Here's a thought! Would you . .?? Could you . .??

[goldfish]

http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/confessions-of-a-skipdipper-20130622-2op1q.html

[Yvette]

Not sure I would do it, what a waste of all that meat with 3 days until it expired. Why not sell it at a much reduced price.

[dragongirly]

Yes not sure I could do it.  OK lets be honest I'm essentially lazy so I probably would be bothered 

[judydawn]

Not for me either but if my kids were starving that would be a different matter (I think  ).

[achookwoman]

Read this yesterday and no I couldn't do it.  Two things that I thought about after reading it were 1, this woman is obviously well educated so it is not a financial need,  and 2,  there is some very poor management going on at some Supermarkets.  I often buy 'reduced for quick sale" but always check the use by date.  It is just not worth being sick from something that is contaminated. 

[CreamPuff63]

I really admire people who dumpster dive as food wastage is terrible.  I can see that opening up the bin lid would be akin to opening up a big surprise package. If my circumstances were different and I was up to it, then I'd probably do it. It's a shame there's food in the bins when so many charities are crying out for assistance in feeding those in need.

[obbie]

No I could not do it, But it does happen.

supermarkets throw out too much stuff, that they could reduce and sell at discounted prices.


  Alot also get reps to credit them the full price, if they could get away with it.
Years ago, I used t work for KR ( hams), and would end up with up to 20 hams for free a month, as the cryvac packaging had become a bit loose, so they did not want to sell it..

I never had to buy leg ham for 3 years..

[Cuilidh]

I was once in the company of the Greengrocer Manager of a large supermarket chain and he told a story about how they used to give away their old / aged / left over 'greens', fruit, etc. to anyone who wanted them - and it was greatly appreciated.  However, one day, a knife went out with the greens, by mistake, a cow ate the knife and subsequently died and the supermarket was sued by the farmer!  Ever since then they have not been allowed to give anything away.

So, negligence on the part of the person receiving the greens for free has changed the whole culture of giving by that supermarket.  Having said that, there is still a lot of products going into the bins that are usable, one way or another, and it is such a waste to see it not being utilised.

[Nikkit]

A Very interesting article goldfish.
Could I...Would I...?
Well, if I was hard up, then yep - for sure.
I just wish the supermarkets would reduce things to sell a few days out from their use by date (not that a use by date means anything on goods loaded with preservatives, sugar, salt etc... IMO)
Or donate it to a charity/soup kitchen. Surely that'd be a good tax thing for the supermarket.
That way they'd have so much less wastage, people who were on a tight budget could buy more for their dollar.
Plenty of ideas and arguments to this one.

[gertbysea]

People have been dumpster/bin diving for many years  and well before we had use by and best by dates. I have done it and I would do it again if needs be.

Gert

[cookie1]

I wouldn't do it willingly but if times were tough I would. I would even go and ask what time they were throwing it out so that I could catch it!

I hate waste and do wish it could be used.

[gertbysea]

Cookie I was in a restaurant the other day for lunch. There on the plate was a smear of green. I could not pick it. I know the chef and he has a Thermothingy so thought it was a purée of peas or spinach but the flavour eluded me. In any case he spotted me and came out for a chat so I was able to ask him. He said he had just hired a new  sous chef who was French. I complimented him on the meal which was full of flavoursome treats including the smear of green. He told me the chef was great as he could not  abide waste either and the smear turned out to be the broccoli stem which I always use and thought everyone else did too. I always choose long stemmed broccoli just for that reason. He said they don't serve it to customers normally and I would be surprised how many chefs just chuck it out and not even in the stock pot.  Yikes! How wasteful is that in a restaurant? . I would be happy to skip the flower and eat the stems.

We have to start at home too not to waste bits and pieces. I am lucky my dogs will eat anything so I rarely have  much waste at all. I even whizz up the cauliflower leaves  to add to their food if I don't add them to mine. If I were a gardener waste would be recycled for that . Maybe we should have a challenge to reduce our food waste . The $100 grocery challenge by Hally is a big success and I thank her for making me more mindful and saving me heaps.

Not buying what we don't need and not wasting what we don't  want  should be our mantra.

Gert

[cookie1]

Well put Gert. I am one of those people who have a little bit of something left, like fruit, so make jam to use it up. Then I need more bread to have it on, so make that. Then the jam finished so we have lemon butter and so on.
We have end of week soup. Everything goes in. Othis afternoon DH  found his Christmas ham bone in the freezer and made luscious pea and ham soup.

By the way my broccoli stalks go in my soups and Vegie stock. 

[gertbysea]

I prefer the stalks so I put the flower in my soups!  What a find cookie. I am coming to your house to see wot else ys got,

Gert

[Wonder]

I definitely would if I needed to and applaud those who do it regularly even though they don't need to. I hate waste and try to use as much up as I can but unfortunately the rest of my family are not as good. DD used to work at Bakers Delight and unfortunately one Christmas Eve she was left to dispose of all the left overs when no charity turned up, we ended up all helping and I was devastated to see how much we had to throw away - there was at least 50 large garbage bags full and tat was after we had filled our car boot to distribute to all those we were going to be seeing that night. The owner of the franchise wasn't at all fussed and said it was the fault of the charities in the area for not organizing pick ups, to this day that particular franchise only has a charity pick up one r two days per week.