Reducing Food Waste in American Grocery Stores

Issue Brief

3/28/26

Reducing Food Waste in American Grocery Stores

The Problem

In the United States, 30 to 40% of the food supply is wasted.[1]This means that 20 pounds of food is thrown away for each American in the United States each year. Furthermore, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, American food waste accounts for 161.6 billion dollars’ worth of food and 141 trillion calories each year.[2] Not only is this food waste resulting in huge losses, but it is also filling up the nation’s landfills. Over 30 million tons of food waste is sent to landfills each year, making it the second largest contributor of municipal solid waste.[3] To send this food to landfills costs around 1.3 billion dollars annually, as estimated by The Journal of Consumer Affairs.[4]

There are five points at which food is lost along the supply chain, with the largest being food lost by the consumer, as seen in Figure 2.Although the main cause of food waste in the United States can be contributed directly to the consumers, reducing food waste at that level requires participation from the entire United States population. Implementing policies on an individualistic scale is much more difficult, and involves an entire culture change in the way Americans view the overabundance of resources most have access to.

However, tackling food waste at the store level is much more doable, and still very impactful.10% of all food waste in America can be contributed to grocery stores.[5]This equates to a wasted 16 billion dollars and 14 trillion calories a year. Scattered around the United States, there are over 36,500 large supermarkets with annual sales over two million dollars, and over 148,000 smaller convenience stores.[6] These stories typically carry anywhere between 15,000 and 60,000 products, most of which are bought in excess in order to keep shelves fully stocked. Therefore, unlike consumer food waste, most of the food waste at the store level is perfectly fresh and edible when it is thrown out.

Oftentimes, food is disposed of because the stores over purchase food in order to overstock their shelves, and they simply have more food than they can sell. In addition, produce that has cosmetic imperfections, such as weird shapes or growths, never even make it to the shelves.This accounts for about 26% of all produce sent to the grocers.[7]Even when the food itself is completely fine, food in damaged packaging is also thrown away, as it is less appealing to the consumer. Furthermore, many supermarkets stop selling food before it even reaches its “sell-by-date”. Many Americans, and even grocers, live under the misconception that a “sell-by-date” is an expiration date, however food doesn’t expire for many days, if not weeks, past the sell-by-date.[8]Therefore, grocery stores are not only responsible for 10% of American food waste, but this food is mostly food that is still ready for consumption.

In our country alone, 1 in 6 Americans face hunger.[9]In addition, 1 in 7 people in the United States are enrolled in The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAPS).[10]This program, formally known as the Food Stamps Program, cost the United States $75 billion in 2015, with about 93% of that total going directly towards benefits that households used to purchase food.[11] SNAP benefits are meant to buy nutritious food for the household, such as fruits and vegetables, meat, and dairy, while at the same time, the three main food groups being thrown into the trash by supermarkets are meat, poultry and fish, fruits and vegetables, and dairy products.[12] SNAP is only one of multiple programs, such as The National School Lunch Program and The Emergency Food Assistance Program, developed by the US government to reduce hunger and provide food to needy Americans, all of which are being funded by the government themselves.[13]

Solution

If this food that was destined for the trash was donated to a local food bank or charity, the government could potentially save billions on food welfare programs and landfill costs, and instead reroute food destined for waste to those who could use it. This food, as referenced above, is already scattered throughout the United States, and would only require minimal redistribution. Therefore, food waste at the supermarket level would be drastically reduced, minimizing negative environmental effects such as filling up landfills and creating methane gas, while at the same time maximizing benefits by reducing, if not eliminating, hunger in the United States. In addition, the money saved on current food programs and landfill costs could go towards improving food recovery programs, further reducing the amount of food wasted at the distribution level.

To reduce grocery store food waste, grocery stores should donate their excess food to charities or organizations that provide food services to hungry Americans. Some grocery stores in the United States are already donating their excess food, however the percentage doing so is very small.To increase the number of grocery stores doing this, two main steps should be taken. First, the United States government should develop a mandatory informational coursethat large grocery store bosses and management are required to take. The online course should be geared towards promoting excess food donations among key chain grocery stores by providing information that dispels the main myths about food donations.In addition, the online course should explain the ways to enter into a relationship with a local organization, and should also provide information about nonprofit organizations that are currently working to foster this charity-grocery store relationship. Finally, the course should explain the tax benefits available to the store if they decide to take part in food donations.

Secondly, money typically used to fund programs such as SNAP should be rerouted to assist both local and national nonprofit organizations who help with food recovery. The government should assist these already existing organizations so that they are able to expand their mission. In addition, stores themselves should be able to apply for grant funding from the government for costs related to enhancing food donation systems. This could include money used to install extra freezers, refrigerators, and shelving to store the extra food, or to hire one or more employees to help facilitate this food donation.

France recently passed a lawstating that, “[Supermarkets] with a footprint of 4,305 sq ft (400 sq m) or more will have to sign contracts with charities by July next year or face penalties including fines of up to €75,000 ($86,000) or two years in jail.[14] These contracts hold grocers liable for donating their unsold, edible food to a local charity, or in the case of less fresh food, they are able to donate it as animal feed. Jacques Bailet, head of Banques Alimentaires, which is a network of French food banks, argues that the best part of this law is that food banks will now be able to offer a much wider variety of foods, including meats, fruits, and vegetables, which will greatly improve the nutritional balance of the citizens they serve.[15] In addition, he says the small country of France should not be able to offer more than 10 million more meals a year with only a 15% increase in food donations caused by this law. The United States should follow the steps taken by France, except instead of enacting a law, they should simply create a program to encourage and expand food donations across the country. When or if issues arose in this three step plan to reduce food waste, the United States could turn to the French program for guidance.

One of the main reasons such a small percentage of supermarkets are donating their food waste is because they are uniformed about the options available and believe a variety of myths associated with such donations. Patty Larson, executive director of the food rescue group Food Finders, argues that liability is the biggest reason cited by stores as to why they aren’t donating their excess food.[16] Many stores believe that if someone gets sick off their food, or if somehow good food spoils before reaching the charity, that they could get sued. However, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Donation Act is already in place to protect these vendors. Passed in 1996 by Congress, the law states that,

A person or gleaner [or nonprofit organization] shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of apparently whole- some food or an apparently fit grocery product that the person or gleaner donates in good faith to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to needy individuals.[17]

Educating grocery stores about this law that is already in place to protect them from being held liable would be a huge first step in increasing the amount of stores who donate their excess food.

Furthermore, many stores believe that it would cost them a lot of extra money to donate their excess food. However, the United States already provides tax benefits to businesses that are participating in food donations, which many stores are unaware of. Internal Revenue Code 170(e)3 “provides enhanced tax deductions to businesses to encourage donations of fit and wholesome food to qualified nonprofit organizations serving the poor and needy.”[18] Furthermore, the code states that, “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.” Therefore, this tax cut combined with supplemental grant money should be able to cover the full cost of food donations on the supermarket’s side. If a store knew that they would not have to lose money to implement a food recovery program, they would be much more likely to participate and partner with a charity.

Anotherreason many stores aren’t currently participating in food recovery is because of logistical problems. It is often times difficult for stores and organizations to coordinate the storage of excess food until pickup, and to transportthis food from the store to the charity. However, there are already many organizations in place to assist with this food transport in situations where the store and/or charity cannot find a simple method to do so. One of the largest organizations that does so in the United States is Feeding America. Feeding America food banks collect excess food and then distributes it to more than 60,000 food pantries and meal programs across the country.[19]In addition, there are hundreds of smaller organizations through the country doing the same thing, such as Food Finders, which is a local organization working out of Los Angeles and Orange County in California, and DC Kitchen in Washington, DC to name a few.[20]The informational program should include a database of these charities and resources for contacting these programs.

In addition, the government should reroute funds and financially support organizations such as these so that they are able to expand their efforts. Although there are hundreds, if not thousands, of nonprofit food recovery organizations nationwide, many of them lack the funds necessary to deal with large grocers or large quantities of food. In September of 2015, “Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator Stan Meiburgannounced the United States’ first-ever national food loss and waste goal, calling for a 50-percent reduction by 2030.”[21] The US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Food Recovery Challenge invites participants, including supermarkets and nonprofits, to commit to reducing food waste through multiple facets, one of which being food donation.[22] In 2014, 800 groups participated and were able to donate 88,500 tons of food.[23] However, these participants, although organized, did not receive any funding from the EPA. If money was redistributed to the EPA and they were able to financially support the grocers and nonprofit third parties, more groups would be able to get involved, eliminated food waste and feeding hungry Americans.

Implementing a program that educates supermarkets about food donation options while at the same time financially supporting them would drastically increase food donation rates. There are currently organizations that have partnered with stores and are successfully redistributing this food, including American organizations and France as a whole, however the United States needs to expand these programs and turn food donation into something every supermarket in America is taking part in.

[1] Jacobs, Harrison. "Why Grocery Stores Like Trader Joe's Throw Out So Much Perfectly Good Food." Business Insider. N.p., 5 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[2] Buzby, Jean C., Hodan F. Wells, and Jeffrey Hyman. The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States, EIB-121, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, February 2014.

[3] "Turning Food Waste into Energy at the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD)." EPA. United States Environmental Protection Agency, 23 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[4] Buzby, Jean C., et al. The Value of Retail- and Consumer-Level Fruit and Vegetable Losses in theUnited States. N.p.: The Journal of Consumer Affairs, 2011. Print.

[5] Jacobs, Harrison. "Here's Why Wasted Food Doesn't Get To Poor People." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 16 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[6] "Retail." End Food Waste Now. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[7] "Ugly Fruit & Veg." EndFoodWaste.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[8] Jacobs, Harrison. "Why Grocery Stores Like Trader Joe's Throw Out So Much Perfectly Good Food." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 15 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[9] "11 Facts About Hunger in the US." 11 Facts About Hunger in the US. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[10] "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)." Eligible Food Items. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[11] "Policy Basics: Introduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)." Policy Basics: Introduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[12] Gunders, Dana. Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork toLandfill. N.p.: NRDC, 2012. Print.

[13] "Federal Food Assistance Programs." Feeding America. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[14] Chrisafis, Angelique. "France to Force Big Supermarkets to Give Unsold Food to Charities." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 22 May 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[15] Chrisafis, Angelique. "French Law Forbids Food Waste by Supermarkets." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 Feb. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[16] Jacobs, Harrison. "Here's Why Wasted Food Doesn't Get To Poor People." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 16 Oct. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[17] "Public Law 108-197 108th Congress." PsycEXTRA Dataset (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

[19] "How We Work." Feeding America. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

[20] "12 Organizations Fighting Food Waste around the Globe." Inhabitat Green Design Innovation Architecture Green Building. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.

[21] "U.S. Food Waste Challenge | FAQ's." United States Department of Agriculture. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.

[22]U.S. EPA Food Recovery Challenge. San Francisco: The United States Environmental Protection Agency, 2012. Print.

[23] "Food Recovery Challenge Results and Award Winners." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.