Here's What Happens To Chick-Fil-A's Leftover Chicken

Ever wonder what restaurants do with all the food that's left at the end of the day? While some places sadly throw end-of-the-day food straight into the dumpster, that's not the case for all eateries. The Chick-fil-A Shared Table program donates the food that's left in the restaurant before closing to local communities. The initiative works to connect Chick-fil-A locations with local organizations that feed people in need. From homeless shelters to after-school programs, many non-profit organizations benefit from Chick-fil-A's two-birds-with-one-stone approach to cutting down on food waste and serving those in need.

There are many reasons why restaurants can't always donate leftover food at the end of the day, including cost. Sometimes, it costs more for a restaurant to prepare excess food to donate than it does to simply throw it away. The nonprofit organizations that work with Chick-fil-A take it upon themselves to prepare the food handed over by the chain though — the restaurant even has a digital cookbook called "Extra Helpings" that has some of the recipes its nonprofit partners use to transform leftover Chick-fil-A food into something new. This means that employees at the restaurant aren't doing extra work, and local nonprofits are getting the food they need to serve people in need. Chick-fil-A isn't the only restaurant that's doing its part to help local communities. The Cheesecake Factory donates its leftover cheesecake (and other food) to local non-profits through Feeding America, and Olive Garden donates its leftovers through its Harvest food donation program.

The idea of donating leftover food is nice, but can it really make a tangible difference? In a word: yes. Chick-fil-A's Shared Table program has made a major impact. The program started from humble beginnings in the early '80s, when a Knoxville Chick-fil-A owner-operator noticed that his restaurant was throwing away quite a bit of food on a weekly basis. He reached out to a local nonprofit to find out whether they were interested in a partnership, and they began working together to provide meals to people in need. By 2012, the idea had spread throughout the franchise, and Shared Table was officially born. Since then, the chain has donated more than 42 million meals. Shared Table partners with more than 1,500 nonprofit groups.

According to Chick-fil-A's website, more than 2,500 Chick-fil-A locations participate in the program. It's estimated that there are just below 3,400 Chick-fil-A restaurants in the United States, so the majority of locations participate in the Shared Table program. If you're interested in learning whether your local Chick-fil-A location participates, or you're involved in a nonprofit and want to connect to learn more, the chain encourages you to reach out to the owner-operator of the facility directly.