1EQQ8ZzGD

salad bars, soups, etc. The same goes for meat and seafood
that is past its sell by date but still within its best by date.
Composting seems like the natural answer for all the other
produce that can't be used. This issue has been explored
and explored at our supermarket, and there are two major
roadblocks to seeing it in action.
1. Storage – Most farms are generally further away from urbanized
(or suburbanized) stores. Because produce deteriorates
rather quickly farms would have to pick up compostable
produce on a daily basis. Storage at the market is
not an option because a large, rotting pile of fruit would
attract all sorts of unwanted pests to the store. Daily pickup
is difficult, and would the extra monetary and green
cost of the freight and labor make up for the produce that
would be picked up? The logistics of the operation are
more involved than one might initially think.
2. Recalls – Unfortunately, recalls due to contaminated fruits
and vegetables do happen. Many of them happen after the
produce has been in the store for some time. If the store
composts melons, and those same melons are recalled two
days later due to a possible salmonella contamination,
then you have potentially deadly compost making its way
around your local farms. I am neither an expert in foodborne
illness nor composting, so I don't know if there is
any validity to this concern, but I do know it sounds scary.
And that's enough to put the issue on the back burner.
Bakery – Almost all old baked goods get donated to the local
food bank, which disperses it to not for profit agencies in
the area. every morning, a big shopping cart of old muffins,
donuts, and bread makes its way to the back dock, and every
morning at 10AM, a van rolls around and picks it up.
Meat and Seafood – Lately, within the past couple of months,
they've been testing out freezing meats that have just passed
sell by date and donating these to the local soup kitchens.
Again, this is still in its infancy, and some issues have arisen
that have taken the logistics of this back to the drawing board.
The main issue becomes, and always comes back to, safety.
Just because a product makes it to its final consumer in a
19