German Edeka Store Legitimises 'Dumpster-Diving' to Reduce Food Waste

One German supermarket has found a solution for expired (but still edible) food: giving it away for free to customers.

A typical German supermarket dumps food waste that's expired - but in many cases is still edible - in containers outside of its premises.

But as of this year, an Edeka in Ösnabrück, Lower Saxony, has set up a special station for food that has surpassed its official expiration date or is considered too old to still sit on shelves.

Any customer can stop by to pick up a variety of products, from fruits and veggies to packaged goods.

"The most important thing is to get as many businesses as possible to stop throwing things away,” manager Guido Gartmann told German broadcaster NDR. “And if everyone puts a garbage can like this in front of their door, then there's no need for [garbage] containers anymore."

Per capita, Germans waste 55 kilograms of food each year, which the government has set a goal of halving by 2030.

At the Edeka, a special “Golden Trash Can” offers built-in shelves stocked with foodstuffs which for various reasons are no longer good. A refrigerated section is filled with fruits and vegetables which would have otherwise been tossed in a dumpster.

Gartmann also collects left-over greenery that can be used as animal feed. Customers can take leeks, lettuce and more for their pets free of charge.

The act of “dumpster-diving” - or taking thrown-out food from supermarkets’ bins - is currently illegal in Germany, so food has to explicitly be given away in order for people to be able to take it home.

However, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann of the Free Democrats and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir of the Greens have said they want to campaign against this in order to combat food waste.

Until it is legal to take edible food out of trash bins, there must be other ways to combat food waste, Özdemir recently said.

The idea of giving away expired food is entirely new. There are more and more supermarkets in Germany that donate old food - or mark it down to very low prices to encourage more consumers to scoop it off the shelves.

We’re aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

1 posted on 03/07/2023 11:19:53 AM PST by nickcarraway

Throwing food away is a huge sin. Because I believe in this day and age for anyone to go hungry is ridiculous, entirely political and very possible criminal.

I would argue one of the main tenants of Conservatism is not to waste.

2 posted on 03/07/2023 11:24:07 AM PST by frogjerk (More people have died trusting the government than not trusting the government.)

Some molds are highly toxic. How do they know it’s still edible?

3 posted on 03/07/2023 11:37:40 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder

Our chickens love table scraps. Except for orange peels.Why don’t they start raising chickens?

4 posted on 03/07/2023 11:44:27 AM PST by oldasrocks (quew)

Local cops were called to protect the discarded food in a Fred Meyer dumpster, after a power outage caused them to clear out the frozen foods. Lots of waste.

5 posted on 03/07/2023 11:45:35 AM PST by gundog (It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. )

So they’ll eat almost anything, like scavengers? My grandma had a chicken farm but I never knew they ate anything other than grain.

6 posted on 03/07/2023 11:46:54 AM PST by Telepathic Intruder

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