Food Bank of North Alabama and grocery stores work to reduce food waste

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — When you walk the aisles of the grocery store, you may wonder, “What happens to the food that people don’t buy before the ‘sell-by’ date?”.

The good news is that many grocery stores across North Alabama work to ensure the food isn’t wasted.

🍅 Click here to help News 19 combat the crisis in North Alabama and ‘Fill the Food Bank!’ 🍅

The Food Bank of North Alabama partners with dozens of grocery stores in the counties that it serves, to reduce food waste. The grocery stores will donate their unsold food that is still good to eat, to the food bank.

“It’s very much a win-win, relationship because this is able to keep food out of landfills, out of incinerators and into the homes of people who need it,” said Bobby Bozeman, the Development Director for the Food Bank of North Alabama. “Year-to-date, we’ve rescued 5.5 million pounds of food from grocery stores.”

News 19 stopped by one of the grocery stores in the Huntsville area that donates their unsold food to the food bank, Star Super Market.

“At least it’s not going into the garbage, [it’s getting ]some kind of use out of it,” said Kim McNab, the Deli Manager at Star Super Market.

McNab said with food prices on the rise over the past few years and a lot of people struggling to afford meals, she’s glad that they can make a difference in the community by donating.

“At least we know that this is going to a good cause to help family members, even maybe team members that we don’t know about,” McNab said.

Star Market donates to the Food Bank of North Alabama twice a week.

Just like with every other donation, the delivery is weighed and inspected to ensure the food is still safe to eat.

Bobby Bozeman with the Food Bank of North Alabama says they take precautions to ensure it is quality food.

“We make sure it is all good, nutritious food because some of the people we serve are some of the most vulnerable in our community and we don’t want to make them sick,” he said.

News 19 is partnering with the Food Bank of North Alabama from Aug. 12 through Aug. 23 for our “Fill the Food Bank” campaign . You can help by donating here .

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