why? It was just a short documentary meant to shock people, but in reality it didn't tell us anything. We do not know the story behind any of that waste. Walmart doesn't just throw out profit. If it was in the bin there is a reason it was there. It might be a return, past it expiration date, left on a random shelf to get warm or cold beyond safe rules. It could be recalled, it could be opened and left on a shelf, dented cans and more. Cross contamination is huge in the food business! A bag of potatoes with one rotten one cannot be sold! And it costs far too much to open that bag, clean it up well enough for sale and put it back on the shelf! Would YOU chose a potato that had been cleaned after being in contact with a rotten potato if you know the story behind that potato and there was a perfectly good on right there to purchase? Of course not!

[@rotatorcuffs8140]

Short answer: same story. Ask anyone that works at a grocery store, not a secret what happens.

[@maryfiaola3686]

@@helloksiei probably works at walmart

[@billmartins5545]

No you don't. Thanks to COVID.

[@CC12398]

This was an extremely thorough well done report thank you!

[@anuraaggundu7833]

Crazy why did they lay beagles on the ground

[@austinouverson9087]

anuraag gundu am I the only other one who noticed that😂😂😂

[@hindadid3761]

Exactly!! In a park where dogs 🐕 usually pee and 💩

[@soniasia5558]

anuraag gundu,, Yeah they should have left those bread in the bag!

[@badgerpa9]

Beagles are dogs and they will lay on the ground. If you meant the bagels they did it to spread things out as much as possible to make it look like even more food. This is marketing also. They need people to watch them.

[@user-lr3xj5mc2m]

Me too.

[@James-qd4ox]

I might as well do my grocery shopping in the bins now

[@douglasmccarty1196]

There are lots of KZbin channels on dumpster diving

[@sassypolkadots6446]

JameZ TV Lol 😂

[@JensLife]

That's what I did.

[@JensLife]

Douglas McCarty Yep, like mine.

[@Passportkassa]

I like both Walmart & CBC marketplace. I dislike finding a steak in the checkout isle with the gum. IT'S SIMPLE, put your own food back properly if you change your mind. Of course, frozen food is NO LONGER considered safe, if it's been in your cart for an hour while you shop (to the retailer for consumption). FYI.

[@wanyinavybes421]

At this rate dumpster diving sounds like a super deal🤣

[@suides4810]

Wanyina Vybes it is they just might throw one in jail..

[@maeveweaver1609]

Try it once absolutely worth it

[@paulinedivingdeepincincinn1962]

I DUMPSTER DIVE i love it i have a channel on KZbin

[@champion4truth803]

My parents were produce managers in the US and they would rework the packages etc whenever there was spoilage in a bag. About 6 months ago my mom and I were in a Walmart and we told the produce manager about some spoiled lemons in a bag. We were told that the whole package has to be thrown out Walmart policy as they come in prepackaged. We could not believe are ears. Walmart needs to know that there is a saying "One bad apple does not make them all bad".

[@Jayneswoolandbuttons]

This food could feed the homeless.

[@kaboomwinn4026]

The homeless population will grow and they will travel far to get free food

[@lotus_flower2000]

If one of them gets poisoned they can sue the company that gave them the food. It's why restaurants don't give away leftover food.

[@MewWolf5]

It's great to be in our privileged position of having access to lots of food...but this economy of excess that ends in so much waste is frankly disgusting.

[@1USAUSA]

+MewWolf5 Disgusting to the max. I learned that all the food wasted in the U.S.A. in one year alone can FEED all the people living in AFRICA for a MONTH. That's how much good food is thrown away - tons and tons and tons. A lot of that has to do with GOBERMINT!!!!!! They encourage wastefulness.

[@sanyaua2]

Muh white provilege

[@sanyaua2]

If President does it, it is NOT ILLEGAL by the time it gets to Africa it would have went bad. Makes for a great platitude though

[@bdgoins1]

AT Fly It's privilege learn to spell

[@kepstein8888]

Thanks to CBC for doing this segment. It's important to expose companies that do business like this.

[@davidmcnelley8672]

I’d say a big cause of waste is the sizes of products, like for me a as single person it’s hard to find anything that isn’t “family” sized. So I’m almost forced to buy a bigger amount of something then I need or will use even knowing that some of it’s gonna be wasted.

[@billmartins5545]

Learn to be creative. Learn to store your produce to last as long as possible. You can buy eggs per 6 so you should be able to eat that in a week. Most fruits vegetables keep for days if not a couple of weeks. You can't tell me that you can't manage to use up a head of broccoli or cauliflower in 5-10 days. You can buy bread per half loaf. So that's doable to eat in 4-5 days. Get a freezer. I lived alone for over a decade and although every now and again something went bad, it wasn't much.

[@davidmcnelley8672]

@@billmartins5545 I mean I can make it work with things like that but that also forces you to then have to eat the same item several times a week. A big issue is a lot of smaller sized items cost more money or it’s cheaper to buy in bulk and so almost incentivizes you to buy more then you need.

[@suivatra123]

I worked at Giant food store a few years back, and watched just how much food was wasted. When I asked if it can be donated or taken by employees they said no because of health reasons, but they were still good. It's about money and permits/licensing. They'd rather lose money in a dumpster than to lose money feeding people.

[@sibilaasturias]

The nasty part of him eating the blueberry is that he ate it with the same gloves he used to open the container which I bet is dirty af

[@SJanez91]

I was thinking the same thing too

[@angelocordova9994]

As what he said before eating it '' lets all digust some people here'' @3:55 🤣🤣🤣

[@yig_501]

Gotta build the immune system up somehow lolol

[@imjustsayin6562]

Lol

[@rustygoldfanatic8830]

Stop being foolish ,think hungry homeless care about that stuff.

[@ebriggs3498]

The food waste in the USA is horrific! Back in the 1970s, when I was in high school, I had a history teacher who worked during the summers at a grocery store and he told us about how much food waste there was. He used to gather it all up and take it to the food bank, with the Store’s permission. This is still done in a lot of cities, but it changed in that city where I was living as a high schooler when the laws changed which would allow homeless people to sue the grocery store if they were given an expired product and got sick! There should be a law that all food should be donated to homeless shelters and food banks and that you cannot sue anyone from any foods that you get at those locations!

[@boxfox2945]

They needs to be some restrictions on that. I just saw salvation army serving green meat. You don't have to be a expert to know meat' should not' be green. Even liver' shouldn't be that green.

[@ghostwriter4620]

excuse me everyone, I gotta go shopping at Walmart dumpster.

[@LoyalT100]

Don't bother thanks to this video walmart reacted by putting a fence around those bins they went through. So those who knew how to get this food can't, Thanks CBC and Walmart.

[@ΤοΡόδινονΡόδον]

LoyalT100 MESSED UP

[@hannahf.572]

LoyalT100 you have to remember that there are many different Walmart’s

[@hannahf.572]

Is it legal to just go digging in the dump of grocery stores? Will you get arrested in the usa?

[@ms.keyshawineglass7590]

@@hannahf.572 I know for sure Walmart will call the police on you if you're caught diving. I watched an older gentleman diving and Walmart threatened to have him arrested if he didn't put the food products back. My mom and I were so shocked at the exhorbitant amounts of food that weren't past the expiration dates and was going to go to waste when there are so many hungry people in this country.

[@hell0h0bbit]

is it illegal if i go and dig some food in their bins??

[@garyorman3457]

i was thinking of doing the same thing and if it isnt illegal in thailand then the saying one mans trash is another mans treasure is true

[@garyorman3457]

ill still eat it

[@hell0h0bbit]

there's absolutely nothing wrong with a bruised apple. i believe most people will agree with me

[@garyorman3457]

hell0h0bbit for sure me: your still a perfect apple apple: whenever i didnt let my dad have his way with me he would always beat me *sob* me: nice chat *walks away*

[@Kisai_Yuki]

Technically, it's illegal because it's still their property until it leaves their building's property. Dumpster divers have been killed when they've crawled into compactors or the trucks have collected the garbage while people are in it. For liability reasons they have to prevent dumpster diving. The reality is that some supervisor/managers in inner-city stores will intentionally leave these things unguarded full well knowing it will be dumpster dived, and against policies, as long as people don't make a mess. If a place is habitually raided by homeless people, and a mess left, that's when the city will chew out the store and and will be required to prevent access to the dumpsters. Yet no change in what is disposed of. That's why the manager of that Walmart was so skittish about coming on camera, because he's already in deep trouble because of Marketplace. He likely didn't enforce a policy about securing garbage to save money, as they throw out so much garbage daily.

[@llaurora4790]

I used to work for Loeb in Ottawa and they gave a lot of food to the food bank... the food bank people used to come right in the store to pick up.. I am sure if they called the food bank they would come and get it

[@AnhTHo-dw3rl]

I think the reason why not so many retailers don't want to give their food to others who are in need because they are afraid of being sued if the food can cause harm to people?

[@fernand0167]

im gonna start shopping at walmarts trash cans now

[@joaquimrodriguez8961]

you, an I will have to fight over. it

[@darxlord7857]

joaquim Rodriguez Im joining in boi

[@darxlord7857]

joaquim Rodriguez How about all of us get a share/split

[@tronixfix]

joaquim Rodriguez ...with the raccoons

[@letmeexplain1816]

fernand0 .....they will have their rubbish all locked and behind bars after this documentary, I can guarantee it😂😂😂😂😂

[@cooler45ice9]

That looks like a extreme cheapskates dream

[@vikuparmar6390]

Think about the farmers, how much effort and tips they give in to grow this things.

[@terah101]

I used to work at a supermarket in the UK. Anything that was expiring on the day that we did not sell was simply added to ''waste'', which was a company procedure where we logged the items, put the food in sealed colored bags and sent them somewhere to be ''disposed''. We all knew the items were just being thrown away. When I asked why we couldn't just donate them, all I got back was some food hygiene safety BS and that we have to keep track of how much we are wasting, to give the corporate people an idea of how much profit and loss we're undergoing. I noticed that there was homeless man that always sat a few stores down the road. One day, instead adding them to ''waste'', I put the items in a normal grocery bag and at the end of shift when we closed, I gave the bag to the homeless man. He was genuinely so grateful and happy. I did this for 3 or 4 days straight, but then my boss realized and I got in trouble. I was given a warning and told that if I ''breached company procedure'' again, I would be fired. I found this genuinely ridiculous.

[@Zany34]

Glad i was raised in an asian family with a rule never waste food or your getting a broom up your butt.

[@thegigadykid1]

kn same in my house

[@jewls-ek9kt]

What if the person actually enjoys the sensation of a broom up there? :O

[@adamas_dragon]

Same...

[@adamas_dragon]

@@jewls-ek9kt Lol

[@kentuckygirl8282]

😨

[@livesmart9481]

in our neighborhood "Save on Food" and "Independent" grocery stores, there are big Food Bank trucks loading food everyday. But I've never seen one in Walmart. Bty, we are in British Columbia, Canada.

[@kathytickell3864]

I walked through our Walmart in Ontario getting groceries. I got to the cash and decided that I didnt want to buy my ice cream because my husband had picked one up in his cart. The cashier told me that they will just be throwing it away. I asked why? She said because it was out of the freezer. I said for 10 mins? It isnt like I was bringing it back to the service desk after buying it. Such a WASTE.

[@tsakri1625]

Kathy Tickell The nearest grocery store to my house is more than 10 mins away. By that logic, I shouldn't buy any product that needs refrigerating or freezing.

[@kathytickell3864]

Exactly.

[@lilystic9623]

@10101010 it was out for ten minutes. Stores are pretty cold, so it wouldn't have melted, maybe just softened a bit. You can just put it back in the freezer

[@clink76]

This is just scratching the surface. Do you have any idea how much non-food product is wasted for frivolous reasons?? When people return things it's instant trash. At the end of the season left over lawnmowers are thrown out regardless of cost. They fill the gas tanks with paint or other chemicals so they can't be used and are sent off to landfill. Costco is just as bad or worse. What do you honestly think happens with the huge amount of Costco returns? Would you buy a used TV, Computer, Mattress set? They spend hours behind the store slashing and smashing new or near new merchandise. It's kind of unfair for you to call out Walmart when It seems large US retail chains in Canada are really common for this. As a Canadian it sickens me what they send to our landfill (most of which should be recycled). Ikea is also guilty. First they encourage customers to try their mattresses for 90 days and then when they are returned they send huge boxcars full to landfill. Can you say "green washing"? At the end of the day it's Consumer demand which causes this. Customers are very very picky and demand an unconditional liberal return policy. How is this not bad for the economy or environment?

[@Sam-ln1ji]

well what are the key aspects of the investigative report including its newsworthiness and public interest?

[@GOGOSLIFE]

As a consumer, I hear you.

[@killax7]

Carol Bei I can't comment on your IKEA example. Grocery stores however, should have free range to throw out what they wish. If produce is mishandled/cross-contaminated or meat is left at room temp too long it needs to be thrown out. Safety and product quality should be a larger concern than waste.

[@rosehipsama3640]

Carol Bei Idk if we ever do this in America. I feel bad for you my fellow Canadians

[@livingfrankly3652]

There are discount stores that's purchase the Costco and other store returned products and then resell them at a discounted price. in British Columbia, it's been called over the years, mtf, then mtf price matters and now currently it's called big box outlet store. They have multiple locations. I can't believe the claims you make about trashing returned products, it's extremely ignorant of you. Do your research before you spout complete nonsense.

[@Jadegreen]

My mom works at Walmart and you can’t put returned food back on the shelf. So that’s probably what is happening.

[@user-cz6yf6hg4i]

@krepnata kadara maybe the food didn't taste right or wasnt what that person was looking for

[@priscillajimenez27]

@@user-cz6yf6hg4i wasn't what the person was looking for shouldn't be a reason to return food

[@marijana.majic.]

In Croatia we cannot return food. It's really unbelievable you can.

[@laurent3415]

Exactly. If it's a cold item either left laying about or given back at the cash resgister, or was any item brought back from a customer's home, it goes in the trash. If it was a non perishable item picked up around the store in the wrong place it would be sorted by the overnight crew and placed back to the shelf.

[@stephanieg8545]

It’s hard for me to imagine that much food is returned. Who returns food unless there’s something seriously wrong with it?

[@kubotaman85]

Why don't grocery store give that stuff to local food banks?

[@JDBlessin]

They do. Grocery stores donate more to food banks than any other entity.

[@daniellamoreno3616]

kubotaman85 well some do depends what state or country.

[@christopherfortineux6937]

Most don't because they can be held liable for bad food hurting someone...

[@kevina.2269]

Christopher Fortineux They actually can't be held liable

[@lockergr]

The answer is stated right in the video. It cost too much. Of course that's not an excuse in any way and there are simple solutions that could rectify the problem.

[@alleygh0st]

What is amazing is the amount of excuses some people will make to explain this away.

[@TheFunnyGuy9000]

alleygh0st Why is Marketplace complaining about Walmart anyways

[@jeffvalentine9947]

I used to work at Walmart. You weren’t allowed to take any of this home. That’s ridiculous.

[@samylynch5185]

they could have donate those food to people in need

[@1USAUSA]

samy that is a wishful thinking on your part, but that is not what these people are after but MONEY....They could careless if millions of people are starving in Africa or not....

[@zhozan13]

Even their own workers need help with food because that don't pay a fair wage.

[@badandy102]

But Walmart could use it as a right off when it comes for taxes. Do good and still not lose the money on product they just threw away. Maybe not lose all of it, but at least recoup some of their costs

[@samdasilva1914]

ermmm in *e US too, t*at is w*ere it s*ould be distributed. Africa *as plenty of ric* countries, t&ey need to start lookin* after t(eirown and sortin& t*emselves out

[@thedragong]

united states of America is one of the worse place that does this. especially with lunch food from highschools. I have seen students get lunch just to throw them away.

[@amykc]

kids take food for granted

[@Yogirliej4dee]

thedragong I live in Vancouver and at my daughter’s school district all kids bring lunch and Snack from home, guess what? Kids don’t eat every thing that there parents give them, and most parents make the kids eat some of their leftover lunch after school.

[@meganh109]

I remember when I was in elementary school and everyone was throwing away their oranges and bananas and I collected over 30 oranges in a day just from asking. It’s truly sad.

[@elizabethbush5293]

Have you ever had an American school lunch? Some of them are so over processed and disgusting that I wouldn't feed them to my dog.

[@thiliniwish19]

yes me too, shocked when i came to US for the first time. we never had food to through away.

[@shirlenapatterson3306]

Here we are five year's later and there's a food shortage🙄🤣🤣🥩🤤🍔🌭🍗🍳🥞🧇🥦🌽🍠🥝🍏😏 and they still throwing food in the trash🤣😂🤣😭

[@MrCow579]

I personally actually quit my job at a supermarket because of this. I worked on the fresh produce department, and the amount I had to throw out daily was insane. on a saturday night, food that would expire on sunday would also have to be thrown out due to the store being closed. 9/10 products would still be perfectly fine to eat even after that date. but instead of donating the food to a charity (they even pick it up here if you have large amounts like we had!) they would just tell me to write em off, toss em in a crate and then at the end of the night toss the crate in the bin. it's absolutely insane how much food is thrown out just cus there's a day written on it.

[@williammartinreyes3439]

its edible. i can live with that. i can scavenge everyday to eat. gross to some but the fact that its still fresh is not bad. so why spend.

[@1USAUSA]

+William Martin Reyes Plus, a lot of them are still in their packages unopened.

[@crazyknarf]

I worked in a few grocery stores and in one store they would just dump milk down the drain even before the expiration date. 3 to 4 days before. Then there is food that was frozen, but sometimes the freezer breaks down and sends an alarm to the manager's office. And if that alarm sounds, any food in that section MUST BE THROWN OUT. Produce that was on the floor, like maybe those blueberries are not allowed to be sold and MUST be thrown away. If a whole stock of celery fell on the floor, it must be discarded. If there was a power outage, any food that required refrigeration MUST be thrown out. The stores do it for one reason. They do not want lawsuits. They do not even want to settle a single lawsuit. They want to dismiss all lawsuits. And when they get sued, they try to make sure they settle for a lot less then what they were sued for. I recall dumping an entire tub of meat due to a power outage the day before. It was said to see all that meat going into a sealed dumper. City and state laws want to make sure that the stores are not selling expired food like Milk, eggs and baby formula. penalties are stiff for stores if they are found they sold expired food items. Or food that has be so called "contaminated" meaning that the food that had landed on the floor of the store. Let's see, We had to get rid of Milk, Eggs(We were not allowed to sell the cartoon if one egg was broken), loose bread, rolls, bagels, doughnuts and anything loose unwrapped food that landed on the floor was thrown out. Would you eat food that landed on the ground on the street?

[@bel-td5uk]

All that food could be given to the homeless.

[@manicjupiterflute]

There's always a lot of homeless beggars asking for spare change near Walmart also.

[@Koslita77]

I offered homeless people some food that I just bought, and they refuse, they yelled at me saying; money!!!! The only ones that usually receive food are the mental illness, because they do not ask for money, they look lost.

[@moodini99]

Homeless don't want food, they want drugs. Food is available at food shelters in the Western world. Westerners don;t starve. Just some drugs to quell the boredom. And why not

[@flammaferus2998]

@@manicjupiterflute Homeless beggars aren't starving they're only after money. Never give them money! Parasites!

[@sortathesame8701]

@@flammaferus2998 Absolutely do not give them money!!!! You are only helping enable them with their drug problem. In fact, many beggars are not homeless at all! It has been proven that a good number live in perfectly lovely homes and make a really good living just begging on the streets! Those who are truly homeless (it isn't usually hard to tell) are going to be far better off if they reach the end of their rope and turn to state programs where they can get real help returning to their life.