Why Should Restaurants Donate Leftover Food?

"Now You Can See Which Restaurants Help Feed the Hungry." "Now You Can See Which Restaurants Help Feed the Hungry." | This video discusses why every food business, including restaurants, should be donating their leftover items to charitable organizations. Load video

Ever worked in a restaurant and felt compelled to break company policy to donate leftover food to the homeless instead of tossing it in the trash. I have. I used to work for a sandwich shop and every day we threw away tons of excess vegetables, meats, and bakery items.

While it may have been unsafe to donate rotting vegetables and meats, to this day, I still believe that it was wrong to toss out the leftover bread and cookies that were freshly baked each day.

The reason is I have myself been in a position in which receiving bread would have made my day. I have lived days when, if only I had a loaf of donated bread, I would not have starved. I think many people are even having a day like that today.

Throwing away items like bread that are perfectly safe to eat, instead of freezing those items and donating them is, in my opinion, morally wrong.

It is wrong because people and animals starve each day and they wouldn't need to if we, as restaurants only took to extra ten minutes or so each day to set them aside to donate. These people and animals starve while perfectly edible food items such as bread and cookies sit and marinate in a rotting trash bin never to be consumed by anyone but flies and ants.

4) TAXPAYERS PAY FOR WASTED FOOD

Another reason why restaurants should donate leftover food that is safe to eat is donating it has the potential to save money for taxpayers.

imagine a world in which no safe food was thrown out...

Imagine a world in which all that food instead went to a local donation center. With the abundance of food that local donation centers would receive, people would need to rely on the government for food assistance less.

The government, knowing that an abundance of food exists at these food donation centers, would probably change its approach to feeding the needy. Instead of issuing food cards with a set amount to use to purchase monthly food items, the government could instead refer the hungry to food donation centers.

Depending on how abundant the food in their area is, local governments may be able to offer less assistance for food or change their approach to feeding the needy, which in the long run, may save taxpayers money. Thus, lowering taxes for citizens may even be an added option.

3) EXPIRED ITEMS FROM GROCERY STORES MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO FEED ALL WHO NEED IT

Further, call your local food donation centers and ask them if they always have enough food to feed the hungry. Chances are, I'm willing to bet, many of them will say no.

Food that is donated from local grocery stores, I'm sure, helps a lot, but the amount of donated food they receive is rarely enough.

But even if food donation centers were ever in such a position as to have too much food to feed the masses, too much food wouldn't be too much of a burden. The people of donation centers, being the kind, and altruistic people they are, would be to figure out how to put the excess food to good use. Donation centers could, perhaps, look into feeding hungry animals with the excess food they are given.

In short, restaurants should also donate leftover food because (1) donation centers can always use more food to feed hungry people, and (2) in a position of food surplus, donation centers may also be able to feed hungry animals.

This is a much better outcome than the one that results from tossing food items that are safe to eat in the trash. There, only the flies and a few species of wildlife ever benefit from the food that is discarded.

2) CAN GOODS AND OTHER NON-PERISHABLE ITEMS COULD BE SHIPPED TO OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD

What's more, if restaurants donated all the food that was safe to eat, if they donated it to the homeless instead of tossing it in the trash, charitable donation centers could find new ways to distribute excess food to places where foreign people starve.

For example, if every donation center in New York received more food than they needed to feed the hungry locals, the excess non-perishable food items could be distributed to poor regions like impoverished towns in North Africa or Ethiopia.

Thus, restaurants should also donate leftover food items that are safe to eat because other parts of the world could use more food. Contributing to the abundance of donated food in their area, restaurants can help donation centers feed hungry people all across the world.

1) RESTAURANTS COULD GET PAID FOR FOOD THEY THROW AWAY

Finally, restaurants should donate leftover food to donation centers because they could potentially get a tax write-off for doing so.

Why not, if you're a restaurant, get monetarily compensated for some of the food that you throw away anyway?

WHAT KIND OF FOOD IS SAFE TO DONATE?

Many food items that restaurants throw away simply cannot be donated because they pose a health risk to the people who consume them. But some food items restaurants throw away can be safe to donate. If you live in the U.S., The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996 ensures that you will be protected from liability for donating foods that are accepted by non-profit organizations.

The catch is no helpful list exists for what food items restaurants can donate to food donation centers. Thus, the only good way to know for certain what foods you normally throw away in your restaurant can be donated is to call around local food donation centers in your area and ask them if they accept any of the items that you normally throw away.

HOW TO FIND A FOOD DONATION CENTER NEAR YOU

To donate food in your area, perform a web search for the key phrase "donate food near me." When I performed this search, many good websites and phone numbers came up in my area.

If you live near a large city in the United States, chances are a Feeding America donation center exists near you. Click on the link below to search for the nearest Feeding America donation center near you.

• Feeding America Food Donation Center Search Page

Also, if you live in the US, try FoodPantry.org to find a food pantry in your state and city:

• FoodPantry.org Search Page

FINAL THOUGHTS

It might be said that donating leftover food to food donation centers is too costly. The amount of time it will take to train employees and the time it will require for employees to sift through the normally discarded food items will cost the restaurant too much money.

Restaurants, being as non- lucrative a business as they usually are, cannot afford to take the extra time necessary to sort and drop off food items that are leftover at the end of each busy day at the restaurant.

Some truth to this does exist.

It is an extra expense to restaurants to train employees on which food items should be saved and which one's should be discarded. It is costly to take up valuable freezer space and to pay for the gas money and time it takes to drop off the food items are a donation center.

But donating leftover food items that are safe to eat is the right thing to do. Never should you or I let people starve when we could feed them for as little as it costs to donate leftover food.

Thus, even though it is an extra cost to the restaurant, because people may suffer from starvation while the items in our restaurant are needlessly thrown away, you should donate leftover food to donation centers because it is the right thing to do.

summary

Restaurants should donate leftover food to donation centers for four main reasons.

First, donating items like bread and cookies that are perfectly safe to eat instead of throwing them in the trash is the right thing to do. Many animals and people starve in the world each day.

Next, donating leftover food items can save taxpayers money. A significant portion of our tax money goes towards feeding the homeless and hungry.

In addition, donation centers don't always have enough food to go around for all. Many food donation centers lack enough food to feed all who need it.

Finally, restaurants should donate leftover food because they may qualify for a tax write-off for doing so. Why not get paid for doing something well?

conclusion

So the next time you're in the restaurant, take a look at the list of items that are safe to donate and determine how your company can start donating food to people who need it ASAP.

further reading

This article focused exclusively on why restaurants should donate leftover food to donation centers like homeless shelters. One of its main points was that donating discarded food items to people who need it like the homeless is the right thing to do because homeless people, being as impoverished as they normally are, are sometimes hungry.