"Freeganism"

[AChimp]

The article doesn't cover how many cases of severe food poisoning he's gotten. I can see how there's a fair bit of waste in restaurants, but supermarkets are a completely different story, which these people never talk about (nor would they know firsthand about it because they don't believe in having jobs!)

I worked at a grocery store for four years, so I know all about the stuff that gets thrown out. Is there stuff that's wasted? Yeah, of course, but it's hardly the massive amounts that freegans imply.
We only ended up throwing out stuff that we legally could not sell anymore. That produce that looks perfectly good? Yeah, it was sitting in the juices of a dozen rotted vegetables when we found it. It looks fine, but it was covered in shit for half a week.

Products in a grocery store are much more likely to go through a long series of price markdowns before they're tossed (why do you think you rarely see preservatives and dried goods in the trash?) Bruised apples? Knock off $0.10/lb and suddenly they don't look so bruised anymore. Sale on grapes? Chances are, they've been sitting in the back for a week or so. There are people who will only buy fried chicken if it's cold and two days old.

Profit margins in the grocery industry are so thin - typically 10-15% - that the managers will do anything to sell stuff. Throwing stuff out is only the last option or when something has happened to spoil the food.