I believe in France it is against the law for stores to throw away usable food... they have to give it to food banks. Yep- just copied this:

In early 2016, lawmakers in France unanimously passed a law that prohibits large grocery stores from throwing food away, as long as the food is still safe for eating. Instead, French stores must either compost the food or donate it to charities such as food banks.

And in most cases it is probably easier to give to food banks

I do the same thing... cook up whatever the hell I have left pretty much, then go to store and stock up again. Rarely let food go bad... Make stews, omelettes, soups out of veggies that gotta get et, overripe bananas great for smoothies

I hate wasting food myself

Tough call. You stock up, and you make fewer trips to the store to save gas, but if you buy too much, the food goes rotten and spoils, wasting the money and energy spent to produce it.

This is one thing that should have more focus than it does.