Tired to hearing about how much food is wasted?
There is an imaginative way to start taking advantage of leftover food at commercial establishments — restaurants, bakeries, grocery stores — especially if you like surprises.
The idea is called Too Good To Go (https://www.toogoodtogo.com/en-us). According to its website, “Too Good To Go is a social impact company on a mission to inspire and empower everyone to fight food waste together.” The execution of this mission is simple — Download the app, see which stores in your area are participating, find and reserve a “Surprise Bag” for (typically) $3 to $5, then pick it up on time.
Why a surprise bag? Because food outlets usually never know what is surplus until the end of the day. Consequently, the bag could contain virtually anything edible, what otherwise would’ve been thrown out.
So how well does it work? Honestly, I don’t know. I did download the app onto my Apple phone, but no businesses in my immediate area have signed up yet.
But the concept does have a track record — Too Good To Go was founded in 2015 in Copenhagen, Denmark by young entrepreneurs searching for a solution to waste in buffet restaurants. The company currently operates in 17 countries and it has 90 million registered users and 155,000 active partner businesses around the world.
Hopefully, it will be in my area in the near future.
Also see “Grab a Snack—and Combat Food Waste—With This App” by Julian Chokkattu at https://www.wired.com/story/too-good-to-go-app-food-waste/