waste not want not
So this is something that really disturbs me but there's nothing that I can think to do about it.
Last week I went to Giant Eagle to shop for food to cook for Wellspring. I decided to make sloppy joes, stuffed cabbage, and meatballs. I use pork in my stuffed cabbage and meatballs, so I needed like 4.5 pounds, plus I needed like 6 pounds of beef. So I got to the butchery just as they were about to close, but much to my glee they had everything covered to be put away except the ground meats. I like to get the pork from the butcher case because it's fresh, but I planned on buying the beef pre-packaged since all the butcher sells is Angus...not necessary for the things I was making.
Sooooo, I asked the butcher dude for the ground pork, and lo and behold it weighed in at exactly 4.5 pounds!
So he says That's good, because now I don't have to throw it away.
And I said You were going to throw that away?!
And he said Yeah, they make us throw all of the unsold ground meat away every night...all of this ground beef is going to be tossed...they won't even let us reduce it for quick sale...do you happen to need any ground beef? I'll give you a deal on it.
So basically, I agreed to buy all of the ground beef left in the case: Certified Angus chuck, round and sirloin for 1.39/pound so that it didn't have to get thrown away. I think there was about 30 pounds of meat altogether. And I wasn't allowed to say anything or he would have been fired.
So that was about 35 pounds of meat that would have been tossed in the garbage if I hadn't been there. And that was only one night, one store. When I think not only of the animals that gave their lives for that meat, but also for the numbers of hungry people that could be fed, it makes me sick.
Someone told me that it's cheaper for Giant Eagle to throw it away and take the loss than it is to store it. Not a good enough reason IMO, but even so, then why can't they donate that meat? Arrange to have it picked up at night? Give it to their employees? If they don't want to store it, then what reason could possibly justify choosing to throw it away rather than to give it away????
I could choose to not shop at Giant Eagle anymore, but that really wouldn't solve anything. Is there a solution?
Last week I went to Giant Eagle to shop for food to cook for Wellspring. I decided to make sloppy joes, stuffed cabbage, and meatballs. I use pork in my stuffed cabbage and meatballs, so I needed like 4.5 pounds, plus I needed like 6 pounds of beef. So I got to the butchery just as they were about to close, but much to my glee they had everything covered to be put away except the ground meats. I like to get the pork from the butcher case because it's fresh, but I planned on buying the beef pre-packaged since all the butcher sells is Angus...not necessary for the things I was making.
Sooooo, I asked the butcher dude for the ground pork, and lo and behold it weighed in at exactly 4.5 pounds!
So he says That's good, because now I don't have to throw it away.
And I said You were going to throw that away?!
And he said Yeah, they make us throw all of the unsold ground meat away every night...all of this ground beef is going to be tossed...they won't even let us reduce it for quick sale...do you happen to need any ground beef? I'll give you a deal on it.
So basically, I agreed to buy all of the ground beef left in the case: Certified Angus chuck, round and sirloin for 1.39/pound so that it didn't have to get thrown away. I think there was about 30 pounds of meat altogether. And I wasn't allowed to say anything or he would have been fired.
So that was about 35 pounds of meat that would have been tossed in the garbage if I hadn't been there. And that was only one night, one store. When I think not only of the animals that gave their lives for that meat, but also for the numbers of hungry people that could be fed, it makes me sick.
Someone told me that it's cheaper for Giant Eagle to throw it away and take the loss than it is to store it. Not a good enough reason IMO, but even so, then why can't they donate that meat? Arrange to have it picked up at night? Give it to their employees? If they don't want to store it, then what reason could possibly justify choosing to throw it away rather than to give it away????
I could choose to not shop at Giant Eagle anymore, but that really wouldn't solve anything. Is there a solution?