Salvage Stores

Phil: New York Times Kim Severson, great reporter, has this story about salvage food stores. And I have very mixed feelings about this. Basically what she writes is a crushed box is never a problem. Package dates are mere suggestions and questionable marketing attempts. And you know what basically the salvage stores have is unsellable. Those products that a mainstream supermarket either can't sell, gets rid of. What has me concerned though is I think it's a good deal, but you gotta be smart. I mean, her headline is dented, dated, discontinued at the salvage grocery. It's called a deal. I would never ever suggest to somebody to get a dented can. I mean, that's where, when you have that fold, that's where bacteria grows. That's where botulism grows. You know, you wanna stay away from damaged goods. And, I'll be honest with you, I have never been to a salvage store. I am going to go now because of this story, but their sales are up substantially. As food inflation has risen. What do you think of this concept?

Sally: Well, I'm with you, Phil. I can never get past what my mother taught me that if a can is dented, you might get food poisoning if you eat that food, she always talked about botulism. So it is hard for me, but I did, I am interested in this and I have seen one of these chains, which is called Dickies, which is in the Asheville North Carolina area. And, you know, we have a family cabin that we go to in that area. And there is one that we drive by. And so I'm really curious to check it out because you know, it is a shame to waste food and there are a lot of people out there struggling to pay for food. And there are a lot of people that have become more conscious about wasting food. There's a woman named Lynne Ziobro that started a website called Buy Salvage Food. Now, this is a nationwide map of where you can find salvage food stores. But what I also liked about this website is the front page of the website gives a list of tips and guidance on, okay, this is okay to eat. This is not okay to eat. So if you are going to go and shop at a salvage food store, I think, you know, check out those tips on buy salvage food. That that is a really good place to get some ideas on what you should stay away from. And what's okay.

Phil: Absolutely. You know, I'm with you as far as not wasting food, but food safety is still an issue. And again, you know, with so many people, I hear all the time. Oh, you know, just because it says expires, you know, December 30th doesn't mean it really expires. It's a marketing ploy. It's not a marketing ploy. Come on. You know, I mean, the dates are there for, for a reason, but, um, but great website find and suggest that we all check it out now.