Food waste update (Marketplace)

A year after our investigation, Walmart says it has reduced its food waste by 20 per cent, though Canada continues to lag behind other countries when it comes to policing food waste.
To read more: cbc.ca/1.4371547
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[@kevinblack16]

I have to give credit to Wal-Mart for not dodging and agreeing to be on camera.

[@user-lz3em1cd5h]

agreed

[@nessa7094]

Right!? A first lol

[@kevinblack16]

I just mean you tend to see " x company declined to be interviewed on camera but shared a statement via email."

[@urilgal]

Not dodging and actually cutting the loss by 20% in a year, with a lot of tests still in progress before rolling them out is great to see!

[@Lumby1]

Walton family net worth $150 BILLION, they can afford to be ''generous' and 'socially responsible' and 'provide jobs', it's good for 'business'

[@rubig819]

Glad Walmart agreed to be on camera. It's great that they are working on reducing food waste.

[@TH-pb4ux]

There are laws that prohibit supermarket from selling bad or expired products. The expiration dates are often dated too early, but this is not a fault of the supermarkets.

[@jamesdeclan7538]

Next up, the amount of plastic waste

[@agahajak]

2:17 "What's changed since the last time?" he grew a beard

[@r.t.b615]

I've seen those reduced items on a shelf waaaàaay•••••back at the back of my supercenter Walmart in Minnesota, I've never seen fresh foods on those shelf's. From 2017--- to 2021 I wonder what they have done to other stores in my town not only W.M.?

[@johannakenwood3359]

I work for a school cafeteria company and omg on friday the food waste hurts my soul!! My previous company allowed us to bring any extra food home (i would drop off at my hubby's work). My new company says NOTHING can leave and EVERYTHING must be thrown in the garbage. It kills me to see perfectly good food just being thrown into the trash when there are families that are starving and cant even get enough food to keep the kids properly nourished.

[@thomasliu7291]

I don't know why in my school everyday the food sold out very fast

[@AztaTheGreat]

so thats why we have that here i always buy those bags of fruit or vegetables that are a dollar a bag. same with markdowns. they are so useful for low income families

[@harleydd]

Luminty Rose ANY family

[@Tori_TLCR]

Me too. Tomatoes can be tossed whole in the freezer and whole again right in spaghetti sauce. I buy all kinds of fruit and what doesn't get eaten, gets sliced up, frozen and thrown into muffins or smoothies.

[@pierreluc5382]

A crybaby thats also a demon Yo mama so poor

[@HiItsJoshuaa]

This is just one example of the importance of good journalism. Thank you CBC!

[@BarbarianKing2964]

Hail Trump never been said before

[@retiredshitposter1062]

lmfao. yea, let me know when they expose massive political corruption. let me know when they explain what was in JFK docs that were released yesterday.

[@asdaww.4084]

Good one!

[@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou]

IDK, they could have started by going into their archives. Best before dates: How supermarkets tamper with your food (CBC Marketplace) kzbin.info/www/bejne/kKmmhZJ6a611mpo Those kids should have been made to watch that video as well. You cannot absolutely accuse Marketplace of being one sided, and yet that is how these particular segments were individually presented. Marketplace is pandering a bit too much with the food stories. I figure these were produced by separate production and writing teams, but the final programs were shown under the same banner. The issues are far more complex than can be adequately summed up by Marketplace without additional time and editorial balance.

[@vivillager]

There's something that trumps journalism any day of the week and twice on Sunday. That's money. I used to work at a market store (my first job when I was a kid), customer's would often leave cold food in a shopping cart and leave the cart for reasons unknown, or while shopping they would develop buyer's remorse and decide that instead of buying that cold jug of milk, they'll leave it in the room-temperature printer-ink aisle. Our policy at that store, if food was ever found in a condition other than cold to the touch, it was trashed. There was a local church that also ran a food shelter that asked for it. Our response, you can pick it up after the food is off our property (meaning, they can get it after the trash-truck has collected it.) The store manager had no intention of allowing the store to be sued for having food-poisoned a customer, paying or non-paying customer. Journalist may make Wal-Mart put on a charitable show, but the show will be over when the adults step in (adults meaning lawyers who will remind the managers that opening their store up to a multi-million dollar lawsuit is a great way to end up applying for unemployment benefits.)

[@mikefoehr235]

Marketplace...in a league all by itself...and what is even sadder is small kids are more ambitious and smarter than most adults.

[@mrcorey]

The Walmart in Fredericton does this markdown practice. Its kind of cool to get a variety bag of fruit or veggies for a buck and chicken marked down to half off, rather than see it thrown away.

[@twdjt6245]

Dunno where this was filmed, but here in FL they've been doing the 40-90% off clearance on most foods for years. Don't remember the last time I bought full price deli meats, fresh meat, or baguette bread there. Wish they'd do it for fruits n veggies though.

[@DezaRay24]

Jen Tuesday It clearly states this is in Canada.

[@phag3048]

I'm a cashier at food basics and we sell reduced produce. Funniest thing is that the other day there were reduced plantains that were dark... That's the perfect time to cook them!

[@joyjoyoo]

Sharma R I tried cooking them once but it got all mushy...should I fry them?

[@indrinita]

joyjoyoo yes! Cut them in thin slices. Fry them with a bit of salt - super yummy.

[@joyjoyoo]

indrinita thank you!!

[@cindy846]

My Haitian Grandma preferred to use them when they were still green (contrary to "regular" bananas). I'll follow her receipe :)

[@astleyfam]

Looking forward to next week's marketplace.

[@bettymunroe5347]

In 1980 I could go to the FOOD CITY GROCERY STORE at end of night and get some things for free . It helped as I was a single mom with 4 children . They also donated to shelters . I live in Toronto Canada . Why did it change ???

[@rachelrandant5344]

Those kids touched my soul! Wow! 💖

[@princessleah187xx4]

My local no frills sells "reduced" produce.

[@superboi7028]

Mine too. But I wish they would time it better by reducing it a bit earlier so at least 60% is edible. I've seen stuff that is just plain waste of money to buy at the reduced area and mostly the elderly buys them with poor eyesight.

[@DJ-cd6gk]

I've worked in retail previously and a good deal of food waste comes from certain food safety rules. Yeah these rules suck and so does food waste but it's generally a " better safe than sorry" situation Specifically regarding that which gets tossed before it expires: -If items are found on shelves or in carts with no way to know how long they've been out, you can't put it back on the shelf. Anyone in retail knows customers always leave things where they ought not. -If customers return food items, they must be tossed... especially if they left the store -Any item that has gone outside of the temperature safe zone must me tossed out... you wouldn't really want them to be selling you something that's supposed stay cold if it had been left at room temp for 30 mins

[@houchi69]

My store in US work with local food banks, they pick up all the foods for us, and we get a tax deduction AND we don't pay anything. There are still a lot of foods to be thrown out, such as rotten food, food trimmings, etc.

[@barbfrontczak1791]

It totally breaks my heart to see so much food go to waste and I struggle to buy and provide food to my family 😭😭 😭

[@nikkil2519]

I used to work for a Walmart in California. The rules were if the package is even dented a little we were to throw it out. It was all about appearance and tax write off. My friend made the mistake of eating some perfectly good deli items instead of throwing them away and got fired for stealing. When he put his case to the store owner, they did not care that it was food for trash

[@amandalee4141]

This should have happened a LONG time ago... I am glad that Marketplace did this but I am amazed by how the children are more informed than most adults.....

[@MrEpicDude12]

I should take a trip to Canada for some free food.

[@nonyabeezwax8693]

SpecialKillerJ its in your local store garbage

[@philaudiostrike8746]

Very grey area, When suppliers have a recall on products. The merchant usually just counts the amount of products then throws in the garbage to then get refunded. They don't mark it or anything. So it might not be safest thing to pick the trash. Food might also be trashed because it was in contact with something it should not of been.

[@GIJew]

Having been in retail management before, I can tell you that 99% of all recalls were due to labeling issues, and nothing to do with the quality of the product itself. If a company forgot to list a single ingredient on the label, it had to be pulled and destroyed.

[@GeorgeVCohea-dw7ou]

Undeclared allergen recalls are the worst as far as unfortunate waste goes, but it's understandable why dumping is preferable and generally cost effective to relabeling. It's probably ok to pick out some sealed shelf stable ingredients, especially if you don't have any food allergies. Just make sure to check the specific reason for the recall, because I believe pathogen recalls may be just a bit higher than 1%. Yeah, I'm not about to do something like this, and I'm grateful that I don't have to.

[@GIJew]

Yea it's definitely higher than 1%, I was just trying to get the point across. More often than not, the food is perfectly fine, but they forgot to include "MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF ".

[@oliviasarah8348]

The trucks that would be transporting the unsold food would not be getting it from the dumpster. It would come from the retailer, and they would ostensibly be separating good unsold food from recalled products.

[@GIJew]

Didn't matter what kind of recall it was, people would freak out and run to the store to return the recalled product.

[@intellegence63smart]

2:53 - Getting close to its peak freshness??? XD

[@priscillajimenez27]

I'm impressed by the teacher and her kids. I wish to see more of this on my country. 💝

[@careylalor9902]

I used to know a guy who lived out of a local grocery store dumpster. No joke

[@dwaynewladyka577]

carey lalor How safe is that? How long has the food sat there? It cannot sit in warmer or hotter weather, for extended periods of time, depending on what the food is. That is risky to consume.

[@srijonisaha9017]

Dwayne Wladyka oh man ! Canada is always cold .😆

[@evacubasvasquez449]

I love that you do updates in order to keep companies accountable! Awesome to see :)

[@Zidlef]

Sadly food waste in grocery stores and others are being passed to customers on the prices we pay. The food waste idea the kids gave is awesome but the grocery stores should pay for the truck and not pass the bill to city tax payers. If the idea the kids put together for them to look good in the media, have big impact on number cruncher's in big groceries stores. They know about this issues, they know what they have to do, but always find a way to let consumers pay their way and pass for the good people. Lower the prices of products in stores first and people will be able to afford the items from the start and hence less food wasted. Marketplace on CBC is one of the best shows out there , tyvm

[@Kissy7890]

it the same in juneau, alaska. walmart was here, they thrown out so much foods. the employees worked there. they have no ideas that there was so many foods are wasted

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

I do see these discounted price stickers at my Walmart here in the States, but they're always for the bakery items (those carts are pretty much how my family always finds our desserts, lol. A discounted apple pie and then we'll buy a cheap variety of French vanilla ice cream. Heaven). But I digress. Look at all those apples shown there. Are that many people REALLY going to buy all of that? I'd say the store should look into purchasing less since buying too much can be wasteful, too. Analyze trends of when and how many items are sold throughout the year to get a good indication of how much you truly need.

[@hzzlrp10]

Purchasing less stock is more tricky than it may sound. Sales and consumer demand are difficult to predict. The old adage "Past performance does not necessarily indicate future success" applies. Retail ordering is educated guesswork. Demand for an item that sold well the last two weeks could drop off for no observable reason or vice versa. The retailers I have worked for would prefer to have excess stock rather than catching hell for running out of something.

[@thetwistedsamurai]

A lot of stores in my area do this-- as soon as it's either past or approaching the best by date, they mark it down halfway. Smart idea, really. I use the food within the day typically.

[@shynot6741]

God Bless marketplace for caring so much. it's an inspiration to see the kids follow through on making sure something is done about food wasting. I think its sad that a lot of the food being waisted is coming from poor countries that don't have enough to eat themselves. I heard this expression recently. make your life simple so others can simply live. we should all follow that motto.

[@thunderstorm204]

what a great teacher and class :)

[@Emi-ze9si]

These kids are amazing! Kudos to them for taking more action than most adults do.

[@bdgoins1]

When I was younger I worked in a store people would change their mind after picking up packages of food that needed to be maintained at a certain temperature and just leave it with the bread or soap etc we had to "write it off" so at times customers are to BLAME

[@MandyLina123]

Oh so that explains why whenever I walk past the local walmart going to work (because my work is located behind walmart) their trash bins are always behind fences and all locked up.

[@hollym.3599]

I’d be interested in a follow up story. Did the city do it? Have the children become even more involved in social issues? Have the food banks accepted or refused the food? What do the food bank clients think of this program? Have any other programs been launched? Inquiring minds want to know.

[@jaydencolour1072]

these kids are amazing. I want kids like this

[@amandabarbee8410]

These kids are our future!!! So amazing to see this and some credit I give to their parent's. I am not a parent but I would hope to have a son or daughter like these trail blazers!

[@frankguan5044]

Well its because the customers are too picky, throwing suspicious food away is safer than risking a law suit that costs millions of dollars and dereputations.

[@chantel198769]

2:18 whats changed since the last time? Me: his beard 🧔

[@heenanyou]

Belleville Ontario Metro throws away their perfectly good hot meals about an hour before closing. They don't even mark them down to give people a chance.

[@nessa7094]

Yes marketplace, keep up the pressure!!🔥

[@jamesknox3485]

Just returned 3 packages of unopened dates: Walmart clerk marked barcode with marker so they will not be returned to shelf -but put in garbage... this should not be still happening! Walmart should post signs letting customers know that any returned food items will end up in the dump.

[@mikesawing3854]

People then buy this food, let it sit at home too long, throw it out anyway :^)

[@impumagirl]

I used to work at Walmart about 20 years ago in Los Angeles the area was low income we used to do that because we used to see people a lot of them with kids look in our trash for food and they would pull out the bad food and take it and we felt terrible so we started putting food that we knew they over ordered that would always be left over to expire it always would into the bins and I know I felt a lot better about seeing them take the food that wasnt expired for their kids I assure you none of it gets hauled off to the dumps... Thanks Market Place hopefully you can feed these people now why don't you do a report on something that might help people not starve them WOW

[@FrankWu]

The why reason a lot store throw stuff away because they cannot sell it and plus they have policy if employees take it home some store deems it as theft

[@chafouaube985]

4 years later, the food waste is an issue. I suggest you take the PM for a night of visiting all the grocery for action be taken all accross our beautiful country

[@AmirFaruk]

That's what I call good journalism 👌

[@gobindsingh3027]

I love CBC for educating us.

[@WinterCrafter]

wow... here in australia we have been marking down items that get close to the use by date for a long time... rip merica.

[@culinarygurly987]

So why happens when they cannot sell at a discount?? I don't recal the spokesman saying anythingnother than " we are trying to donate" but no concrete statement of it. Makes me just want to move to France ugh still so much work on waste, food waste and recycling processes of ALL things we go through

[@countroshculla]

Poor spokesman, he has worked so hard that he hasn't had time to shave in that one year.

[@brandonhoun]

Some Supermarkets claimed they sent food to shelters and the homeless sue them because of food poisoning. So they stop sending and just throw away instead.

[@CrystalFuller5]

This is wonderful what they've done. I hope this spreads to not only Walmarts across the countries they're in, which is one of, if not the, biggest grocer store in many places, as well as to other big stores. I also noticed their Walmart had a bulk food area. I hope that spreads to the U.S where I haven't seen that yet in their stores, though the ones where I live don't even sell fresh produce. Higher availability and use of bulk foods could help reduce food waste, provide healthier, unprocessed foods, and provide food at a cheaper price.

[@blackhorde22]

Can't wait to see what happens in December, these are the youth of the world, they should fight for the future they are eager to live in for the next 70 yrs.

[@washx2k755]

kid's English was first class not even US people could speak like that- very interesting

[@RugbyGuide]

I'm not sure where legislation is on this now, but stumbled upon this today looking for news items about food waste. I'm a thrifty person who detests food waste so start my shopping at the discount racks. I was shocked to see the thoughtless waste in the first segment... but also wondered if some of the things, like the juice, were because of customers that pick something up and leave it on the wrong shelf. I see this in stores all the time, even with foods that expire quickly / when not chilled like meat and dairy! I imagine it legally has to be tossed. And credit to Walmart, because their discard/discount policy seems to be "put it out for sale while still pretty good, and at a cheap price". I love veg-filled soups and baked goods with fruit, so happily buy those. When I see this at the Super Store or even No Frills, the food is already mush and often with just a 30%-50% discount rather than $1/$2 for a big bag like at Walmart. That said, I started searching for this because in the last month, I've encountered three charities that collect food from grocery stores around town (Victoria, BC) and make it freely available to those in need.

[@Robert-sw1lt]

my friend was doing this years and years ago they must have got a tip from a diver before thinking about making this video. you can find some good products that are thrown out if you're lucky that can last a few more days still.

[@Kittythecatanimations]

Why can't the us do this I haven't seen a section for clearance produce in dallas tx yet

[@Nadinec10]

Donating food is not a good solution to solving food waste.

[@JeRiLiHe1966]

2018 and they still throw out tons of food!!

[@user-lz3em1cd5h]

So refreshing, the words of a business man versus the words of a politician.

[@bluejayjay494]

I think Canada and the U.S.A are probably the 2 countries who waste the most amount good food, I could be wrong but don't think I'm far off

[@ReinhardtX57]

11:31 the kid is to innocent, that he doesn't know that food waste thing is only happening in his country canada, usa, and australia, and maybe some of european countries, while the other countries in the world don't waste food as they are

[@indahwulandari6236]

I'm holding on my tears....brave kids, I'm touch

[@jf76]

How is this even a question? Reduce food waste through the big chains. People are hungry. Make it a policy. Either pay for senseless garbage disposal for food that is still good and safe, or make it more available to those in need at decreased prices or donated to shelters.

[@Jameson77777]

The interviewer asked what's changed since the last time? Ummm well the Walmart spokesperson became a hot bearded daddy! 😋😘😍 oh yeah food waste is bad lol

[@ngasperson23456]

I run a food bank. Can't blame the stores when people refuse it due to dates and looks.

[@thisguy1444]

People have no idea how much money it cost to donate food to shelters or food pantry

[@intellectualrebel5340]

And here we go again, people caring about money and not food or the poor.

[@Jessica-vw7pp]

Does anyone see the correlation between who's wasting useful food, while simultaneously claiming a greater agenda???

[@Darksyne]

Hopefully Walmarts across North America does this. Less food waste so that resources are managed and lower cost food for those with low income

[@Dan_07]

Here in Australia waste companies collect food waste in a separate dumpster and it is taken and turned into energy by a company called earth power. From (Cleanaway ) /Veolia Website (Veolia is currently the leading processor of waste food organics in the metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne markets, through our facilities, Earthpower in Sydney and Dandenong NRS in Melbourne. NRS, short for in-vessel composting, is the biological degradation of organic wastes within an enclosed, controlled and monitored aerobic environment. The facilities we operate produce both renewable energy and compost through its efficient processes and in Victoria, Dandenong NRS is the only metropolitan facility licensed by the EPA to process food waste and has been successfully converting food and garden organic wastes into soil improvement products since 2000.) and we also have ozharvest who collect food rest as going to be thrown out from supermarkets and give it to the needy

[@PrinceChris93]

Good for those kid's I'd be extremely proud

[@damiennguyen5143]

I would eat the baked goods out of the bin. They're not that dirty,and they're packaged.

[@spottygmusic2305]

Dont worry I used to work at a grocery store and we were just told to rip the slimy mushy part off the lettuce so we can still sell it

[@teatea4496]

I dont think it has changed I work at Walmart and when we do the donation bin we cut open the product and discard it all into a single bin for tomorrow mornings food donation truck to come pick it up. This causes food contamination so I dont think the company is really donating it but rather just putting on a show and then discarding it.

[@joyjoyoo]

Tea Tea yikes!!! Shady af. I wonder if my local food basics does the same

[@GiaielPace]

Please use the app “Olio” to donate the food, instead of trashing it. They have food waste hero’s who would pick it up and distribute in their communities. There are so many people out there who can’t afford to even buy food.

[@MrsStrawberry98]

Would be curious where they are now!

[@bridgetearl2931]

yes

[@antoniomoore5149]

I love Marketplace!

[@schnuurtchke]

I’m eating an apple 🍎 when I’m watching this video

[@evraalexandrite3770]

Why not give it away to people who need it?

[@seven-cjin3028]

Agree to many comments here. They canno simply put food produce which sitting in cloth department with no clue how long, or a returned unpacked cookie. There's the risk for customers.

[@seven-cjin3028]

Credit to this video people may raise their concous after watching this. Don't just blame on the market. Watch your behavior too

[@marinalina6348]

Should go to the food bank

[@mikecorbeil]

Bravo, for these socially sensitized, say, children and of course the adults. These children surely learn from educational (socially anyway) adults. So, they all merit congratulations.

[@cindy846]

Is there anything cuter than these motivated kids? I just love 'em!! 😀

[@debbieframpton3857]

I buy all my meat and a lot of my other food items marked down at Kroger I've been helping at a church food pantry and we get most of our donations from Walmart

[@fareeda09]

Walmart waste soooo much food is unbelievable .I wich I can post pictures of they're baskets full with claims . Food that still good .they should guive it to employees charity or Wetever but no they will choose the garbage can

[@priscillajimenez27]

I'm gonna grow a goatee so no one recognizes me lol

[@wehow3966]

the guy who was getting interviewed i dont think that he was too comfortable

[@TNinja0]

I mean, while you can give away food to charities, someone still needs to pay for transportation. I imagine it gets expensive overtime.

[@melissasturgis]

I'm glad that this is being exposed and y have been writing stores myself for years and the corporate office staff doesn't care.

[@seniorpz1969]

putting food in bins to throw away and THEN call police on ppl who try and get that food for their families....whats wrong with this picture?

[@lifelikethisandthat]

and PEOPLE should also stop WASTING FOOD.

[@mattdathew2794]

did the kids get the truck?

[@dizzylizzy4684]

There is a tremendous amount of food waste, some of it is junked for reasons people may not know. Customers return food, yes they return food to Walmart for whatever reason and even thou some of it is sealed it still has to be junked. Have you even seen meat products on shelves other than the cooler section where a shopper decided against it, again tossed for a reason. I'm sure you don't want to be eating chicken that's been sitting in the toy department for god knows how many hours. Maybe there was issue with refrigeration the consumer is unaware of, so food is tossed into a dumpster. Sometimes we don't know the whole story. But that being said, there is a huge waste, but sometimes for a reason.

[@allengrattafiori8978]

I love market place! Oh and they didn’t even pay me for my review! Haha

[@w8ngr]

I hate the way the programmes aren't as long I'd rather wait a bit to watch one video than watch one part a week or whatever

[@mohitbhatia809]

Hats off to these kids. I hate to throw food. Coming from India and now living in Canada I am blessed to have all but there are over a billion people who do not have access to food daily. From Africa, India and china and a lot of countries. Even in Canada for god sake.

[@yashpanchal7065]

I WILL BRING ALL THAT FOOD WASTE TO MY HOME.

[@vanessacarballo2640]

We are watching these videos tomorrow, in Global Citizenship class, in México!