Stale Bread

I went to Publix the other night to buy the usual groceries I am in the habit of buying. It was late in the afternoon around 5 or 6 p.m. I was looking at all the bread they bake at Publix thinking how nice it is that they offer freshly baked breads. The white shower caps and white aprons all looked very professional and people to be trusted with their smiling faces. I searched with my eyes, behind the counter and the bread cooling racks to spot the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Yup, there he was with flour all over his face! This was the real thing! Freshly baked bread baked by Pillsbury dough boys and girls! In front of the counter was an area full of breads where I found the loaf of french bread I was looking for and saw that it had yesterday's date on it.

I picked up the bread and showed it to one of the bakers and asked them if the bread would still be good tomorrow. A baker with a shower cap on looked at me and explained to me that the bread would only be good until this evening. So, I asked, what happens to all of this bread? The flour faced baker told me that the bread will be thrown out. Thrown out! I said and he said yes, thrown away!

All the bread at Publix and I assume every other grocery store as well, will be thrown out the following day after it has been baked. When one imagines the number of starving people who could make such good use of this bread, made me quite upset. Even stale bread can be made into bread pudding, stuffing mixture, onion soup or used as bread crumbs. Pet birds would thrive on this!

If only a salvation army truck could came around in the evenings at closing time to collect the bread and distribute it to those in need of food. This would prevent partial starvation and feed a huge amount of hungry people all over the country! It could also avoid rats and possums hanging around the garbage bins for chow time and create less waste for the garbage mounds. This simple solution seemed easy enough and I have decided to investigate this further.

I love the tasty fried chicken they make and often buy the warm box of heavenly smelling lip smackin' good ol' fried chicken. Tomorrow, I am going to ask the cooks what happens to the unsold cooked chicken and let you know in the morning. Well, I did just that and they told me that they sell the precooked chicken half price but if nobody buys it, will be thrown out as well as the state bread. This seemed indeed a waste and surely homeless shelters could benefit the most from this. I am investigating this and will write about the outcome of my quest to help this neighborhood. Perhaps, in another state and city, you can ask the same question?

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