Whatever is Left: 2025 Edition

Spend More on Grandma and Less on Food with Too Good to Go

Welcome back to The Real Rachel BS, the newsletter about peculiar things in life, created and produced by me with the help of my much better half, Mat. If you’re a lover of random and not so random things, stick around. If you’ve only just met me, subscribe to this newsletter to keep it coming!

Before we end this annual season of cookie making, egg nog drinking and overconsumption, allow me to reintroduce you to a cool and creative way to bring in the new year on a lighter note. Because the issue of food waste has yet to be resolved, saving consumables from landfills is still one of my favorite pastimes to talk about. The joy this brings me is right up there with watching reruns of the Golden Girls and finding All Day Happy Hours with “the good french fries” on the menu. This topic has been my annual finale feature on Substack since the Real Rachel BS began. Our options to waste less continue to evolve as new motivations, new apps and new programs develop.

Come along as we continue plotting to save the world in unusual ways.

Thanks for the GIF, Tenor!

If you’re anything like me, finding a sale or a promo code can be the difference between making a new purchase or taking a pass. But if it’s something as essential as food, frugal ways to save can be found in the form of an app that started in Denmark a decade ago and easily gained global traction among conscientious consumers. As they say, if you want a deal, “there’s an app for that”.

I first learned about Too Good To Go, a Certified B Corporation, when we were housesitting a few years ago in Pasadena. One of its participating cafes had a flyer on the front door indicating that they were a partner with a goal of eliminating food waste.

“Food waste is a big problem, and we can be a solution. Too Good To Go is the app that lets you rescue unsold food at your favorite spots from an untimely fate.”

I’m not the only one who can spot food waste in progress: food on the shelves in our stores but also in our own homes. Modern-day refrigerators are equipped to hold much more food than they were built for just a couple decades ago. While we may have the same amount of people in our homes, our fridge size can encourage us to buy much more food than we can possibly consume before it spoils. According to reporting from the University of California- Davis, ⅓ of all food produced is wasted. That’s 30 million tons of wasted food in the United States alone. Yikes!

Psychologically speaking, when you see an empty shelf in your fridge, do you feel like something is missing? Do you overlook that whole bottom shelf full of food because the top shelf is barren? Scarcity anxiety kicks in and the next thing you know, a week after you fill that void, the produce you bought gets tossed in the trash because you didn’t have time to eat it. Yep. Rightsizing the contents in our refrigerators is a great first step to avoid tossing all that money into the trash. Now, let’s follow that up by spending less on food, shall we?

I was intrigued by the Too Good to Go plan to end food waste enough to dig in to learn how it all worked. The intent behind this food - consumer connection is to help divert excess food from the day’s offerings away from landfills and into the loving frugal arms of someone like me. Participating restaurants, deli’s, grocery stores and cafe’s offer “surprise bags” of their unsold consumables for a fraction of the normal price. For example $18 worth of pastries from Big Jim’s Donuts in Glendale will run you just $3.99. Simply pick them up between 4pm and 6pm and don’t be too picky about the variety of sweets you leave with.

Buying a bag of food with its contents a mystery certainly fascinated me. I’m not much of a gambler but I do enjoy a good surprise every now and then. As a pescatarian who tries to limit my sugar, I wasn’t convinced this program would be worthwhile. An endless supply of cheap donuts or cold pepperoni pizzas was certainly not a WIN/WIN in my book. Turns out, depending on where you are located in the country, surprise bags containing full meals, side dishes, pastries, or groceries offer options that align with many different dietary needs and can be specific for vegetarians, gluten-free, vegans and beyond. Still sometimes, what you’ll find is just a pile of donuts.

One of my favorite specialty surprise bags originated from a hidden gem in the heart of the Pacific Palisades called Sweet Laurel. This bakery packaged up $18 worth of vegan, gluten free, no-refined-sugar-added pastries for $6, which included a pack of frozen chocolate chip cookie dough. Wow! How that much deliciousness could be found in recipes that omit all the things that make desserts decadent remains a mystery to me. Even after the Palisades Fire destroyed the neighborhood businesses and homes, this bakery has carried on delivering its goodness to its growing clientele.

Wandering through various parts of the country, we have had good luck finding surprise bags at local businesses like Sweet Laurel which we wouldn’t have found if not for the introduction Too Good To Go has made. And that is partly the point. In addition to helping combat food waste, merchants are incorporating this app into their marketing strategy to attract new customers. They’ll offer a “surprise bag” of food with the hope of drawing in consumers who buy additional items while they are in the store. I s’pose if you are picking up a “surprise bag” of liquor (yes this is a thing), you may want something to snack on as you joyfully sip that deal you just scored.

Too Good to Go has not caught on in every neighborhood yet, but now that you know about it, encourage your favorite eatery or grocery store to take the lead in your community. Here are some great examples of businesses already thriving on the app:

For $3 Maxeen Bakery in Los Angeles gave us a dozen pieces of Barbari bread that we used for pizza crust for weeks. In Calabasas, Hank’s Bagels packed up twelve bagels doused in sesame seeds and seasonings for the usual price of one. The Vegan Pop Up Market in Venice sent us on our way with a selection of groceries for $6. La Mediterranee in San Francisco offered a whole quart of its signature rice pilaf for $4.

Too Good to Go is a big hit in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with dozens of restaurants and bakeries participating. Even The Holly is offering not only Bread Surprise Bags but also Wine Surprise bags (just remember to bring your ID for pickup). In central North Carolina, Treats and Eats, located inside of Circle K gas stations are all on board too, connecting patrons with sandwiches, salads and produce. Fill your tank and grab a deal at the same time!

What does the Too Good to Go scene look like on the islands, you ask?

Sadly, I can count on 2 shakas the amount of participating businesses in all of Hawaii’s Islands, but I’ve got hope for better days ahead. Finding a home for perfectly good food before it meets its demise will not only help the planet, it can help the people who live here in a major way. At last estimation, over 41,000 tons of food waste, 19% of everything thrown away, is added to Maui’s landfills annually, outlined in the County of Maui Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan. Unless you’re growing, tending or raising it in your back yard, food is a major household expense in Hawaii because most of it is imported from somewhere else.

Preventing this essential resource from going to waste can help solve more than one problem here and everywhere. We can reduce emissions. We can slow the pace of filling our landfills. We can make lower cost food more readily available. We can implement diversion plans, including using handy apps like Too Good to Go. Together, we can.

Whole Foods is leading by example in more ways than one when it comes to the importance of food security and waste diversion in Hawaii. Not only are they a major participant on this app, they are a leading donor to the region’s community feeding programs and farms, even earning the Green Business Award from the state of Hawaii for diverting food waste from landfills. At its Maui location, Whole Foods has several offerings sure to attract a myriad of curious consumers ready to take a chance if it means they can save on the green stuff. A seafood surprise bag. A prepared food surprise bag. They even have a floral department surprise bag. Now, to encourage other grocery stores, restaurants and bakeries to join them.

A recent $7 Surprise Bag from Whole Foods, Maui

I have my work cut out for me to appeal to Hawaii’s food providers, but if I’m anything, I’m persistent. Stay tuned for an updated status report in my 2026 Edition of “Whatever is Left” coming to your inbox in 12 months!

If you’re in a new city or a new part of the country and want to test out the local flare for decadence, get the app and go to town. Especially during the holiday season, saving money on food allows you to spend more on Grandma’s flashy new house shoes to watch the ball drop in. And wouldn’t you rather spend your money on her anyway?

Note: I am in no way hired or paid to promote the Too Good to Go app. I just love it and think you will too 🤙🏼