Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., the nation’s largest food retailer, said Thursday it will no longer donate nearly-expired or expired food to local groups feeding the hungry.
Instead, that food will be thrown away, a move several Sacramento charities consider wasteful.
Olan James, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said the policy, which applies to all 1,224 Wal-Marts, 1,929 Supercenters and 558 Sam’s Clubs, is an attempt to protect the corporation from liability in case someone who eats the donated food gets sick.
“We can’t guarantee the safety of the merchandise, and consumer safety is our top priority,” said James in a telephone interview from Wal-Mart headquarters in Arkansas.
Most charities get their food from an array of sources, and they say the loss of Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club donations won’t make a huge dent in their stockpiles. But as increasingly efficient grocery stores have less to donate, charities worry the stream of food donations from grocers is diminishing.
“If they were giving it away somewhere else that wouldn’t be so bad, but the fact is, it’s going into the garbage,” said Owen Foley of the St. Vincent de Paul Food Locker at Presentation Church in Sacramento. “I mean, there’s a big need.”
Foley said the breads, pies and cakes his group received from the Sam’s Club on El Camino Avenue helped round out the meals served to more than 900 families last year.
Ernie Brown, a spokesman for Sacramento’s Senior Gleaners, which received about 25,000 pounds of food in 2005 from Sam’s Club on Greenback Lane in Citrus Heights, said most food is fine to eat for days after the “sell-by” date.
He said Wal-Mart’s concerns about liability seem misplaced in light of the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, a federal law passed in 1996 offering food donors wide-ranging protections from civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution. The law states that donors can be held liable only in instances of “gross negligence.”
“Lord, we get millions and millions of pounds from Raley’s and Bel-Air and Albertson’s, and they don’t have a problem understanding the law,” Brown said. “Why don’t Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club understand the law?”
James said he is not aware of anybody suing Wal-Mart after getting sick from donated food.
One More Reason to Hate Wallmart…
Is this true? Wal-Mart Contributes 5% Of Online Sales To Homosexual Group.
I will not be shopping at Wal-Mart anymore for the reason of wal-mart contributing 5% of online sales to homosexual groups.
If wal-mart also decided to stop donating nearly expired food to the homeless, than it shows me they are completely turned around in their morals and care about the wrong things in life. People can be hungry, but we must support the homosexual people because they have sex with the “wrong” partners?
Wal-mart will no longer get my business, or my families business. My money will be appreciated somewhere else. My friends will be told to shop elsewhere.
Sams club people will also be notified!
WHAT A SHAME!
Wal-mart supports gay and lesbian workers and business, that is no reason to boycott them, in fact I would say that’s a good thing.
You demonstrate your ignorance, and bigotry in your comment. I would hope that we could use are consumer pressure to make Wal-mart do more to support things like the Gay and Lesbian Business Association, and less support for bad business practices, and poor environmental practices.
“Wal-mart will no longer get my business, or my families business. My money will be appreciated somewhere else. My friends will be told to shop elsewhere. ”
TOLD to shop elsewhere! I wonder how many friends you have with that attitude.
If you people are discriminating against gays because of religious reasons you all are hypocrites. Isn’t God love. How are gays supposed to work and provide for themselves or even a family, if they can’t find a job. What do you want? Do you wan’t them to live on the street? Do you believe they should be punished for a lifestyle choice?
Why don’t Christians create an online Wallmart site and request 5% from profits.
This is insane. We shouldn’t discriminate against anyone unless they mean to harm us. I personally am not gay, but I don’t understand this whole battle. Can someone please clarify? Am I wrong to believe this way?
Mrs Jones,
Only Larry (not the rest of us) felt that way. His point of view is one none of us share.
Not ALL christians feel this way. I am a christian and have several Gay friends, some of whome also profess a faith. I am more disturbed by the fact Wallmart are no longer helping feed the needy. Maybe our protests would be best served in defending hte poor and downtrodden!
my name is Wendy Stevenson. I work in the Garden Center of the Waveland Mississppi store. I am a Dyke. Its a free country, let them give to whom they want. Why just focus on one group. I am gay, I am proud. Repect for every one.