Mrs. Green's Explains its Dumpster Full of Food

Resident Patricia Guzzo’s photo of a dumpster full of fresh Mrs. Green’s food, with the comment “I have never seen so much food in a dumpster in my life,” prompted a flurry of responses on the 10591 Facebook group page.

The manager of the new Mrs. Green’s, in the store's defense, quickly explained that in the bustle of the recent store opening followed shortly by the holidays, it had taken this long to get a deal set up with a local pantry. Until then, by rule, they had to throw away some, he said, but not a lot of food.

“It’s been very minimal,” said Patrick McAvoy of how much food the store is having to discard daily despite the added difficulty of gauging how much a new store will sell. Items such as the bread, for example, only have a shelf-life of one day and then have to go. “I have no choice,” he said.

Starting Monday, Jan. 6, however, McAvoy said the dumpster will be far less full of food – the Westchester Food Bank will be picking up unsold items three times a week. Which is less than the daily pick-ups the store would have preferred, McAvoy said, but it will certainly help, and give back directly to our community in keeping with Mrs. Green's local, and green, theme.

Faced with the staggering statistic that our country throws away a whopping 40 percent of its food, former Trader’s Joe president has announced a unique solution. Doug Raunch plans to open stores full of food past its sell-by date, and still, he says, perfectly good.

From the Huffington Post:

Former Trader Joe's president Doug Rauch is planning to open a store that sells expired food. His project, called The Daily Table, will be a hybrid of a grocery store and a restaurant, Rauch told NPR. The store will sell prepared food, along with fruits and vegetables.

Rauch's inspiration for the store comes from the massive amount of food people waste every day. A 2012 report found that consumers trash up to 40 percent of their food. Last week, a new report was published detailing the futility of food expiration dates. The researchers found that date labels are confusing and lead consumers to trash food that is perfectly good to eat.

And what about that nice day-old bread sitting nicely bagged atop a dumpster? While in the outer boroughs of NYC, you might have a bunch of dumpster divers, or “freegans,” in there having a field day, Westchester residents might not dare to dig in.

Some shoppers wonder why not have end-of-the-day discounts on fragile things like the bread?

Others wonder about the high price to shop at Mrs. Green’s to begin with. 

Is Mrs. Green’s too pricey for Tarrytown? Are they green enough for you? Weigh in below.