I am sitting here this morning with a brick in my chest, hoping that God has a plan for the events of my trip to the grocery store. During a week in which I’ve asked people to be conscious of the food they waste, I just caused ten unopened boxes of perfectly fine food to be thrown away by a grocery store.
How did this happen?
I purchased the items a few weeks ago at Family Fare- they were an amazing deal after a rebate. Free, actually. How can you pass that up? I had some misgivings at the time, because it wasn’t very healthy food. (Hamburger Helper – but don’t tell anyone!) My husband likes the stuff, though, so I knew it would get eaten eventually. I’ve never seen a rebate expire so fast, but it had to be postmarked by the last day of the promotion, so when I filled out the form a week later, I was already way too late. Frustrated at my waste of time, I decided I would take the whole lot back to the store so I didn’t waste money, too.
UPDATE: I have discovered a successful, homemade substitute for Hamburger Helper!
After the clerk rang up my return, squinting at me in disgust the whole time, she put Xs on the tops of all the boxes with a black marker. It slowly dawned on me, washing me in dread, what those marks meant, and the ramifications of what I had done. The greed of “free stuff” coupled with the carelessness of not reading the small print immediately, along with the “efficiency” of taking things back when the rebate failed…all together meant that all 10 boxes were going to be thrown away, completely wasted.
My mind whirling, I tried to make the decision about whether I should cry out, “Cancel the return! I can’t stand wasting food!” or just continue as planned. It was a foundational moment of Kitchen Stewardship tension, really – the tug of my money and my time vs. my family’s nutrition (I was very aware of the unhealthiness and relative “fake”ness of the food in question) and the environment. All that packaging, all that food and “food” product, all the fossil fuels used to transport the stuff, the impact on the landfill…Arg! Also aware that the clerk already thought I was nuts to be returning the stuff, I stayed mute and let the atrocity continue.
I did ask some questions, though, and I hope we can all learn from this.
It turns out that any item that can go into the mouth must be disposed of if it has been previously sold. I asked for clarification, and the clerk said, “Meijer does the same thing.” From what I gathered, it’s either a law or a fairly standard policy practice among supermarkets. Yikes!
In the past, I have bought and returned food without considering that it might be thrown away. Just this week I returned some spices that I bought on sale, only to find a WAY better deal a few weeks later, before I had opened them. Good bye, sweet cloves and allspice! I didn’t know I was dooming you to the dumpster! 
Now I understand that I can’t treat food purchases as I do clothing (which, with 2 kiddos now, I often buy without trying on and return what I don’t like). I must be certain I want/need an item and that it is my pricepoint before I purchase. Shame on me for all that food I wasted today!
Let’s make this official. My new commitment: I will accept responsibility for my food purchases and never return anything unless it is defective or unsafe for my family.
For more great ideas for the kitchen and balancing your nutrition, budget and earth, see these links:
- How Much Food is Wasted in America?
- Throw Away Less Food
- Connected Meal Planning
- Homemade Chicken Stock/Broth
- Intro to Super Foods Series
- How to Use More Beans
Hungry for more? Related posts:
Katie, I never knew that food returned would have to be thrown out, either!! I think if I ever find myself in that situation again, donating the food to a local food bank would be a great option. At least I know the food will be eaten! Thanks for a great post (and for telling me about your blog today……great meeting you and your children!!)
Sue e.
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Katie,
I applaud your courage in admitting your ‘goof’ in a public forum. I find that very difficult.
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I work for a large grocery store chain. Everything that is edible that has left the store must be trashed. With all the recalls and lawsuits, it is store policy that nothing goes back on the shelf for fear of contamination or spoilage. We see a lot of waste. The local Second Harvest gets the deli and produce that went out of date that day. So aleast that is not going in the garbage.
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I loved your post, and it’s a great reminder to be thoughtful of what we buy, and of the cost/inconvenience to others.
A few more things — some stores have the policy of only throwing away returned food if it’s perishable, frozen (i.e. had to have been kept at a certain temp), or refrigerated. So, a bag of lettuce would be tossed; a can of tomatoes would go back on the shelf (provided it doesn’t look tampered with, obviously!). I am guessing their policy depends on the store/chain/location.
Secondly, stores can get credit from the manufacturer for some returned items, even though they are throwing it away.
Thirdly, many stores actually don’t throw away the refrigerated/frozen/perishable items, but donate it to local food banks. So the store is getting credit from the manufacturer and the food is getting eaten. If the food gets returned to the manufacturer, they give the store a credit, donate the food to a food bank, and take a tax deduction for the donation. So it ends up working out.
I’m NOT trying to say that it’s okay to just buy whatever and return it without thought — just trying to give more info as to what can and often does happen.
Info sources: first-hand info from several friends who work in the grocery industry, and a husband who works in the food industry (manufacturer).
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Katie Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Tammy,
Wow, thank you for the great info! I happened to ask at my major grocery chain, Meijer, and they said the policy is “throw it out” for all food. That makes both food stores I shop at, so I’m sticking with the “commit to what you buy” policy. I’m glad to hear it’s not all over the country!
Katie
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There are many places where dumpster divers would have “rescued” those boxes of Hamburger Helper. I used to dumpster dive and then distribute to friends (many who were in dire straits financially). It was amazing how much food that was thrown away in sealed packages, sometimes cases, and the expiration date was still days away. Anybody who received the food from me knew where it came from and they were absolutely fine with it. Don’t worry about it.
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I have a pitiful story to tell you (most of you wont be very happy…) but restaurants do the same thing (no, I am not just talking about the food you send back and you need something completely new, (of course that gets tossed) but at the end of the night certain food items get thrown out). For example, if a place serves fresh salads, at the end of the night, the lettuce gets thrown in the dumpster, basically only items that are good for one shift/day will invariably end up in the trash–it is a sad sad thing to see all that waste…and you say, “why not give to the food bank?” great question..but the “simple” answer is how “sue-happy” our country is. They can’t give to the local food bank, because, afterall is Ed (who is eating at said food bank) finds and chokes on a screw in his salad, it’s on the restaurant’s shoulders….whether it came from the restaurant or it happened ten minutes before “Ed” served himself…it’s a sad thing, that is for sure.
(my info? first-hand, I have actually thrown out entire containers of lettuce at a very reputable chain-restaurant…and that was just the stuff that I couldn’t take home (because I had already taken some)) I have seen the dumpster and I was given the aforementioned “reason”)
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Katie Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Oh, sad sad. I was at a baby shower this fall, and the restaurant wouldn’t even let the people who paid for the food take the leftovers from the buffet home. That just seemed ODD. Thanks for visiting!
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Oh, I had to laugh about the Dumpster Diving comment! I have relatives who do that and salvage lots of stuff for themselves and others.
I also know people who work at grocery stores and are able to snag things when they see them go out to the dumpster… and winter time is particularly good for milk and frozen food! 
But yes, I agree — a store’s return policy is GREAT when there is a defective product. Just changing our minds or whatever — we’re costing them time and money and maybe causing food to be wasted as a result… the “greener” way is to buy cautiously and wisely!
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My sister used to be manager for a large department store. They do the same thing with clothes- not necessarily returns- just things they’re taking out that are unsold. They were required to destroy the items. She once personally cut up a tuxedo.
I’ve worked in restaurants and concur with those who say a lot of food gets thrown away. We threw away everything that had been heated or was fresh, like the soups, salad, potatoes, etc. It is truly horrifying how much waste goes on.
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I had no idea that perfectly good food that was returned had to be thrown away. Sometimes my husband will stop at the store and buy something we can’t use, or maybe buy the wrong size (i.e. not on sale) and I will return it to get the right thing. I had no idea they would just throw it away.
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Katie Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
Jennifer, From the great comments folks have left at this post, it sounds like this isn’t national policy. It’s worth checking at your main stores, but it’s certainly eye-opening!
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I work at Wal-Mart, and we do sell some returns I know (including food), but I’m not sure what the guidelines are.
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Katie, if it makes you feel any better, I would not call Hamburger Helper “perfectly good food”!
Between the partially hydrogenated oils, the MSG, the food colorings, and the soy flour…and some of the other ingredients…
So I would say that it found its best possible home in the garbage can!
For stretching meat, I might recommend breadcrumbs, herbs and spices, and shredded or grated onions and vegetables…as an added benefit, you can sneak in a lot of zucchini this way without anyone knowing that they’re eating vegetables!
Alex´s last blog ..Meat Of Known Origin (MOKO) In Boston Right Now
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That is a retailer’s nightmare. Someone who buys it one day and finds a better deal the next. That is not the reason for the return policy. The reason behind a return is for defective/wrong size merchandise. A better price (on food) is returning for all the WRONG reasons. A little better planning would seem to be in order here or suck it up and take a loss on a hastily made decision in the never ending quest to save a buck. I too am a couponer but would never dream of returning food items just because I find a better price the next day. It is what it is.
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“They can’t give to the local food bank, because, afterall is Ed (who is eating at said food bank) finds and chokes on a screw in his salad, it’s on the restaurant’s shoulders….whether it came from the restaurant or it happened ten minutes before “Ed” served himself…it’s a sad thing, that is for sure.”
So true! On the upside, our local grocery stores do not throw out salads and veggies when they are a little old to be selling. They don’t give them to the soup kitchen because of liability, but almost all of the zoo’s produce is from old veggies from the stores.
The zoo has to buy their meat and supplements (not that normal stores carry the right kind of meat anyway), but they rarely have to buy their veggies.
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Katie Reply:
February 16th, 2010 at 12:38 am
Rebecca,
Welcome! You’re adding such great info to these posts today; thank you — Katie
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Yikes. I’ve been looking for confirmation. I guess I understand the contamination/lawsuit issue, but what a sad world we live in when we have to do that. I wish more people knew about this! We would probably return fewer food items. I will be featuring Second Harvest (now called “Feeding America”) in a post in a month or two! They do great work.
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