Sustainability in the Grocery Industry – The Case for Bulk Food

Food and packaging/containers account for almost 45% of the materials landfilled in the United States. Bulk food, or “unpackaged, fresh products displayed in bins in large quantities and sold by the piece or the pound,” is a potential and undervalued solution to the plastic problem in grocery stores. The paper takes a holistic look at the bulk food industry to understand why bulk food has become a seemingly forgotten about option, and what best practices can breathe new life into it. This paper also examines a new type of store opening up around the United States that only sell bulk food and unpackaged good.