Some restaurants, such as PizzaPlex in Detroit, have policies designed to minimize food waste. Most, however, bake waste into their business plans. One frustrated Subway employee recently posted on Reddit about all the food their location wastes daily.
What's happening?
The Redditor posted in the r/subway subreddit to vent about a recent policy crackdown. "Hate this," they said. "Our store is the busiest in town (150-250 sandwiches a day) and yet they're forcing us to throw away day old bread that is still soft and good, when they weren't stringent about it before."
Their post included two photos of a trashcan full to the brim with multiple varieties of untouched footlong loaves.
"What a waste," one commenter wrote. "That can't be profitable either."
According to the original poster's comments: "My manager hates it, too. He's being pressured to by [the operations manager] because a woman came in from corporate claiming that despite our day-old bread being soft, she made a big show of it being fundamentally different from today's fresh bread. … I swear, none of these people know what 'bad' bread even is."
Why are a few loaves of bread important?
As many, many commenters pointed out, bread that's unspoiled at the end of the day could still be used, lowering costs for the store, which could lead to lower prices for buyers.
If not that, then the bread could feed those in need. "Have you talked about donating the bread?" one user asked.
"I have," the original poster said. "My OM said no, because they'd 'open themselves to being sued for donating 'bad food.''"
This waste isn't just painful to those going hungry or spending money; it's also bad for Earth. Wasted food means we're unnecessarily using up extra land, water, and energy, putting a strain on our natural resources and creating more pollution than needed.
Is Subway doing anything about this?
Subway suggests that franchisees collect their food waste for composting, according to the company's website: "For many years, recycling and composting bins have been available for franchisees wishing to recycle/compost. In fact, restaurants in San Francisco and Seattle are composting all their food waste."
However, this program is optional and depends on which franchise location you visit.
What solutions are there for food waste?
Where composting or donation aren't options, stores can get rid of food approaching the end of its shelf life via apps such as Too Good To Go. This means they still get to make some money, and diners get a good deal on their meals.
Some farmers also collect food waste to feed livestock.
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