A Kroger employee has shined a light on a well-intentioned but seemingly not-so-well-executed policy. A photo on Reddit shows how food is being wasted, even with Kroger's Zero Hunger Zero Waste initiative.
The photo posted to the r/kroger subreddit shows stacks of boxes reading "Bakery Fresh" on the side. The post's caption is seemingly sarcastic: "Zero hunger zero waste."
In the comments, the original poster said these were boxes of backup donuts and, "This was after closing," so these donuts will unfortunately go to waste.
Kroger has been working on their Zero Hunger Zero Waste initiative since 2017. The company states: "1 in 8 Americans struggle with hunger, but nearly 40% of all food produced in America goes unsold or uneaten. The Kroger Co. is working to change that by ending hunger and eliminating waste in our communities."
This mission to reduce food waste in stores and help feed the people in the communities it serves is an admirable goal.
Some Kroger locations have even been able to donate food during emergencies, like one store in Arkansas that worked with a food bank during a power outage. It should be noted that while donating is ideal, it's not always possible because food needs to be safe to eat.
While company initiatives like this are important, the reality of Kroger's effort is less than perfect. This is not the first time people have called out the chain for being wasteful, as earlier this year, someone shared the store's individually wrapped potatoes.
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Both plastic and food waste are huge issues for the planet. Food waste that ends up in landfills creates methane gas, which contributes to the warming of the planet. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, plastic consumption has quadrupled over the last 30 years, and our waste management has not been able to handle it effectively, with less than 10% being recycled.
Commenters expressed their outrage over the waste of food.
One former employee commented: "The bakery is nothing but waste. Truly. Even down to baking cookies. When I worked back there I was doing full boxes of 16 ct and Christie cookies and in each full container there's always extra. I would throw [out] up to 20 maybe cookies a night."
Another Redditor supported that, saying, "At my store, we have more baked goods go bad WHILE STILL IN THE STORE than anything that goes out of the store."
"That is awful," a third replied.
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