Too Good To Go, an app aimed at reducing food waste, is now available in the Twin Cities. (Courtesy of Too Good to Go)
Oh, I love eating and hate cooking. This conflict-prone combination tends to lead to over-eating out, which in this age of inflation has become prohibitively expensive. Additionally, restaurant orders increase, adding untold and semi-hidden fees, sometimes as high as 20%. Is there anyone who can tell me exactly what will happen to my hard earned cash if I don’t tip? But I digress.
A friend who recently moved to New York City from Minneapolis recognized my stomach plight and recommended the smartphone app Too Good To Go (TooGoodToGo.com). This app claims to be a way to save the planet while filling your stomach. cheap. He and his partner buy all of New York’s expensive pastries this way. I immediately fell in love with this concept. Restaurants, bakeries, and even some grocery stores create bags for newborns and other items you want to get rid of. They list these “surprise bags” online and pick them up by appointment, with just a few clues about their general contents.
Consumers are promised 70% savings on food that restaurants would otherwise throw away for no profit. “This surprise bag will likely contain a jar of cake, a cheesecake dessert, and whatever else is available that day,” the St. Paul bakery’s product listing reads. The bakery regularly advertises $18 treats for prices as low as $5.99.
Too Good To Go started in Denmark around 2016 and announced its expansion to the Twin Cities in late September with a typical promotional slogan: The app is available in 19 cities across the U.S. and countless locations in 17 countries, and he claims to have saved more than 220 million meals from trash cans, making it the world’s largest retailer of surplus food. It has become a market.
“About 10% of greenhouse gas emissions come from wasted food, so reducing food waste is key to solving the world’s climate problem,” the marketing says. “Too Good To Go creates a direct connection between conscientious consumers and forward-thinking food companies.”
Admittedly, the claim that driving your car in search of a restaurant deal will significantly reduce your carbon footprint probably has a bit of “greenwashing” (a flashy representation of marketing propaganda based on dubious environmental promises). terms) will be included. Counterargument: If pedestrian-friendly and transit-friendly restaurants could use apps to make a few bucks, there would be no need to drive at all. Just walk next door or take the light rail a few stops and voila! You can have lunch for less than $10!
But there’s a problem. After weeks of faithfully checking the Too Good To Go app every day, I’ve found precious few options, even in St. Paul or the east metro area. A spokesperson said he has contracts with 20 partners in Ramsey County and plans to expand further. But most days, he’s at participating restaurants within 10 to 12 miles of my workplace, including his birria restaurant in Bloomington, his yogurt shop in Woodbury, and his burger bar in Edina. etc. are included.
Intown Sushi in the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis frequently offers “sushi bags.” Yes, when it comes to leftover sushi, I’m curious to see how much it costs for $6.99. No, I’m not really interested in driving to Minneapolis for lunch on a typical weekday.
My big score so far: A few muffins at a coffee shop in Lowertown, and the remains of a delicious and generous Indian buffet I ate at Maplewood at 2:30pm between lunch and dinner. Additionally, an order that promised $30 collard greens for $9.99 was canceled by the Rice Street restaurant minutes after I placed the order. it’s okay. That would probably be a lot of collard greens!
Food waste in America is no small problem and deserves more attention as calls for us all to go green are growing. Too Good To Go cites a report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency stating that food makes up 18% of Minnesota’s landfills, where it can decompose and trap 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide. It points out that methane, a greenhouse gas, is produced.
“Minnesota throws away approximately 62% of the food that could have been eaten or donated,” marketing materials say. “A Minnesota family of four can save $1,200 a year by reducing food waste. Since its U.S. launch, Too Good To Go has saved more than 6.5 million meals from more than 14,000 partners. , which has saved consumers more than $50 million to date.”
I’m not sure if “saving” is the right word. Eating out, even with leftover food at a restaurant, is likely to be more expensive, unhealthy, and less carbon conscious than heating up leftovers at home. Still, let’s hope that all the online ingenuity doesn’t go to waste and initiatives like Too Good To Go continue to expand by attracting more restaurants and customers to the Metro East area.