I was at EAT cafe at closing time, and I saw something that disturbed me greatly– namely, 5 great big bin bags full of uneaten food. When I asked the manager on duty why the food was being thrown away, he said “This is the price you pay for fresh food!” I then asked if the company gave away the unused food at the end of the day, and he replied that it wouldn’t be good business, because then everyone would wait for closing time to come to EAT. Finally, I asked if perhaps the food could be given to the homeless, and he responded that there currently was no company policy in place to feed the homeless with EAT’s unsold merchandise.
I was gutted! I feel like the Fresh, Organic food movement and the Green movement have just crashed headlong into one another. Obviously, the idea of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle isn’t appetising when you apply it to food… but are we really thinking of the impact on the environment and indeed, society when chains of stores throw out copious amounts of food at the end of each day?
I must be fair– this doesn’t just apply to EAT. Grocery stores, restaraunts, bakeries and food establishments across the capitalist world throw out tonnes of products each day in order to maintain profits and standards. Do you think this is neccessary to run a business? Do you think it should be changed? Weigh in on the survey below and in our comments section!