Eyewitness Reports

These are eyewitness testimonies from current and former employees of Loblaws, Metro and Sobeys about they food waste they saw in these companies. Names may have been changed to protect identities.

“One day we threw out 34 whole, cooked chickens and it was done like it was nothing. When we make too many and people aren’t buying them they’re not considered fresh enough to use we have to just throw them out. If you don’t, you lose your job. The department managers don’t like wasting food either, they know nothing is really wrong with the food but their job is on the line! So in a way, under the current policies, the managers have to make sure things are wasted. Ultimately, HQ needs to face the reality of what’s going on in their stores and make it easier for the stores to waste less food. Companies are just trying to make more and more money. They don’t care so much about the people or the resources. You wouldn’t believe the amount of trash there is everyday… It’s just…” [left speechless].

– Andy Apple, Sobeys Deli Clerk & Loblaws Meat Clerk

“Every day we have to throw out a lot of ready meals and prepared foods like french fries & wedges, vegetables, chicken fingers, 1/4 chickens, fried chicken, scalloped potatoes, Mac and cheese, onion rings, bacon/sausage/hash browns/egg. My colleagues and I do our best to reduce the amount of food we waste, but some store policies are inherently wasteful – like the fact that the counter display has to be full of food up until 9 or 10pm, even though the chance of selling the food at that time is low. Everything from the display that remains unsold by closing has to be thrown out. Typically every night we throw out between 10 and 25 servings of chicken and ready meals. For some reason, management wouldn’t let us reduce the price to sell it quicker, it just had to be thrown out.”

– Barry Banana, Loblaws Clerk

“I worked for Loblaws for 3 years and the amount of waste I have seen during those 3 years was disgusting. Vegetables, fruit, dairy, meat, so, so much good food that could have EASILY been given away. They were not expired, it was all about stock and making sure the best looking stuff was put out. What’s even worse, the management wouldn’t allow employees to take the stuff home, we had to deal with it and throw the stuff away. Companies like that couldn’t care less about food waste. It’s gut wrenching to think that 100s of tons of edible food a year is thrown away from companies that can afford to give it to the homeless.”

– Eric Eggplant, ex-Loblaws clerk