The United States is the global leader in food waste. 40% of all food in this country is wasted — 80 billion pounds a year. Most end up in landfills, producing methane, a harmful greenhouse gas 28 to 36 times as potent as carbon dioxide.
At Mississippi Market, sustainability is a driving value. We strive to empower our community to make choices that help sustain our planet and aim to be a source of local, sustainable products and education about food-related issues. We’re committed to minimizing food waste in several ways:
1) Selling products that will date out soon at a low cost to shoppers
If you are using the item soon or can plan to freeze it, this is a great way to save money! For example, chicken with a $2 off sticker on it — if you don’t use it within the next couple of days, throw it in your freezer!
2) Repurposing
Our kitchen staff looks for creative ways to repurpose or reuse food items before they go bad. For example, turning day-old bread into croutons!
3) Donating to local food shelves
Each store has a local food-shelf partner: Hallie Q. Brown at Selby/West 7th and Merrick Community Services at East 7th. We also work with Twin Cities Food Justice. We donate around 35,000 lbs. of food per year (both from shoppers adding to our donation collection bins and any extra product we have).
4) Providing break room “buddies” for staff
After we’ve donated what we can to food shelves, we provide excess products or slightly dated items to our staff — a great perk of working at the co-op! Staff also gets any “ugly” produce we don’t put out for our shoppers, such as fruits and veggies that are uniquely sized, shaped, or slightly bruised.
5) Composting
If we can’t sell, repurpose, or donate it, we can compost it to keep it out of the landfill! Each store has multiple compost bins, including in our staff break rooms/work areas. Our straws, utensils, coffee cups, and deli to-go containers are compostable!