Using grocery store extras

Newbie here, so this may be a repeat question, though couldn't find it.
If one uses regular grocery store throw aways, aren't the residual pesticides, etc being put into the compost? Will the anerobic heat kill off this junk or is it being carried into our beds?

good concern, I just use them thinking after a few washes pre disposal there is not much harm left. Most of that stuff diminishes with time or exposure to sun or air. Will be an interesting thread to keep up with.

As I understand it time, air, etc do diminish problems. However, the chems cocktails used include surfactants (spell?) to keep the working stuff on the plants for a period of time -- anti washing off, etc. That's why veggie washes are available. I guess the question boils down to: what are the chems being used (DDT may still be used outside the US, etc, but we do not know) and what happens to those things from application to our use.

Hope knowledgable people will chime in.

What grocery store extras?

Each time I ask, I'm told that spoiled produce cannot be given away, that's it's illegal to do so! I also have read that in my community (Culver City, Calif.), it is illegal to give one's own expired produce to anyone else for composting purposes. However, I don't know if it's legal to sell it....

Yup, sounds like California to me. Can we find out if this is true, or just a grocer's tale. And, what about the rest of the US? I'm sure other countries have comments.

varmit, I too wondered about the pesticides used in grocery veggies but I don't worry about it now as I can no longer get it any more as it "is not allowed".

I did have one year of loads of stuff to go into my compost until it was stopped. It gave me lots of good compost last year when I first started my SFG so I was off to a flying start. I thought maybe it was the grocery store who found it a bother putting the out-of-date veggies aside for me, but perhaps I am doing them an injustice.

Now, when I want green for my compost, I take a walk with my dog, a large plastic bag and some shears, and collect some of the long grass growing nearby that I know does not contain pesticides as they are too far away from the roadside to be sprayed. My land is also loaded with forest stuff from the trees on the hillside and that can go straight into the SFG as it is already composted. Just have to dig down an inch or so; another forum member put me on to that as I had never thought about it. (Thank you!)

I don't know if it is statewide, but my local grocery store states they CANNOT give the spoiled produce away. They never used the word illegal.

Perhaps you can go to grocery stores that sell organic veggies and ask for their organic veggie leftovers. I've seen some pretty bad stuff left on the organic shelves and would assume that some stores have a good supply of organic produce that they throw away.

How stupid is that? I thought the big big push was to recycle! I've gotten boxes of expired produce from my local grocery store and they were very glad it was going to good use! I never did think about washing it all first tho, maybe I'll just hose it all down next time. In the world we live in there is no escaping chemicals. We just have to do our best to limit it. This is why I ask the good Lord to bless my food!

Yes, its stupid, but in CA, at least, one grows to expect just that.

Just heard, and will check this out, that one of our grocers (Stater Bros, I think) send all it extras to a composting site. However, that site is no where near our location, of course. Another (Albertson's, I think) sends all good extras to the Senior Centers, and they are in our area. Again this needs to be verified and I'll do it on my next town trip.

Yes, we live in a way out back corner of the world compared to most people.

I'm beginning to think a community composting project would be an answer, except some woolly headed beaurecrat will probably cite some health problem and put a kaibosh on the plan.

Actually, though if one did it just within a small neighborhood, might that not work and stay under the pest's radar? Any thoughts on this?

A friend of mine is the Health Inspector in our small town, pop: 24,000, though we have 3 colleges and are the county seat, that number goes up significantly during the day. When I asked him about this issue he said that as far as he knows, there is no Health code in NH that prohibits grocers giving away produce gone by, not even for pig farmers. He did say if there is a rule, it could be corporate policy or covered by the Dept. of Ag.

In the last year there have been a couple of interesting articles about making use of food waste, but I don't know of many large scale experiments. We used to dumpster dive at Sam's for the pot-bellied pig rescue up the road, but Sam's stopped us from doing so. Such a sorry waste! I think they don't want to go to the trouble is saving it all.

my walmart said they remove all packaging from the bad produce and have two separate dumpsters in back to put them in and then "farmers come by and pick it up for their pigs". passed by and there are two dumpsters out there with a sign stating "organic material only". there was also one stating "not for human consumption". my guess would be that they just don't want people eating it since it's been out there in the heat and because it was taken off the shelf because of its condition.



didn't have any gloves to with me to check it out, but i'll stop by again in the next few days.

Grocery stores here don't allow it either.