French supermarkets must now donate unsold food to charity

[leftynyc]

Source: USA Today

France became the first nation in the world to ban supermarkets from wasting food under a new law this month.

Large grocery stores must now donate unsold food to charities, the Guardian reports, a move that will result in millions more meals for France’s needy.

The law came on the heels of a grassroots movement by shoppers that aims to expand versions of France’s law to all of the European Union.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2016/02/09/french-supermarkets-must-now-donate-unsold-food-charity/80076632/





Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/nation-now/2016/02/09/french-supermarkets-must-now-donate-unsold-food-charity/80076632/

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Viva la France!!! I love this.

[valerief]

1. Wonderful. There's also that much less methane burping out of the dumps, too. nt

[Rod Beauvex]

15. Wait, is this a real thing?

Because 'Methane Burping Dumpsters' sounds like a great band name.

Or perhaps just 'Burping Dumpster'.

[valerief]

17. It's real.

In the United States, food waste is the second largest category of municipal solid waste sent to landfills. About 40 percent of food goes uneaten and gets thrown away to landfills and potentially contributes to greenhouse gas emissions especially with the production of methane, a greenhouse gas that is twenty-one times more potent than carbon dioxide and one of the most dangerous to the environment.

http://donatedontdump.net/2014/07/07/the-effects-of-food-waste-on-the-environment-by-junemy-pantig/

[yeoman6987]

2. In our country it is a health issue.

It is against the law to give food from restaurants to the poor for example.

[leftynyc]

4. This is supermarkets

Do we have the same rules for those?

[yeoman6987]

5. I know you can't donate food with an expectation date

Not sure if we would lift that.

[houston16revival]

9. all that food goes somewhere

i have two suppliers near me that sells soon or recently outdated food

or frozen food way past date sometimes

From several local stores

Chops the budget in half or more

[yeoman6987]

10. I would love to have the French laws come here. We do waste way too much food

[GummyBearz]

14. Its a bit odd

Food has an expiration date, and if its not sold it is considered unsafe to eat. Supermarkets obviously are going to keep food on their shelves until the expiration date, so is the law saying they can only keep it until 1 day before expiration, and then donate it? Kinda odd...

There are a number of ways to play around with numbers, but at the end you are either giving people food that is unsafe to eat, or forcing supermarkets to essentially allocate part of their operating costs to a "forced donation"

[TexasBushwhacker]

20. They may be able to donate to soup kitchens

Because that food would be used quickly.

[greymattermom]

3. Some stores here do that

My daughter lives in a communal house in Denver. Whole foods donates to several houses like that, and they get the unsold food once a week. I you live this way you can get a private room, internet, cable, heat, power and 1-2 meals a day for around 300 a month. But you have to cook and clean some.

[lark]

16. Some restaurants do that as well.

Panera donates all it's unsold baked goods to the homeless and women's shelters every day. They also let their associates take home some baked goods too.

[frazzled]

6. Many American supermarkets do this as well

I volunteered at a food shelter/soup kitchen back in the 90s in Minneapolis, and the amount of food donated by the then big groceries (Byerly's and Lunds) was so ample that, frankly, a lot of it often had to be thrown out. The breads and baked goods would get all moldy before they could all be eaten. And I remember having to clean out the cold locker and throw out tons of raspberries that had gone disgustingly stinko. Still, much of the food that could be consumed right away was very much welcome. It was sometimes just too much. (And this was a very large, active soup kitchen).

Furthermore, the US has laws that don't require, but encourage such donations:

A number of federal laws encourage food donation in the United States by providing liability protection to donors or tax incentives. See the EPA’s websiteexternal link that provides additional information and resources.

The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act,external link which was created to encourage the donation of food and grocery products to qualified nonprofit organizations and provides liability protection to food donors. Under this Act, as long as the donor has not acted with negligence or intentional misconduct, the company is not liable for damage incurred as the result of illness.

Internal Revenue Code 170(e)(3)external link provides enhanced tax deductions to businesses to encourage donations of fit and wholesome food to qualified nonprofit organizations serving the poor and needy. Qualified business taxpayers can deduct the cost to produce the food and half the difference between the cost and full fair market value of the donated food.

The U.S. Federal Food Donation Act of 2008 specifies procurement contract language encouraging Federal agencies and contractors of Federal agencies to donate excess wholesome food to eligible nonprofit organizations to feed food-insecure people in the United States.

http://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/resources/donations.htm

[SoLeftIAmRight]

7. WOW

that is social democratic philosophy being put into practice

[deathrind]

8. This should be worldwide.

It is absolutely astounding the amount of food thrown away that is perfectly good.

[IcyPeas]

11. with all the refugees flooding into

Europe, I think this is great. The rest of Europe should think about doing this too.

[pampango]

12. "a grassroots movement ...that aims to expand versions of France’s law to all of the European Union"

Great idea. Some grocery stores do it voluntarily here but mandating it is a good idea.

[dhill926]

13. K & R...to infinity....

fantastic idea.

[elljay]

18. Leket Israel

I have donated to Leket Israel for many years. They take leftover food from wedding banquets, restaurants, farm and supermarket surplus and use it to feed the hungry. They distribute fresh fruits and vegetables and have a program that delivers 7500-8000 sandwiches to hungry children every day. In 2015 alone they rescued 2 million uneaten meals from restaurants and banquet halls and redistributed the food to the needy. I have been looking for a similar U.S. charity to also support but haven't found one- if anyone knows of one, please post the name. I'm not even sure it is legal under health regulations to donate leftover food from restaurants and events. It just bothers me how much good food is wasted in this country when there are hungry people who need it so badly.

[leftynyc]

19. Depending on where you are

there are many organizations that do this. I live in NY so this is the one I know about:

http://www.treehugger.com/green-food/rescuing-leftover-cuisine-rescue-food-from-nyc-restaurants-to-give-to-homeless.html

[elljay]

21. Thanks

I live in Silicon Valley but am originally from NY. It doesn't matter to me where the needy are- they all need some help.