Patch Poll: What Should Trader Joe's Do With Its Leftover Food?

Every year, Americans throw away an astounding 96 billion pounds of food. That's 263 million pounds a day. 

That's why Dive! director Jeremy Seifert has launched a campaign through change.org, asking Monrovia-based grocery store to stop wasting food.

"For many years now, I have fed my family food from the dumpster," Seifert wrote on change.org. "It’s not because I can’t afford to shop at grocery stores like other, normal folks—it’s because supermarkets across the nation toss perfectly good meats, cheeses, eggs, and produce into the trash every single day."

For Seifert, supermarkets stand out as one of the country's worst offenders in wasting food, and he hopes his campaign will inspire the “friendly neighborhood store” to donate the food to those in need rather than simply throwing it away. 

So far, 31,890 people have signed the petition—and they are in good company: In December 2010, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved new legislation that requires all city departments and elected offices to donate surplus food to food banks, pantries or other agencies that feed the needy. The policy was proposed in 2009 by 14^th District Councilmember José Huizar and endorsed by 5th District Councilmember Paul Koretz.

Patch asks: What do you think Eagle Rock's Trader Joe's should do with it's leftover food? Do you know of a shelter in town that needs the donations and has the ability to procure and distribute the food before it goes bad? Weigh in below, and we'll pass your comments along to the neighborhood TJ's!