What Some Starbucks Locations Do With Leftover Food Frustrates Fans

Nearly 48 million people live in households that are food insecure in the United States, and that includes more than 7 million children, according to the USDA. And per Feeding America, 38% of all food goes uneaten or unsold. That's 92 billion pounds of food that goes to waste every year in the United States. The USDA agrees, saying that somewhere between 30% to 40% of all food is wasted.

It's not a Starbucks secret that some employee videos are going viral for showcasing the amount of food that is wasted at their workplace. For example, this YouTube video shows a Starbucks employee loading up three Target shopping carts full of food that will be thrown away. Aidan Stockin, the employee in the video, claims this isn't a one-time thing or something that only happens at one location. He says he's worked at several Starbucks locations, and it occurs at all of them.

Then there are Reddit threads like this one that shows piles of pastries like croissants, cookies, and Starbucks cake pops that are meant to be thrown away as they went unsold for the day. The employee in the controversial post says there were about 110 pastries that were supposed to be binned, but they said how they couldn't do it. They instead bagged up as much as they could to give out to the unhoused in their community. So, are these videos and posts about Starbucks' food waste true? And if so, why isn't the company helping solve the food waste problem?

Starbucks claims to have invested over 105 million dollars in hunger relief, donated 121 million meals, and diverted 144 million pounds of food from waste streams. It's been doing this since 2016 through its FoodShare food donation program that takes place in all of its company-owned stores. At the end of each day, employees bag up unsold food, and a delivery driver with a refrigerated truck picks them up. They're then dropped off at local food pantries and regional food banks.

However, some Starbucks locations still do not participate in its FoodShare program. As Starbucks mentions, it's only the company-owned stores that do this. About half of all Starbucks locations are licensed, according to Forbes. There are more than 25,000 Starbucks locations in the United States, so that means about 12,500 (or more) stores still do not participate in the FoodShare food donation program. So, which stores are licensed and which are company-owned?

There's one way to tell which locations are licensed and which are company-owned. Company-owned stores are the ones that stand alone. It's a building of its own. Those that are licensed are inside Targets, hospitals, or other businesses. Those stores are operated by the business that they're inside of. If you want to make sure you're forking over your hard-earned cash to a location that will donate its unsold food to those in need, make sure you stop by one that is in its own building.