Starbucks are donating their leftover food to charity

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the left over food in restaurants?

Well, most of it gets thrown away, but global coffee chain Starbucks has pledged to do something a little different with its leftovers.

Not only is this different but its innovative, Starbucks has pledged to donate 100% of its leftover food through a new program called FoodShare.

The move is in partnership with the nonprofit organisation Feeding America and food collection group Food Donation Collection.

According to Feeding America, an estimated 70 billion pounds of food waste is produced across the U.S each year.

Now every Starbucks will be donating perishable and ready to eat meals and the food will be picked up and available to those who need it the most within 24 hours.

Perishable foods have always been trickier to donate because of their shorter life span.

But Starbucks has found a way to streamline that process, the coffee company projects it will provide 5 million meals in the first year alone.

One of the most inspiring parts of this project is that the idea didn't come from the executives at the top of the company but it was suggested by the baristas working in the coffee shops.

According to their website, Foodshare have a vision for a community 'where all of these people can get all of the food they need.'

In 2015 the organisation delivered 11.5 million meals but they claim this still didn't satisfy the ever growing demands for food.

You can find out more about FoodShare's initiatives in the USA here.