Wal-Mart closing hurts Gleaners

The closing of Hartland Township’s WalMart Supercenter has already had a large effect in Livingston County
— both with its residents and its local food pantries.

The closing of the WalMart — one of three southeast Michigan store locations that closed in January as a
result of the company’s global restructuring plan — is expected to result in the loss of 250,000 pounds of food
donations annually.

Ever since WalMart opened in Hartland Township several years ago, Gleaners Community Food Bank picked
up donations of unsold inventory.

“We will all miss the store’s donations, but we do appreciate all of the ways WalMart is committed to fighting hunger, including in participating in food rescue,” said Bridget Green, Gleaners communication director. “We will always be thankful.”

Salvage, or “rescued,” food is unsold product that is donated to pantries. Food banks, such as Gleaners, depend on rescued food from grocery stores to
increase the amount of fresh produce, bread, dairy and protein they distribute.

Because of this, food pantries are able to offer these types of food items, along with shelfstable foods, to families they serve so they can have a
balanced food diet and selection.

Since WalMart’s closing, both the store and Gleaners are discussing ways to balance the loss, but the nature of the donation makes that difficult.
“The type of food (rescued food) also makes it unique since it is not the typical canned goods and boxes that are donated at food drives,” Green said.
“These foods are typically difficult for food banks to procure without rescuing from grocery stores like WalMart due to the high cost.”

For Gleaners, rescued food is an important component to a community’s food security because it contributes to the overall amount of food distributed
through food banks and food pantries.

In Livingston County, the food rescued from the Hartland Township WalMart alone accounted for 12 percent of Gleaners’ distributions.

A community’s food security is measured by a resident’s ability to have access to the food they need, when they need it, according to a Livingston County Hunger Council news release.

The Livingston County Hunger Council works to maintain the community’s food security by addressing gaps such as the one left by the closing of WalMart. How can the community help? The hunger council is asking for the community’s help to make up for the donation loss.
“A foodsecure community is not the responsibility of one business or social service agency. We all contribute to Livingston County’s ability to stay
hungerfree,” said Michelle Ounanian, LCHC cochair.

“Donate to the efforts of the council by designating a gift through the Livingston County United Way, or bring fresh donations like eggs and milk right to Gleaners for quick distribution. You can even donate produce you’ve purchased or grown yourself. Anything helps.”

The council will be furthering their mission to balance the loss.

Contact the Livingston County United Way, 2980 Dorr Road in Genoa Township, at 8104943000 or at www.lcunitedway.org.

Contact Livingston Daily education reporter Abby Welsh at awelsh@gannett.com (mailto:awelsh@gannett.com). Follow her on Twitter at
@abby_welshLD.

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