Dear Walmart...

Walmart Corporation

702 Southwest

Bentonville, AR 72716

1-800-925-6278

3/26/19


President of Walmart, Doug McMillon


Walmart Super Market


Dear Doug McMillon,

Through out the world there is a huge problem with hunger and the lack of food but in the United states that doesn’t seem to be the case, it is actually the opposite. We in fact have so much food that we are throwing it out by the tons. The amount of food that is being thrown away would have been enough to feed 190 million adults everyday in 2012. The United States has a population of over 320,000,000 people total. That would have been a lot of people that could have been fed that needed it. Mr. McMillon, you are the president of a very successful chain of super markets. There is a total of 5,358 Walmart stores spread across the Unites States with about 120,000 items sold inside each store. Now say only half of that 120,000 is food, making 60,000 of the products in your store’s edible items for the buyer to purchase and eat. Whether it be fresh fruits and veggies, processed food, food that is made at the store, etc. how much of that food is being thrown away and wasted? I am not talking about food that a buyer threw away themselves after they took it home, didn’t eat it in time and it went bad but, but what Walmart throws away every day. I understand that there is a reason for expiration dates and sell by dates. They can save your company from being sued if a consumer where to eat one of your products after the past expiration date. But, I also understand there has been some reports and videos of trash can after trash can being filled with food that your company is throwing away. Obviously, Walmart is not the only store that is wasting food and your company is not the only one to blame but Walmart is one of the biggest stores in the United States. That is why it is called a super market. I want to purpose a solution to this issue we face as a country. With perishable items that were not sold by the “sell-by” date but aren’t expired yet, they are taken to shelters and donated to them instead of being thrown away. Or, put in a certain section of the store that explains that theses items have not gone bad but have passed the “sell-by” date. Of course, I understand that all of this is easier said than done. I do not know the rule and regulations that follow expiration dates and sell-by dates, but I also understand that some foods (not dairy normally) are fine past the expiration date and they can still be eaten. Giving the food that Walmart is throwing out because it doesn’t look pretty any more or haven’t been purchased in time to the people that want it and need it will help reduce the amount of waste the United States sees each year. 130 pounds per person is being thrown away and just ends up sitting in landfills. I don’t even weight 130 pounds. That’s like throwing away an entire person. Please consider these small changes that will hopefully prevent perfectly good food to just sit on a landfill.

Sincerely,
Payson Coverley