Grocers to Donate Food in Exchange for Carts

As a goodwill gesture--and a way to get 800 abandoned shopping carts back--the Southern California Grocers Assn. has agreed to donate food to the needy if the city of Glendale will return the carts.

City crews have picked up about 800 of the carts in the last year since an ordinance was adopted allowing carts found on streets, sidewalks, parks and other rights of way to be impounded.

For $15 apiece, Glendale grocery stores could get the carts--valued at $75 to $100 each--returned. But the grocers association negotiated release of the carts this week for free in exchange for a food donation and an agreement to set up an electronic system to track carts.