Cost only
What you deduct if unsold food goes in the dumpster
Grocery stores · Vidalia pantry
Throw it away, deduct the cost.Donate it — you may deduct twice as much.
Enter a typical week of unsold food and see the difference. Sign up once with United Under God, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and our Vidalia food pantry, Plenty, picks it up. You get a tax receipt for every donation.
Up to 2×
What you may deduct if you donate that same food to Plenty
They shop
People who felt the kindness spend leftover money in your store
Neighbors who need food, and people who pack or shop the pantry, sign in on Plenty, our pantry app. Churches and businesses sign in here for the seal and group buying.
A letter to grocers
If you throw it away, you only deduct the cost.
Bread that did not sell by closing. Produce that is still good and no longer pretty. Cans with a dent. Dairy a day from the date. That food is going somewhere. The dumpster lets you write off what you paid — and then charges you to haul it.
Donate it to United Under God for Plenty in Vidalia and you may deduct the cost plus half the profit you would have received, up to twice the cost of the product. Example: you paid $200, would have sold it for $600. Trash ≈ $200. Donate ≈ $400. That is twice the financial benefit. Ask your accountant about IRC § 170(e)(3). This is not tax advice.
Then people who appreciate the kindness come back. They spend the money they have left — milk, meat, soap, a birthday cake — in your store, not someone else’s. That’s why Publix, Kroger, Walmart, and Costco already do it.
Sign up once here and we handle the pickup. Liability protection is explained below. And the food you would have thrown away becomes dinner for families in Toombs County.
Your numbers
See what the dumpster costs.See what donating can pay.
Enter one typical week of food that goes in the dumpster. Donated food may be deductible at cost plus half the profit you would have made, up to twice the cost.
Throw it away. Write-off $200. Still pay $25 to haul it.
Donate it. Write-off $400 (at the twice-cost cap). We pick it up.
This week, donating may be worth $225 more than the dumpster. Over a year: $11,700.
People who felt the kindness still spend leftover money in your store. Not legal or tax advice. Show these numbers to your accountant (IRC § 170(e)(3)).
What your unsold food becomes
Estimate the neighbors you could feed.
Feeding America counts about 1.2 pounds as one meal. Move the slider to match what your store cannot sell in a typical week — dented cans, day-old bread, produce past peak display, close-dated dairy.
- Meals this week
- 67
- Pantry boxes this week
- 4
- Meals in a year
- 3,484
A pantry box here is counted as about 22 pounds — several days of groceries for a household. These are estimates, not a promise of servings. The pantry will track actual meals through Plenty so donors can see what their food became.
What you miss by not donating
Twice the write-off. Then they come back and shop.
01
Twice the write-off
Throw it away: deduct cost. Donate it: you may deduct twice as much.
Federal law (IRC §170(e)(3)) lets a business deduct the cost of apparently wholesome food plus half the profit it would have made, capped at twice the cost. Example: you paid $200 and would have sold it for $600. Dumpster write-off ≈ $200. Donate write-off ≈ $400. Caps apply — generally 15% of income from the business. Ask your accountant. This is not tax advice.
02
Kindness comes back as sales
People who feel a store’s kindness reciprocate.
They walk your aisles and often spend leftover money on other items at your store — milk, meat, soap, a birthday cake — not the one down the road. Research on pantry density finds no significant drop in grocer revenue when a pantry is nearby (Kopp & Chenarides). You are feeding a customer who still needs a store.
03
The dumpster charges you
Disposal is a fee. Donation is often cheaper.
Pull aging food, donate it, restock. Stores that do this have been shown to earn higher markups — one study found about a third higher after controls (Lowrey et al.). You also stop paying to haul what you cannot sell.
04
You are covered
Two shields, then a waiver.
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act (42 U.S.C. § 1791) and Georgia’s own statute (O.C.G.A. § 51-1-31) protect good-faith donors of apparently wholesome food to a nonprofit. Recipients at this pantry also sign a waiver before they take food. The exception is gross negligence or intentional misconduct — not ordinary donation.
If you are wondering about liability
You should not have to be a lawyer to give bread away. Here is how donors are covered — a plain-language summary, not legal advice. The statute is the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1791.
Federal Good Samaritan protection
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act says a grocer, restaurant, farmer, or other donor who gives apparently wholesome food in good faith to a nonprofit, for free distribution to people in need, is not subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging, or condition of that food — except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
Georgia’s own shield
O.C.G.A. § 51-1-31 says a good-faith donor of canned or perishable food, apparently fit for human consumption, who gives it to a bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization, is not subject to criminal penalty or civil damages arising from the condition of the food — unless an injury is caused by recklessness or intentional misconduct.
A recipient waiver, on top
Every person who receives food from the Vidalia pantry signs a waiver before they take goods. That is an extra layer of protection for our donors, in addition to the federal and state statutes. We keep records so the gift, the waiver, and the household can be accounted for.
Tracked on Plenty
The pantry runs on Plenty. Intake, inventory, and distribution stay in one place. That means we can tell a donor — in numbers, not slogans — how many households ate because of food that would not have sold.
What a recipient agrees to
Before anyone takes food, they sign. In plain terms, the waiver says they receive the goods as a gift, they accept them as-is, and they will not hold the pantry or its donors responsible for ordinary issues that can come with donated food. We keep the signed record with their visit. That is how we add a layer on top of the Good Samaritan Act — so a store manager does not have to wonder.
The gift is free.
Food from this pantry is never sold. Emerson protection applies to donations distributed at no cost (or a Good Samaritan reduced price that only covers handling). We distribute at zero cost.
Households who need food, or people who can pack it: give time or goods. Churches who want to support the pantry: join us.
Ready to put a truck on the dock?
Tell us the store, the contact, and a rough sense of weekly surplus. We will follow up with pickup, paperwork, and a way to see the meals.