If you’ve spent any late night time at the airport, chances are you’ve wondered what happened to all that wrapped, prepared food. Unfortunately, it’s usually tossed.
But that is changing at Tampa International Airport, where food vendor HMS Host is donating these packaged eats like sandwiches and those yummy yet incredibly pricey yogurt parfaits to a local food rescue group and Feeding America.
So now, instead of filling the dumpster, HMS Host is feeding children and hungry people with these foods that they don’t sell if they’re older than 24 hours. Yep, these prepared goods have a shelf life of a day!
This ‘graf hints at why we produce so much food waste each day:
HMS Host vendors typically produce 10 to 15 percent more foods than they expect to sell. Travelers want these prepackaged foods to be fresh, which is why they are never older than 24 hours.
But kudos to HMS Host for taking action. In addition to donating food, they’re also helping the South Florida Botanical Gardens make use of their coffee grounds and recycling most other items.
Not only is HMS Host doing the right thing–ethically and environmentally– they’re saving plenty of money on their waste bill by reducing what they discard.
Best news of all–airport food donation has a real chance to spread, as HMS runs food operations at many airports. Plans are in the works for Las Vegas, Honolulu and Seattle and probably more.
So next time you’re flying, ask your sandwich vendor, ‘Are you gonna donate that?’