Shelf life is only an estimate for some foods at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The university has addressed the issue of food waste in the past, with the Association of Students at the University of Nebraska heading up the “Love Food, Hate Waste” campaign with UNL Dining in 2013. The campaign aimed to reduce food waste at dining halls and educate students about the environmental impacts of wasting food.
The Student Residence Hall Association decided in 2009 to eliminate trays in dining halls, claiming less food waste and used resources to wash them.
Sticker shock
Clarice Martin, retail operations manager of the C-Stores on campus, said when products aren’t selling and are close to the expiration date, she and her staff mark down the price.
“People like a bargain,” Martin said.
She said once a product hits its expiration date, she usually slashes the price in half.
She said if there were a large amount of a particular item that’s not selling well, she would mark it down lower to get if off the shelves.
Martin grabbed a wicker basket on an end table in her office. Inside were five reduced-price PowerBars with expiration dates that had already passed.
She said the bars might sell for $3.99 at regular price, but she would continually mark them down half price until they all sold.
Martin said it’s common to only have a few items left over.
“We don’t have a lot of food waste because we try to sell everything,” she said.
Martin said she keeps items like the expired bars in the office and offers them to guests or whomever may want them.
Martin said most of the dates on products are a “best by” or “sell by” date, not necessarily an expiration date. The product could still be good even after the date, she said.