LOS ANGELES -- The West Coast dockworkers strike that ended earlier this month proved to be a boon for food banks all over the country, as companies that couldn't ship perishables to their intended destinations donated them to charities.
The Seattle division of Safeway donated a truckload of dairy products from Seattle to the Oregon Food Bank, a spokeswoman there told SN. The products had originally been intended for shipment to Alaska, she added.
Part of the same shipment also apparently went to Food Lifeline, a Seattle-based agency that distributes food to food banks. Victoria Watson, a spokeswoman for Food Lifeline, said a major grocery chain, which she declined to name, donated approximately 250,000 pounds of dairy products -- including milk, yogurt and cottage cheese -- that had originally been intended for its stores in Alaska.