While millions of people in the United States struggle with hunger and food insecurity on a daily basis, Americans as a whole trash more than 160 billion pounds of perfectly good food every year, which, according to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, amounts to about 40 percent of our total food supply. Confusion about food dating is a major factor, and 83 percent of Americans have prematurely thrown out food because of a so-called “expiration” date.

Sarasota's Sunflower Market Discount Grocery, which opened last year, is fighting food waste by selling good, safe-to-eat food that might otherwise end up in a landfill at rock-bottom prices, while also educating consumers about food dating misconceptions.

“It’s a win-win situation,” says Lisa Crawford, who owns the market and two other locations, in Fort Myers and Englewood, with her husband Paul. “We often joke about the fact that we’re solving two problems with one solution. People struggle to afford really good quality groceries, and at the same time, companies are throwing away so much product.” By partnering with manufacturers and distributors that seek to liquidate overstocks of certain products, they are able to offer a variety of grocery items in their stores, including fresh produce, dairy, dry and frozen goods, and beer and wine.

Eight years ago, the Crawfords moved to Florida from Colorado, where they regularly shopped at a grocery store with a similar concept. “We just assumed that there were stores like that everywhere, because you always hear about how much food gets wasted," says Lisa. "We got to Southwest Florida and were floored to realize that this was not a concept that was well known here.”

After several years of lamenting the situation and researching business possibilities, an opportunity arose for the Crawfords to set up shop in a small grocery store in Fort Myers that was closing, and the first Sunflower Market opened for business in February 2018. The response from the community was so positive that they were able to open a second store two years later in a larger storefront in Englewood. The Crawfords also began spending time in Sarasota and immediately felt that a discount market such as theirs would do well here. “Sarasota has such a great blending of cultures and a diversity of people," says Crawford. "The great vibe here reminded us a lot of Denver, where we are from.” The Sarasota store, located at 200 N. Lime Ave. in the Colonial Village Shopping Center, opened its doors in March 2023.

Crawford, who has a degree in international development and has studied food systems throughout the world, points out a poster on the wall above the freezer section that says, "Food dating can be as mysterious as real life dating."

"It’s so true,” Crawford says with a laugh. She says that much of the confusion about product dating stems from a lack of consistency or any sort of standardized wording. Some product dates are labelled “best by," while others say “sell by” or “use by,” and sometimes the printed date refers to the date the product was manufactured. “Many people incorrectly assume that the date on food products is something required by the government to protect people from consuming products that have expired and may no longer be safe to eat,” she says, “when actually it is meant to indicate when products are at their peak freshness.”

There's no federal requirement for food manufacturers to print best-by or sell-by dates on packaging, except on infant formula, so any date you see on a label was put there voluntarily by the manufacturer. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the quality of an item may "deteriorate after the date passes," but "such products should still be safe if handled properly." Food that has gone bad "will develop an off odor, flavor or texture" and should not be eaten, according to the department. Some products—like oils that can go rancid—are more sensitive to the passage of time than others.

“I saw a funny meme recently, with a package of Himalayan sea salt with an expired sell-by date that says, ‘Just my luck, it’s been around for millions of years, but it expired last month, so I have to throw it away,'" says Crawford.

Purchasing products that are either approaching or past their “sell by” date from stores and distributors that no longer wish to have those products on their shelves is just one way that the Crawfords are able to sell groceries to consumers at such discounted prices.

“Sometimes, it’s not even anything date-related,” Crawford says. “It might be logistics. Large companies might send something to the wrong warehouse, and it’s easier for them to liquidate that product than it is for them to ship it back to the correct warehouse and then ship it out where it needs to go. Freight is very expensive.”

“Sometimes a manufacturer will decide that they want the packages to be changed on a particular date,” she continues. “They want the consumers to see this new updated brand, and so they need to dispose of products that are still in the old packaging. Sometimes it has to do with market forecast miscalculations that result in an oversupply of certain products, particularly with seasonal or holiday merchandise such as Valentine’s Day candy. Or sometimes a celebrity will do something naughty, and all of a sudden we find ourselves with a bunch of their branded items. Basically, they’re faced with the decision to either liquidate that product and sell it for pennies on the dollar or pay to dispose of it, which is obviously not a good branding image, either. For them, it makes more sense to send it somewhere.”

Sarasota resident Tom Garraway started shopping at Sunflower about a year ago after a neighbor told him about it. He now shops there about once a month. “It’s an adventure,” he says, "because you never know what you’ll find, and it’s fun to discover new products. It’s like a culinary scavenger hunt.” He says he particularly likes finding good bargains on organic lettuce, wines and cheeses, and one of his favorite deals was a five-pound wheel of French Brie that cost just $15. “It can be hit or miss, but I usually stumble on some great buys that make it worth the trip," he says. "It’s not a fancy atmosphere, but they have some really high-end items.”

“We get a lot of organic, gluten-free and specialty items,” says Crawford. “I often joke that it’s a little bit like if Whole Foods and Ollie’s had a baby.”

The Crawfords do not have any current plans to open more markets, but they are in the process of moving their original Fort Myers store into a larger space, since it has outgrown itself. “The Sunflower is not the store for everyone,” says Crawford, “but even if people don’t shop here ever again, I just love to educate people on what those dates mean."

Sunflower Market Discount Grocery is located at 200 N. Lime Ave., Sarasota, and is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. For more info, visit sunflowerdiscountmarket.com.