Praise or criticism?

[inhawaii]

I sell a lot of food products.  When product expires or gets close to expiring,  of course i'll eat what i can, but rather than throw the rest away, i gather them up and take them to a area where the homeless are and give it to them. They always seem very appreciative. 

My family and friends have mixed feelings about this. Some praise me.  Some criticize me for "dumping expired food on the homeless". 

Anyone care to share their thoughts?

[prettywoman-2012]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I sell a lot of food products.  When product expires or gets close to expiring,  of course i'll eat what i can, but rather than throw the rest away, i gather them up and take them to a area where the homeless are and give it to them. They always seem very appreciative. 

My family and friends have mixed feelings about this. Some praise me.  Some criticize me for "dumping expired food on the homeless". 

Anyone care to share their thoughts?

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I see nothing wrong with that, just the opposite. I think, if you stored the food according to the instructions and nothing is spoiled, go for it and donate your heart out (well, not quite...). I have heard that in India, Buddhist monks eat for free, in every household. That is because many of them refuse to collect tangible good or carry much property and they are often homeless, by our Western interpretation of the word. Even the poorest of households has something to spare from the table, so not feeding a monk is out of question. 

In our more affluent Western countries, millions of tons of food (and other items) go to waste, each year, that could all have been given to food pantries and other organizations - but they are not. 

It speaks highly of you if you care about the less fortunate. Without compassion for others, our civilization would consists of robot-like beings. This is valid for all, regardless of one's creed or culture.

PW🐿

[s13lilac]

I volunteer at our local food pantry once a week.  We get government food so we have to follow their rules.  If it literally says “expires on xxxx” that is the date you have to go with.  Otherwise “sell by xxx”, “best by xxxx”, and “use by xxxx” talks about the best taste guaranteed.  There are a few exceptions to this rule, but we gladly take most donations and pass them out.  

[this*old*attic]

Yes,

Good for you for taking the effort to let these items go to someone needy!

Expiration dates are kind of a joke - no product on the planet dies on the “best by” date.

In fact, many American hospitals donate baby formula and a variety of medicines, etc. to groups in Mexico and other countries where need outweighs important but often overly picky health and safety rules.

[this*old*attic]

No shame in that.

The reason I know about hospitals donating expired baby formula is because I received some for my youngest daughter.... and shortly thereafter booted her work is optional, I’d rather be fishing dad.

[mcdougle4248]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I sell a lot of food products.  When product expires or gets close to expiring,  of course i'll eat what i can, but rather than throw the rest away, i gather them up and take them to a area where the homeless are and give it to them. They always seem very appreciative. 

My family and friends have mixed feelings about this. Some praise me.  Some criticize me for "dumping expired food on the homeless". 

Anyone care to share their thoughts?

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Praise! 

If i post more it would probably be more appropriate going on the Soapbox board.

[vintagecraze50]

Much much better to give food to someone in need than to throw something that is still good in the trash can. Beautiful and kind gesture.

[bigdeals.etc]

I see too many replies here to actually read them haha. So what I say may have already been said here. I give you praise.

Expiration dates are always intentionally shorter than the items actual expiration because of the fear of lawsuits and companies having to try to accommodate to the lowest common denominator in our population. Some items (not all) are still even functional but just less potent when passed its expiration date (I.e. medicine... I hope the pharmaceutical companies don’t go after me). It’s also a way for you to have to pay and replenish thus making them more money.

Funny story. For my wedding we gave our guests Nutella in little miniature glass jars... I redesigned the sticker to look like the Nutella label but used our names instead. Little did our guests know, the expiration date on those bottles was a week later. Four years later, I never had anyone report they died from eating that Nutella. I still have a few leftover that I still eat and I feel fine.

PS: And I also immediately think of that Seinfeld episode with Rebecca DeMornay. Haha, didn’t she also work at a used book store where George tried to sell his toilet book?

[bigdeals.etc]

@inhawaii  Let me know if you ever decide to stop donating the food. You can always just send it all to me.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@vintagecraze50 wrote:

Much much better to give food to someone in need than to throw something that is still good in the trash can. Beautiful and kind gesture.

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The sad part is that some places are forced to lock their garbage (which their leftover food for the day goes into) for fear of someone going in there and eating the food and claiming to get sick and file a frivolous lawsuit. I believe these places are legally protected if there was a monetary transaction record for the food. That’s why some of these places can’t just give away their leftovers. It’s sad.

[shevey55]

A friend of a friend will return GUM if it's past the expiration date!

[mam98031]

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@inhawaii wrote:

My ex used to think that at 12 midight on the expiration date, the product turns to toxic poison.  😉

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It is amazing some of the crazy stuff people believe.  Oh we could share some stories I am sure !!!

[7606dennis]

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@inhawaii wrote:

My ex used to think that at 12 midight on the expiration date, the product turns to toxic poison.  😉

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My son is in the grocery store business and as a tendency to pull things off my pantry selves once they hit their sell by date.  Many items are good for quite a while after that date but as I mentioned previously, there is a liability risk involved when donating it. 

Of course, I'm not opposed to eating out of date items that I can tell are still safe.  However, the old adage, "when in doubt, throw it out" is a good one to remember. 

[7606dennis]

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@myboardid wrote:
And maybe you should buy smaller quantities of those foods. Also use the eBay tool on your listings that allows you to offer slightly discounted prices if the buyer chooses 2, 3, or 4 of the item. But I bet you already do that. I hate to see you give away your profits.

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If memory serves, selling outdated products on eBay is a policy violation.

[7606dennis]

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@gracieallen01 wrote:

But, one must keep in mind that no good deed goes unpunished.  😀

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Alas!  That is often true.

[karthok.of.daolodus]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

No shame in that.

The reason I know about hospitals donating expired baby formula is because I received some for my youngest daughter.... and shortly thereafter booted her work is optional, I’d rather be fishing dad.

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what?