Rotisserie chickens in the trash: I worked in a supermarket and saw shocking food waste every day | Ann Larson

Stores over-stock their shelves, then toss out what they don't sell. Meanwhile, workers struggle to make ends meet

To most grocery shoppers, rotisserie chickens look like a mouth-watering and easy option for dinner. But whenever I pass by the rotisserie case in a supermarket, I see chicken carcasses piled up in the trash, their once glistening juices congealing into a slimy jelly.

It all started when I was working as a cashier in a chain supermarket. One day, I was chatting with a colleague about the behind-the-scenes secrets that shoppers didn't see. The deli employee said, Last night we tossed out about sixteen birds." He explained that managers wanted the rotisserie chicken case to be full at all times because a full case looked appetizing, while a half empty one looked sad. Keeping the case full was an all-day affair. Workers arrived before dawn to season and roast dozens of birds. (One employee burned his arm while maneuvering chickens into the oven. He quit soon after.)

The seasoning and roasting continued throughout the day. As birds disappeared from the display case, workers replaced them. Finally, the store closed, and the leftover chickens were thrown out.

Ann Larson is the author of Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register. She is a fellow with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.