Augusta Restaurants Join the Surplus Food Movement

Every night in the Augusta-Hallowell corridor, restaurants close their kitchens with food still on the line. Most of it goes in the trash — but it doesn't have to. There's a better way, one that feeds neighbors, reduces waste, and saves money on taxes.

Imagine the end-of-day bread and pastries at a bakery like Slates Restaurant & Bakery in Hallowell — perfectly good, but unsellable the next morning. Instead of the dumpster, that food could go a few blocks over to the Hallowell Food Pantry, and the whole handoff would take a closing crew about five extra minutes.

The legal protections are clear: the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act shields donors from liability when food is donated in good faith. And the tax benefits are real: under IRC Section 170(e)(3), businesses can deduct up to twice the cost basis of donated food inventory — potentially saving thousands of dollars per year.

Platforms like Pantry have made the logistics simple. A restaurant posts their surplus, a nearby pantry claims it, and a volunteer picks it up — all coordinated through the app. The receipt is generated automatically, ready for tax time.

If you run a restaurant, café, or food business in the Augusta area, the path from waste to impact has never been shorter. Your surplus food is someone's dinner tonight.