A rarely discussed issue - TONS of discarded food by restaurants and grocery stores

[Dover]

With food pantries desperate for food to feed a growing population of hungry citizens,
the food industry continues its INSANE practice of tossing out tons and tons of slightly dated
or prepared foods. Are there any groups tackling this issue?

I was having the local grocery store butcher slice up some deli meat for me the other day. The meat he was cutting from was nearing the end and with about three inches of meat left he tossed it out and opened a brand new slab. I'm staring at this large chunk of meat in the garbage and I asked him why he would throw out nearly a pound of perfectly good meat?! And why not take those and other leftover deli meats/cheeses, etc. to the local food pantry which was in crisis for lack of inventory? He told me they used to do that but the store had changed its policy due to fears of lawsuits. He said he couldn't even give it to a dog.
Same story with the fresh produce and recently expired items.

Maybe some of you caught the PBS program about restaurant buffets. The waste goes to places like pig farms, but still....it's TONS AND TONS of waste.

THIS IS CRAZY!
And all of this waste just adds to space issues confronting our landfills.

So what can be done to make this ass-backward system not just more sustainable but a smart solution to issues of hunger?