Roadfood

With apologies to the Sterns (on the title), I wanted to pass along this food waste debacle: a truck full of Little Debbie snacks overturned in Oregon Tuesday night, causing an entire shipment of snacks to be thrown away.

What’s most interesting is that there are differing reports on whether or not the company gave the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) permission to toss all of the food, even the undamaged boxes. There was talk of boxes that had touched the road being unfit for consumption. That seems crazy, given that the snacks are individually wrapped, in paper boxes and within cardboard cartons.

Understandably, ODOT wanted to clear the scene as quickly as possible and ended up throwing the food away after bringing it to its facility. The question is whether they had (Little) Debbie’s permission.

The sad part is that the Oregon Food Bank tried to recover the food, but was thwarted. That raises the question of whether or not the hungry are better off for not having eaten the trans-fat-laden Swiss Rolls and Fancy Cakes. Jean Kempe-Ware, an Oregon Food Bank spokeswoman, was having none of that:

“We don’t turn away food,” said Kempe-Ware. “When people are hungry, they need calories. Sometimes, it’s a nice little treat.”

The only winners in this saga: the crows who no doubt enjoyed the Pecan Spinwheels and Honey Buns. For more coverage, here’s some boring video from the local Fox affiliate and the AP story on the event.