There's a fundamental absurdity in the U.S. food system. Today, 40% of the food produced is thrown away, yet 1 in 8 Americans struggle with hunger. Redirecting even one-third of this food would help feed everyone in need. As America's grocer, we want to be part of the solution, and we have the size, scale and dedicated associates to do it. Kroger's Zero Hunger | Zero Waste social impact plan is our commitment to end hunger in our communities and eliminate waste across our company by 2025.

There are heroes among us. Every day, our 450,000 Associates rescue food, recycle and compost in an effort to end hunger and eliminate waste in our communities. Each year, we recognize one Zero Hero from each of our grocery divisions, manufacturing and distribution plants and our home offices. Check out one story below.

The US throws away 100 billion plastic shopping bags each year. We know we can improve our impact on the environment – it’s the right thing to do. Find out more about our journey to Zero Hunger | Zero Waste and our commitment to eliminate single-use plastic bags by 2025.

We have a lot of work to do on our journey to create a world with zero hunger and zero waste by 2025. Working together with national partners Feeding America and World Wildlife Fund – and many other local organizations – we’re making progress. Here are some of our latest efforts on the road to ZERO. 

40% of all food waste happens in the home. Said another way, each year, households waste more than $1,300 in unused food. That’s crazy! But you don’t have to throw food (and money) away any longer. Our Wilted to Wonderful series provides great recipes to transform produce that’s “on the edge” into delicious dishes. Check out this month’s video below, and see more ideas here.

Here's a look back at everything we accomplished in 2018!