We’ve all had those times in the kitchen when we make too much food to fit in the left-over container, so we just throw the rest in the trash.
What if I told you that throwing away perfectly good food is a leading factor of climate change? Food waste happens everywhere: in restaurants, grocery stores, farms and as mentioned earlier, right in our humble abode.
It happens for many reasons. Overproduction, upcoming sell-by dates or even when we think a fruit or vegetable is an ugly shape. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), food waste is responsible for 8% of all global carbon emissions and makes up most of our landfills.
Thomas Momsen, Stian Olesen and Klaus Pedersen noticed how food waste numbers were affecting Denmark and wanted to make a change. They created Too Good To Go: an app that allows businesses to sell their surplus of unsold food for a significantly cheaper price.
After being a huge success in Europe, Too Good To Go started running operations in North America as well. The app has become the worlds largest marketplace for surplus food, catching the eyes of many in Baton Rouge.
In the area, business’ such as Whole Foods, Circle K and Sambath’s Donuts & Thai food participate in making “surprise bags”. These bags contain the surplus food the business has left- over, but you don’t know what you get until you open it.
“I heard about the app from a customer. I think it’s a great way for me to make a bit of extra money instead of just throwing the food away and wasting it” Sambath’s owner Kong Lim said. “I have a lot of LSU students come in for the bags.”
When the app started gaining traction on TikTok recently, it became a huge hit with college students. The bags being less than $20 helps those struggling to afford groceries get by.
“I started using the app because I saw someone on TikTok doing a surprise bag review from Whole Foods. I saw that Sambath’s was a part of it so now I’m able to get my breakfast for a low price while also helping the environment” LSU sophomore and app user Lily Nguyen said.
In 2023, Too Good To Go saved 121,686,720 meals. If you want to contribute to this number, the app is available to download in the App Store. Help your community stop food waste while also cutting your weekly grocery costs.
