Every year Americans throw away about $640 worth of food every year, according to a survey conducted by the American Chemistry Council. Many times we leave dairy sitting outside for too long and factors like temperature, moisture, microbes, oxygen and light can lead to food spoiling. Now there’s a supermarket in Boston called the Daily Table, a non-profit supermarket that will be selling expired food or nearly expired food at affordable prices. As we all know, most food has an expiration date stamp, yet even though the expiration date has passed, it’s still perfectly safe to eat.
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Most grocery stores want to be known for having the freshest vegetables because it’s what people want and buy. Once fruit starts browning or start developing imperfections, it will be more difficult for people to buy, so they end up throwing those items away.
The Daily Table is working with local supermarkets in Boston, so that they donate items that they were going to throw out. Or they purchase nearly expired food from them at lower prices. For example, many grocers won’t accept packaged food less than 6 months away from their expiration date, and they do.
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There is nothing wrong with selling or eating expired food, in fact expiration dates are not federally mandated, so they’re not breaking any laws. In fact many grocery stores now have a nearly expired section or very ripe fruits and vegetables that they sell for a lower price or even buy one get one free.
They do this for the same reason that Daily Table is doing this, to help feed those people who wouldn’t mind eating this food almost right away. People who were not able to afford this food in the past are now able to. Many times we see beautiful fresh strawberries or grapes at $4.00 a pound, but if you only have a couple of dollars to spend, you’d rather skip that and now you don’t have to.
If you’ve ever lived on food stamps, you know you have to cut corners, especially when feeding a family of 4 or more. Many times low-income families cannot feed their children a high-nutrient diet and are forced to feed their children processed foods, which is what they can afford. This is changing the way people think about food and the Daily Table has received a positive response because they are changing how people think and eat.