Taking food that is going to be wasted.

I’ve been going to a big chain grocery store for years down the block, and I’m in there all the time buying stuff. They have a meat section with orange sticker packages that is on quick sale discount because they are going to throw it out at the end of the day. Often times if I see a lot of steaks, pork chops, ground beef, or fish with an orange sticker, I take two of them but only ring up one at self check out. The meat is so light that the scale doesn’t even register the difference once you put them both in the bag, because we are only talking about a single-serving 8oz piece or something. I also often do this when there is like 20 minutes left before close and it’s clear no one is grabbing those particular cuts.

I know this is wrong for taking something I didn’t pay for, but it is also food that is going to go to waste. I never take food that doesn’t have the sticker, and I’ve been treating quick sale packages like a buy one get one free. To myself, I justify this jokingly as the tax they have to pay for me being my own cashier, but more seriously it’s about the fact that the meat would end up in a dumpster anyway.

In your opinion, how wrong is this? I’m curious to hear your thoughts.