Wow! I don’t know where you live, but where I live, meats generally have a “sell by” date, not a “use by” date, and I very often see meats that have almost reached their “sell by” date in the discount bin. Also, I was recently visiting a town where crabbing is a popular activity, and some of the grocery stores sell meat that’s past it’s expiration date as crab bait at a significant mark down.

The needless waste is so frustrating. One explanation that I’ve heard is that allowing employees take “waste” merchandise may incentivize employees to create more “waste”, but I’m not sure why donating the “waste” would be a problem.