Augusta Restaurants Join the Surplus Food Movement

Every night in the Augusta-Hallowell corridor, restaurants close their kitchens with food still on the line. Until recently, most of it went in the trash. Now, a growing movement of local business owners is proving there's a better way — one that feeds neighbors, reduces waste, and saves money on taxes.

Slates Restaurant & Bakery in Hallowell has been at the forefront. Their end-of-day bread and pastries — perfectly good but unsellable the next morning — now go to the Hallowell Food Pantry instead of the dumpster. The process takes their closing crew about five extra minutes.

"We used to feel terrible throwing away food we'd made with care. Now our team actually looks forward to closing — they know that food is going to someone who needs it."

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.