Eugene OR has a grocery store called Sundance that specializes in organic and local produce. They have a section to their produce that is labeled “distressed” and marked at 50% off.

It’s a practice I wish I could find in my home grocery stores.

I was thinking the same thing about the store using the reduced-price produce for in-house prepared foods. My guess is that they’d be too afraid of anyone getting sick (an irrational fear) to use sale produce. Also, at their inflated prices, they’d probably want to use the freshest possible stuff. When I worked at a supermarket produce section, the deli guys would always come grab a head of lettuce from the cold case like any other shopper (except that, of course, they didn’t pay). Had they asked, I could have given them ones almost as good that I had culled earlier.

As for this 25 cent pepper being local and organic, dream on…

Jeanne forwarded me the link to this blog and I’ve enjoyed reading it. My daughter and I used to lead a “Food Not Bombs” chapter in Hoboken. While this group is traditionally punk, my daughter and I loved the concept of collecting food that was being thrown out (we never asked for fresh donations because that would defeat the purpose of saving food from being wasted). It tended to be vegan and we would cook it and share it in the park with whoever wanted a home cooked nutritious meal. Most of the people who joined us were homeless. We rarely ran short on food and it was all produce that would otherwise been tossed.

Thanks for raising awareness about this. It’s important to be mindful about how we use our resources.