Supermarkets

[metalmonkey]

So there I was in this store, I had gone to get some food after going to the bike shop.......

I always try to buy stuff of the reduced section you know its a bit cheaper. The guy in the store said that I could have a few things becasue they were past the display date, so had throw them out! There was nothing wrong with them.

Any way the guy in the store said that they throw loads of food out everyday, never mind a week.I think this is just plain wrong, is it any wonder food cost so much when they so much away.

So I have decided that I'm gonna bin raiding, with my housemates so what we can get out of it!

I wonder has one else done this? Probally best not to get caught though I would have though!

[hovis]

lol asda whoopsies

anywho.......

coming back from london, we stopped in the services which had a marks and spencers, it was about 10pm, and the guy was loading a big trolly thing,

i asked what he was doing with it, and he said chucking it out........so i asked if i could have a sanwhich, he did not seem keen, but the 3 of us each had 2 pcks of sanwhichs that cost about £4

i recon there was atleast £300 worth of stuff there (@ selling price)

my mate suggested why dont they contact a homless shelter and tell them they can collect it all for free?

he said they are not allowed to incase they get sued

MADNESS

[Nostrils]

The government have seen this for themselves and apparently are trying to persuade commmericial business from wasting so much food and rubbish without having to bring legislation to force them! The government have been concentrating on the public as the culprits of too much waste but realised they were looking in the wrong place as joe public ARE doing their bit. The food we buy today is not as fresh as it used to be because of the number of miles the food has to travel before it reaches the shelves.

Not as fresh as it used to be? - Before supermarkets were the 'all in one store' they are today, they were used by people who only shopped once a week or fortnight but many others like our family used the local greengrocers for all our fruit and veg every couple of days, the food was selected from local cash n carry markets and sourced more locally and therefore didnt travel all over the country.

If any of these stores have proper green initiatives, they would have a record of all the waste they produce and throw away including food, paper/cardboard, plastics and landfill which would give them the statistics to make their company/stores more efficient, more environmentally friendly.

sorry rambling again, I hear and see this as work all day and I am supposed to be on holiday this week getting away from it, hope you get the idea!

[Drew Carey]

I know that when I was at uni a housemate of mine worked at Marks & Sparks.....they used to take the dated stuff (except dairy!!!!) in boxes to homeless shelters and old peoples homes......not sure if it is company policy or just one manager being good.

[Miss Alpinestarhero]

That is such a shame and such a waste.

I was watching a TV programme once and there was a Zoo which got all its food for the animals free from the local supermarkets / shops (the unwanted food that would have otherwise been chucked away). It is mind boggling as to why they don't re-use it in terms of giving it to a homeless shelter etc..

I prefer local food from my local mini shops - they are actually cheaper than the supermarket I find. However the local farmers market is a bit more expensive (They have to make their money somehow..!) but tastes a lot nicer.

Supermarkets try so hard to be "green" but they just fail at it.

Maria

[neio79]

err it is actualt theft i think, i am sure being an officer of the law you would know that?

I am sure you can get prosicuted for raiding supermarket bins like that.

[Nostrils]

Anyone old enough to remember the pigman pick-up! All our food waste used be collected in 2 household metal bins for the pigman who came from farms on the edges of the borough.

[Vickster]

err it is actualt theft i think, i am sure being an officer of the law you would know that?

I am sure you can get prosicuted for raiding supermarket bins like that.

i think that you are right too.

[thinone]

Imagine though If these supermarkets gave the food that had gone PAST date to someone and they became ILL?

who is going to be at blame?

ANYWAY I am off down London Road [Slough] to TESCO Garage myself to see whats available!

[Bibio]

in my skint days i was a teen living in bedsits, we used to go to the local bakery at closing time and get stuff for nowt, rolls, pies ect ect. ocassionaly we would help muck in and clean up. the baker was always greatfull for this.

another place we used to get fed realy cheep was sorta food kitchens for the homeless. its amazing the charicters you meet in those places.

and i agree we waste far to much food these days...

[K]

The Animal Rescue Centre that I do volunteer work for get vast quantities of fruit, veg and stuff from the bakery from their local Sainsburys. They take the horse box up there every 2 or 3 days and simply fill it up - it's all free, either just out of date or damaged/not good for sale (like burnt loaves etc) but they had to ask first off - the 'service' isn't advertised but is apparently company policy to allow free 'dibs' to any charity that requests it.

[dizzyblonde]

So there I was in this store, I had gone to get some food after going to the bike shop.......

I always try to buy stuff of the reduced section you know its a bit cheaper. The guy in the store said that I could have a few things becasue they were past the display date, so had throw them out! There was nothing wrong with them.

Any way the guy in the store said that they throw loads of food out everyday, never mind a week.I think this is just plain wrong, is it any wonder food cost so much when they so much away.

So I have decided that I'm gonna bin raiding, with my housemates so what we can get out of it!

I wonder has one else done this? Probally best not to get caught though I would have though!


yep, worked for tescos years back and the stuff they took off the shelves if ok went in staff sales. Some other stuff went in the skip. People used to hang around at throwing out time so to speak. We weren't allowed to give it to the sally army for some reason, which I'd have thought would have been a better idea than throwing it out and destroying some folks dignity by skip foraging.
There is a name for it now, as its become quite a craze, back then it used to be homeless folk that did it
'skip divers' or something

heres an article
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/skip-dippers-are-thriving-on-waste/2006/02/17/1140151816809.html

[Rhiwbina_Squirrel]

The amount of waste that's thrown out of where I work is incredible. I work on a food unit with a grand total of four tills. So, it's not very big. However at the end of the shift we will throw out about 30 cooked pizzas and upto 80 uncooked pizzas. Every time I leave I ask why it doesn't go somewhere where it would be appreciated and used, every time I'm told they can't as they could get sued if someone gets ill. When I suggested disclaimers, I was told it was too much work. That's just one unit, one of the smallest, out of 45-ish! :O

Alex

[Ed]

err it is actualt theft i think, i am sure being an officer of the law you would know that?

I am sure you can get prosicuted for raiding supermarket bins like that.

Absolutely - bin diving is theft. Authority is Williams -v- Phillips (1952).

[jaffacakes]

There is a name for it now, as its become quite a craze, back then it used to be homeless folk that did it
'skip divers' or something
Think you might be right. Im sure I heard that there is a group in Edinburgh I thing (possibly students!) that live on this sort of stuff:smt115

[BBadger]

Bin diving, sounds like a new sport!

[metalmonkey]

Absolutely - bin diving is theft. Authority is Williams -v- Phillips (1952).

How is that so, would the owner of the property no longer be the owner when then throw it away? For it to be theft you need a victim, if you don't have victim then theft hasn't taken place.

Also that legal presecent or case law pre dates the act, so how an case law which older than the act it self still be relevant? Also is this kind of thiong whch would get dragged through the courts? (thinking about probally as they tend to fuc* all about real crimes which they evidence for:rolleyes:)

If am wrong please explain the entire legal system seems kind fooked anyway.

[dizzyblonde]

Think you might be right. Im sure I heard that there is a group in Edinburgh I thing (possibly students!) that live on this sort of stuff:smt115
It was an article on BBC news a few months back

[Frank]

shall we do it on AR 09

[dizzyblonde]

errrrr no!

[SV-net]

Oh dear Bluethunder i really do hope that you are not one of those who leaves the trolley abandoned in the aisle so nobody can get through. That really gets me going, I bash em like bumper cars out of the way. Grrr.

[metalmonkey]

Oh dear Bluethunder i really do hope that you are not one of those who leaves the trolley abandoned in the aisle so nobody can get through. That really gets me going, I bash em like bumper cars out of the way. Grrr.

Nope I ride da bike to the store, so there is no way I fit a tolly full of stuff in my back pack! So just just a basket for me!

[Stu]

How is that so, would the owner of the property no longer be the owner when then throw it away? For it to be theft you need a victim, if you don't have victim then theft hasn't taken place.

Also that legal presecent or case law pre dates the act, so how an case law which older than the act it self still be relevant? Also is this kind of thiong whch would get dragged through the courts? (thinking about probally as they tend to fuc* all about real crimes which they evidence for:rolleyes:)

If am wrong please explain the entire legal system seems kind fooked anyway.
If you think of it as bank statements etc. in your bins, There most definitely would be a victim if you were to have that stolen from your bin. So I guess the same goes for food in bins. eg the supermarket don't want it to go to the homless incase they get sued when it's bad. Maybe they would get sued if you stole someting out their bins & it made you ill?

I'll let Ed explain ow case law is relevant when the Theft Act 1978? superseeds it

[ArtyLady]

It should be a crime that this stuff is thrown away - not a crime to "bin dive" !!! (the people bin diving on a program I saw called themselves Freegans) -what a waste though when there are people starving in the world :(

What did they do before pre-packaging, display by and sell by dates? - probably just gave stuff a sniff to see if was off or not!!!

[metalmonkey]

If you think of it as bank statements etc. in your bins, There most definitely would be a victim if you were to have that stolen from your bin. So I guess the same goes for food in bins. eg the supermarket don't want it to go to the homless incase they get sued when it's bad. Maybe they would get sued if you stole someting out their bins & it made you ill?

I'll let Ed explain ow case law is relevant when the Theft Act 1978? superseeds it

Ah yes i agree in that sense as that would be covered by the new fraud act, however if your stuipd to throw that kind of thing out in the first place, anything like that should burnt or shreaded. When this computer is fubar, I will take a hammer to hard disk and destory it.

Yup that is argument I got from the store, the public can't have it in case we get ill:confused: I think we need common sesne here, my garn use to owna shop. She ate all the out of date stuff, she is alive and well and 89 this year! So what harm can it do?

[Viney]

I know that Benjis, the london 'cheap' sandwich shop used to give all thier left overs to Shelter for Distribution. Sadly Benjis went under and no longer trades afaik.

All the food at our local Sainsburys gets chucked in a compactor so no one can get it, and the blardy thing stinks to high heaven. Makes me heave!

Why dont shops just order less of the stuff. Its good commercial sense. If persae they keep ordering to many sandwiches, then cut that ammount. Better to run out than throw it away!

[dizzyblonde]

They do order less at times...its just the likes of tesco haven't perfected the art of mindreading what the general public are going to buy today. Worked in stock control for a while, and you have to keep a stringent eye on what you order and what ya sold. tesco don't like wasting their money .... but then head office send stuff thats new, and want you to sell, thats naff and nobody wants. Stuff like that can't be helped.

As for the compactor, we had one..stil didn't stop folk trying to get in it. i remember that stench ...eugh

[Tara]

falc and I waste so much potatoes don't seem to last long these days so i ended up chucking them i have tho very recently started mashing them and putting them in the freezer and i do that with carrots and onions too

bread is another thing we waste too

[fizzwheel]

How is that so, would the owner of the property no longer be the owner when then throw it away?

Not so. If the skip is on the companies property then the company still own the goods even though they are in the skip. Or the stuff in the skip belongs to the skip company.

I think thats how it works anyway. I might be wrong.

[dizzyblonde]

falc and I waste so much potatoes don't seem to last long these days so i ended up chucking them i have tho very recently started mashing them and putting them in the freezer and i do that with carrots and onions too

bread is another thing we waste too

I used to throw spuds away, but then put em in the fridge for some reason, it appears they last longer.

[metalmonkey]

Not so. If the skip is on the companies property then the company still own the goods even though they are in the skip. Or the stuff in the skip belongs to the skip company.

I think thats how it works anyway. I might be wrong.

You may be right Fizz not 100% sure, again its the whole of thing of needing a victim, can't be a theft without one.

[rob13]

Chris you would put yourself in a bit of a situation. Although you could argue that you werent dishonest in taking it as you believe that the shop has relinquished ownership, I believe its still in the ownership of the shop until the goods are taken away by the refuse company. Also would your colleagues take a dim view if one of the shifts turned up to find you raking through bins? You have to remember that as police officers, we are scrutinised more so than Joe Public and you may be made an example of. If you were caught, I guess there could be grounds to arrest you, bring you in and then establish as to whether the shop wanted to prosecute you.

If you were thinking of doing this, I would suggest you have permission from the store before undertaking such activity.

Yours
PC Rob

[Viney]

falc and I waste so much potatoes don't seem to last long these days so i ended up chucking them i have tho very recently started mashing them and putting them in the freezer and i do that with carrots and onions too

bread is another thing we waste too
Glad we arent the only ones. We just get a couple of spuds and not a bag any more.

[Ed]

How is that so, would the owner of the property no longer be the owner when then throw it away? For it to be theft you need a victim, if you don't have victim then theft hasn't taken place.

Also that legal presecent or case law pre dates the act, so how an case law which older than the act it self still be relevant? Also is this kind of thiong whch would get dragged through the courts? (thinking about probally as they tend to fuc* all about real crimes which they evidence for:rolleyes:)

If am wrong please explain the entire legal system seems kind fooked anyway.

I don't have an Archbold (authoritative book on criminal law) but as far as I recall (second year law degree, 1983 - 1984!!) the reasoning is this. The title to the goods has been abandoned. If the conviction is to be safe then the mags will have to find that there was another right - typically to the local council.

Or more cyncially, bin diving is undesirable so we'll find a reason to convict.

[Davido]

People need to stop being so fussy about sell by dates imo.

We get loads of out of date stuff from my dad's shop and I'm still alive lol.

But to clear up a common misconception:
Best before = fine to eat weeks/months after the date
Use by = use by that date or throw away

[Dan]

People need to stop being so fussy about sell by dates imo.

We get loads of out of date stuff from my dad's shop and I'm still alive lol.

But to clear up a common misconception:
Best before = fine to eat weeks/months after the date
Use by = use by that date or throw away

Spot on. I regularly have this conversation with people. I have tins of food which went out of date in 2005 and I'd still eat them.

[metalmonkey]

So my next question is who wants to go? We could make an evening of it:D

[BBadger]

Depends what supermarket your hitting. Start with somewhere cheap and un gaurded.

[timwilky]

Re Bin diving

Brother and I stopped at the carpark by the cafe in Slaidburn

For the those who don't know it. Slaidburn is a lovely little village with a green overlooking the river and a cafe where bikers call for coffee and carrot cake to relax whilst riding some of the best roads in England.

9 O'clock sunday morning. what do we see. A bin rat in this lovely village. He has a good rumble in the bin by the carpark, find a half packet of crisp and partially drunk bottle of something. Sunday breakfast for this chap.

He looked reasonably dressed, clean chaven. I don't think destitute to be anywhere near this village. but a bin rat all the same.

[hovis]

falc and I waste so much potatoes don't seem to last long these days so i ended up chucking them i have tho very recently started mashing them and putting them in the freezer and i do that with carrots and onions too

bread is another thing we waste too

dont buy as many;)