Texas-based convenience store chain Buc-ee’s is famous for its adorable beaver mascot, fresh brisket sandwiches, and some of the cleanest gas station bathrooms around.<\/p>\n
But recently, customers have started calling attention to something much less positive about the business: food waste.<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
In the “r\/Buccees”<\/a> subreddit, a shopper said<\/a>, “I went to my local Buc-ee’s last night around 9:00pm. I watched them throw about 50ish sandwiches in the trash. What a waste of food! No telling how much food gets thrown out on a daily basis.”<\/p>\n “That’s just sad,” one person commented<\/a>. “So many hungry people just to waste all this food and clothing. The CEOs should be ashamed.”<\/p>\n “Please email them to contact a local food bank to pick up their surplus,” someone else suggested<\/a>. “If enough people send an email, it could make a difference. I know food banks who would love the opportunity.”<\/p>\n Others noted that many retailers, especially those that make ready-to-eat food, must follow strict guidelines for donating leftovers<\/a>. “Every restaurant and store does that,” a third said<\/a>. “They face civil liability if someone eats out-of-date food and gets sick.”<\/p>\n Why is food waste concerning?<\/p>\n While many businesses may have good reasons to throw away food rather than donate it, it’s still disheartening to know so much food goes to waste.<\/p>\n According to Feeding America<\/a>, households and companies in the U.S. waste around 92 billion pounds of food annually, which amounts to nearly 40% of all food produced. Meanwhile, nearly 50 million people face food insecurity across America.<\/p>\n If food is not donated, composted, or repurposed, it ends up in landfills. There, it breaks down and releases potent planet-warming gases, such as methane, which contribute to extreme weather and rising temperatures. Food waste also results in billions of dollars in lost revenue and a massive drain on vital resources like land, water, and energy.<\/p>\n Is Buc-ee’s doing anything about this?<\/p>\n Buc-ee’s does not publicly disclose its food waste<\/a> policies, but based on several anecdotal reports from customers<\/a>, the chain likely does not donate unsold prepared foods to charities due to liability concerns.<\/p>\n Several commenters on the original post<\/a> suggested Buc-ee’s could partner with Too Good to Go to sell surplus food at a discount while helping reduce waste.<\/p>\n Buc-ee’s has demonstrated its social responsibility in other ways by donating $1 million to support flood victims<\/a> after the deadly Fourth of July flood in the Texas Hill Country in 2025, according to MySA.<\/p>\n It also has an official contributions page<\/a> where organizations can request aid to support critical community needs.<\/p>\n What else are companies doing to address food waste?<\/p>\n Online discount grocery stores such as Martie and Misfits Market are fighting food waste by selling surplus shelf-stable items and “ugly” produce at deep discounts while making food shopping more convenient.<\/p>\n Some ways you can help your wallet and the planet include composting leftovers<\/a>, which can also serve as fertilizer for your garden, and planning meals ahead<\/a> of time.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD’s exclusive Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas-based convenience store chain Buc-ee’s is famous for its adorable beaver mascot, fresh brisket sandwiches, and some of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,59618],"class_list":["post-456030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-food-waste"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}