Fred Meyers stores. We can only hope this is late stage capitalism

[Bucky]

https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2021/02/portland-police-guard-dumpster-face-off-with-residents-trying-to-get-discarded-food-from-fred-meyer.html

Portland police officers guard Fred Meyer dumpsters, face off with residents seeking discarded food
Updated Feb 17, 2021; Posted Feb 16, 2021

Roughly a dozen Portland police officers faced off with a small group at a Northeast Portland Fred Meyer on Tuesday after people tried to take food that had been thrown away.

Workers at the Hollywood West Fred Meyer threw away thousands of perishable items because the store, like many others, had lost power in an outage brought on by the region’s winter storm.

Images on social media showed mountains of packaged meat, cheese and juice, as well as whole turkeys and racks of ribs that had been tossed into two large dumpsters near the store.

[Bucky]

1. I'm shivering without power or water in Houston, but I'd never do this

People are starving on the street and they send cops to protect the trash. C'mom, where's their humanity?

I can understand setting up rules for something like this. I know some place in Europe mandate that food has to be granted to the needy instead of throwing away. Heck, sorting and transporting those goods would actually be job creating for some of the homeless.

These people are horrible

[alwaysinasnit]

2. The richest country in the world and we are using law enforcement resources to ensure hunger.

[haele]

3. Big Chain Grocery stores have been doing this since the 90's.

They would rather take a higher deductible on the taxes and "swallow" the loss than inventory and give perishables to food pantries or banks, especially since charititable giving does not return as much and they would have to pay labor to oversee the sorting to be able to give to the charitable institutions.
Same with paying workers to oversee handing out food to the poors and the borderline homeless who would otherwise be dumpster diving for juice, cheese, or meats once they found out there might be a meal or two available if they can manage the cooking or preserving.

Haele

[Bucky]

4. When I worked at a homeless shelter, local bakeries would donate their day olds

But we could never get donations from the big corporate stores

[CentralMass]

8. Fre Meyers DC ors fontad a significant amount if food. They deemed this food as unsafe to eat.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. PrOtEcTiNg AnD sErViNg

[wackadoo wabbit]

6. Vote with your dollars! Fred Meyers is owned by Kroger

Fred Meyer was a nice, family-owned chain when I lived in Oregon. Now it's not.

If you're shopping at Kroger, Fry's, Fred Meyer, Ralph's, Food 4 Less, or a number of other places, you're supporting this type of thing.

To protest this type of behavior, the most effective way is to make them feel it in their pocketbook. It's the only way they'll understand.

It would also help if you contacted the corporate offices and let them know why you'll no longer be shopping at their stores.

In researching what was owned by Kroger, I discovered — to my horror! — that Vitacost is also owned by Kroger. That's where I get most of my supplements. But not any longer. It looks like it's back to iHerb for me.

[wackadoo wabbit]

7. If you're interested in contacting the executive offices to let them know why you'll be boycotting

them, here's a phone number: [phone].

I couldn't find an email address.

[CentralMass]

9. From the article. FRED MEYERS donates more then 5 million lbs of food annually, but food was unsafe

"On Wednesday, the chain responded on Twitter to a deluge of criticism, noting the company donates more than five million pounds of food annually.

“Unfortunately, due to loss of power at this store, some perishable food was no longer safe for donation to local hunger relief agencies,”

[stopdiggin]

11. Thank you.

Donating day old bread or donuts, food stuffs that are simply nearing 'best used' code, etc. -- entirely different than meat that has been room temperature for 3 days. It's really difficult to envision how this "unfrozen" product could have been distributed "safely." Large chains are fully deserving of criticism where their actions and methods are just bottom line and without merit or compassion. This sounds like something that is more considered and ethically sound.

----- --- --- -----

[RANDYWILDMAN]

10. We are 5 days without power in this storm

Uh I love in south east Portland.

This is so terrible to hear stuff like this.

People are more important then profits, you mother F'ers

Fred G Meyer used to be a cheap local store but they were bought out by Kroger and they are just a monolith

[CentralMass]

12. Maybe I am interpreting things wrong but FM said that the food was unsafe to donate.

The article states the FM donates 5 million pounds if food annually, but this food was deemed unsafe.
I live in Beaverton btw.

[ProfessorGAC]

13. See Post 9

They routinely donate food.
This particular lot was no longer safe.
I think the disgust on this thread is misplaced.

[Jose Garcia]

14. How does a supermarket profit if people get sick from eating unsafe food?

[SharonClark]

15. If someone ate unsafe food would you be equally

outraged?

[Hortensis]

16. Far better, hope this is end-stage, post New Deal, conservative era.

We're up to our double chins in food, thanks in huge part to capitalism. Application of our liberal principles and values is what we've been lacking.