Since dumpster diving has been a hot topic lately, I stopped at the Trader Joes in Albuquerque to see what was up. I immediately found these shopping carts of food outside by the dumpster and near the employee exit. I asked an employee about them. These bags were set to go to a variety of charities. When I asked about dumpster diving she told me that TJ's does not allow it. They case off divers when they see them. Their main issue with it was that this locations dumpsters were in the middle of the parking lot and in plain view. Additionally,since this store had an elaborate donation network, they believed that what went to the dumpster was genuine unedible garbage. I will check some other TJ's locations that are known for their good diving to verify if dumpster diving policy varies from store to store.
4 comments:
The new Trade Joe's in Albuquerque opens this Friday the 25th... it is located "Uptown" right off of Louisiana and Indian School. It will be nice to finally have one that people in midtown can bike to...
I've been eating out of TJ's dumpsters for over 4 years. They have the best dumpsters around. Always full of food. Don't let their talk of 'charitable donations' fool you. Most of the time the carts they leave out back end up in the dumpster at night. I'm working on a short novel/instructive regarding dumpster food. 'Dumpster Dive- eat for free.'
-j-bird
TJ's usually caters to, in my mind, the wealthy. Strict quality control means anything that doesn't look good must not taste good. Big scores of cheese and meat and veggies are common. Fruit not so much. I've lived off their 'waste' for months at a time. Its about the only good thing to living in a city.
Guess it's a regional thing. I worked for a TJ's in So-Cal, and their charities came on time to pick up the day's donations. The employees could snag anything that wasn't promised to them. We didn't have a whole lot that went to the dumpsters.
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