Buying Rejects

 Can home chef get a break on food? Yes! it's easy if they're in the vicinity of a salvage food store. These can provide decent meals plus even discounted treats for everyone watching their budget - which is eveyone. Never mind the dents and dings The food at these marts are worth it.

Regular contributor Kim Severson wrote about these stores in today's New York Times Food section, Salvage food stores are where damaged goods wind up. They're also the last stop where failed products that just didn't get enough popular appeal go too. It used to be just frugal shoppers at grocery stores like Sharp Shopper, Dented Can and Stretch-A-Buck, but now it's growing into the general public. It makes sense thanks to grocery prices rising 13.1 per cent higher than last year. They operate in what's known as a grey zone, somewhere between food banks and big discount chains like the German and popular Aldi and Dollar Store.Many of them don't even have checkout scanners or take credit cards. They're small in size too.Yet their impact is large. There are even a handful of waste conscious companies that have taken the salvage store concept online. They offer bargains on meat and dairy as well as buying produce farmers are ready to throw out.

It's the salvage stores themselves that are changing the landscape of American food shopping. There are even TikTok clips that show shoppers showing off their loot. In March one TikTok video sent hundreds of people to an unprepared Oklahoma City salvage store where the shelves were stripped bare. The store closed shortly afterwards. One fan of the store, Thaln Tran didin't carte about the sell by dates. It's the nose that tells when the product is bad which is true. Most  shoppers know that sell by dates along with best before and expires on stamps  means nothing. These are only added to help stores and merchandisers control inventory while letting know when a product is at its' peak quality. The federal government doesn't require or regulate dates on any food except infant formula, Many states have rules about food dates but they vary widely. Last year Congress started to consider a national rule that would only have two phrases : "Best if used by'  to indicate  foods quality and "use by" to indicate when food is unsafe to eat. This would ensure more  stores to keep prodcuts on shelves, eliminating waste. In the meantime the salvage stores will thrive, and as one owner Stephanie Hunter of  Hunter's Salvage Grocery in Trennon Georgia sees her as an extension of food banks. She can offer her customers very low prices like a dollar for five can of formula to a desparate father.

Salvage stores are a salvation to shoppers these days. tehy offer good quality food at next to nothing prices. The goods may be expired or a few days past their sell by date but they're still worthy of the kitchen and table.