P.C. Stop & Shop partners with app to address food waste, insecurity

The Stop & Shop at 25 Waterfront Pl. is now one of nearly 20 across the Lower Hudson Valley region to partner with Flashfood in an effort to mitigate food waste.

Flashfood is “an app that allows shoppers to browse food items approaching their best before date, buy them at a discount and pick them up in store,” the digital marketplace’s website states. By using it, customers can save up to 50% on certain food items, including meats and seafood, dairy, baked goods and fresh produce.

Shoppers can participate in the program by downloading the app, which can be found on the App Store or Google Play, selecting their store, then browsing food items. After ordering desired merchandise from the app, the items are gathered and placed in a Flashfood zone inside the store for pickup.

Stop & Shop partnered with the app in 2021, according to a press release issued by the grocery store. Since then, it states that around 30,000 shoppers from across the Northeast have participated in the program, resulting in savings of nearly $500,000 and the diversion of more than 233,000 pounds of food from landfills.

That has also prevented nearly 450,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere, the press release stated. The production, processing, transportation, preparation and storing of the food and the carbon footprint of each of those steps is considered.

When food is discarded, it emits methane, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is “an even more potent greenhouse gas” than carbon dioxide.

The initiative also strives to combat food insecurity by providing discounted options for fresh food to local communities.