Rescuing wasted food to fight hunger

CBS News ^ | November 18, 2012

[ExxonPatrolUs]

There are no hard-and-fast rules for food expiration dating. Most people don't want to take chances, so once food hits the printed expiration date, they simply toss it out.

But tossing it out has become a problem in itself. It's been estimated that up to 40 percent of food produced in the U.S. goes right in the trash.

"I can be as picky as everybody else," says Janet Kalish, and she can afford to be. She's no vagrant - Kalish is a New York City high school teacher who got fed up with seeing supermarkets toss out good food. So for the past eight years she's been doing her shopping on the streets. She told Smith, "I would say about 90 percent of what I eat is 'rescued food'" - food that comes from the garbage.

[driftdiver]

Supermarkets can’t give it away because they get sued. So they have to throw it away and still get sued by people like her.

[Gay State Conservative]

Someday she's gonna get a really,*really* nasty disease from the food she “rescues” and either she,or her heirs,will sue Kraft Foods,ConAgra,MacDonalds or Starbucks for millions.

[bennowens]

The food can’t read the expiration date on the container...

[Dr. Sivana]

The whole dumpster diving concept has been around for a while, and I don't recall much in the way of lawsuits resulting from it. I seem to remember that Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement employed this method frequently. Now, some environmentalists take the "eat that, 'cause there are children starving in China" to "eat that to help save the planet!" Those who scavenge can also make a pretty good bet one what good eating is. Some recently expired cans and boxes, no problem. Day old bread and pastries in the original package? No problem. Raw chicken three days past expiration, discarded who knows when? Problem.

What they are NOT doing is getting an EBT card to buy shrimp at the supermarket.

[Pollster1]

But tossing it out has become a problem in itself. It's been estimated that up to 40 percent of food produced in the U.S. goes right in the trash.

I wonder what the proportions are in conservative households and in liberal households (makers v. takers). My guess: my family is probably about average for conservatives, with somewhat less than 5% wasted food. With teenagers, food simply doesn't go bad before it disappears. With the takers who didn't work for the food, why should they care if they waste the products of our effort? Obama will come through with the cash to buy them some more food and toys.

[Gamecock]

If it's above the rim...

[andyk]

I keep my eyes peeled for the markdown items close to expiration.

[Gamecock]

With teenagers, food simply doesn't go bad before it disappears.

I have a 15 year old daughter who is a competative swimmer. I can't keep food in the house!

[Irish Eyes]

The food can’t read the expiration date on the container...

Sometimes the expiration dates can be confusing...sell by....used by...or best used by dates.

[tbw2]

And then there are idiots like Michael Bloomberg who have said restaurants and others cannot donate food to the hungry if it doesn’t meet his nanny-state health guidelines. Better to go hungry than eat unhealthily.

[JimSEA]

I’m sure the GOVERNMENT can take care of this under an enlightened program of rationing food after determining proper diets for us all.

[Moltke]

Food processing and packaging is pretty amazing these days. I’ve found the occasional cup of plain yoghurt in the back reaches of my fridge that was well over one year past the sell-by date - turned out to be as good as fresh.

Last week I found a tin of sardines in oil in a cupboard which was stamped with a 2005 date (the tin, not the cupboard) so I guess I bought that back in 2002 or so. Didn’t smell bad when I opened it and the neighbor’s cat didn’t reject a piece of it either. Tasted like sardines usually do, and I’m still here...

[bgill]

That's what the freezer is for. If it's been in the fridge and isn't being eaten fast enough, into the freezer it goes. Had some celery go limp the other day so chopped and froze it and it's going to be used Thursday in the dressing. Bought a big bag of old bananas yesterday for $1. The family has pigged out on the better ones. The ones a bit past eating stage filled the dehydrator and the older parts were mashed and bagged for the freezer for banana bread one day. Last week I had a dozen egg whites left over from using the yolks for lemon curd so filled ice cube trays with the whites and when frozen put the cubes in a freezer baggie to later use in baking. Drained liquid off canned vegetables goes into a freezer container for soup making. Whenever I'm roasting a whole chicken, I cut the wings off beforehand and add them to a freezer bag which, when full, will become hot wings. The chicken bones and the Thanksgiving turkey's bones will be boiled down for soup stock so I never have to buy stock.

No, very little goes to waste in this conservative house. Any other way would be like cashing my paycheck and throwing dollar bills out the window. I worked long hard hours for that celery that went limp so I'm certainly not going to throw it out only to have to buy more.

[Boogieman]

Canned foods have expiration dates mostly as a legal formality. Unless it’s infected with botulism, canned food will be good to eat for decades. It will lose its flavor, but very slowly.

[Larry Lucido]

And then there are idiots like Michael Bloomberg who have said restaurants and others cannot donate food to the hungry if it doesn’t meet his nanny-state health guidelines. Better to go hungry than eat unhealthily.

And don't even think about giving away (or throwing away) muffin stumps!

[driftless2]

My wife freaks out if I try to eat food after the expiration or useby date. I told her that the expiration date doesn’t mean food automatically goes bad after that day, it just means it starts losing its freshness. I keep my own bread in the fridge, and have eaten slices far past the so-called expiration date. My wife is shocked that I’m still living.