Getting rid of the waste is a great hygienic idea to prevent diseases from spreading.  Starbucks will donate unsold clean food rather than throwing it away.  They will be doing the charity work within five years as announced on Wednesday and will partner with the agency Food Donation Connection and Feeding America.

Starbucks collect pastries since 2010 from its 7,600 stores that can no longer be sold to customers and works with the FDC to get those food to food banks and homeless shelters where they can be eaten. The new scheme extends on that to contain perishable food items such as salads, breakfast sandwiches and other meal packages that are ready to eat. In Canada, the food waste costs up to $31 billion a year.

There will be an addition of five million meals in its first year and 50 million more by 2021.  The plan was suggested by the fast food chain's employees since the front-line staffs are most perceptively aware of how much unsold food gets to waste at the end of the day, CBC reports.

"When we thought about our vast store footprint across the U.S. and the impact we could make, it put a fire under us to figure out how to donate this food instead of throwing it away," spokeswoman Jane Maly said. "The challenge was finding a way to preserve the food's quality during delivery. We focused on maintaining the temperature, texture and flavour of the surplus food, so when it reached a person in need, they could safely enjoy it."

According to Mashable, Feeding America said that 48 million Americans thrive in food-insecure households, where getting food is always difficult.  About 15% or more of the household in the country are said to be food-insecure, an issue that affects every county in the U.S.

Every day, both Feeding America and FDC will pick up food each day from Starbucks company-operated locations in the U.S. through refrigerated vans. The foods that used to be prone to spoilage will reach food banks and rescue agencies similarly to Feeding America network.  The food will have to be consumed in 24 hours or less from the time it left the fast food chains.

Starbucks is the latest food business that participates in the battle against food waste.  U.K.'s largest grocer, Tesco, recently announced that it will too donate all unsold to the charity. Some of the European countries have made bold efforts against food waste too.  In France, it is illegal for supermarkets to waste food, it's either they compost it or donate it. In Italy, vendors who donate surplus food and pharmaceutical products can take advantage of the new law tax benefits, based on a Huffington Post report.

The numbers of people getting hungry will be lessened as Starbucks pledged to donate all of their unsold food to charity. For these fast food chain, it's better to donate the food that can still be consumed rather than throw it away.