Up to 40% of human food is wasted in the USA and food is the largest component of landfill waste. Unsalable fresh fruit and vegetables and bakery products at grocery stores provides a convenient point for collection and recycling into animal feed. Our hypothesis was that fresh grocery waste (Fruit Plus, Organix Recycling) would maintain milk production when substituted for ground corn in diets of lactating dairy cows. Forty-five multiparous Holstein cows were blocked by milk production and assigned to either control or Fruit Plus fed at 7.5% or 15% of diet DM in a randomized block design. Treatments were fed for 40 d and milk samples were collected weekly. Fruit Plus product was collected in a storage container at grocery stores and contained various unsaleable fruits, vegetables, and bakery products and was delivered to the farm approximately every 4 d. The product was stored on a concrete pad and average pH was 3.5 and was never greater than 4.5 through the entire experiment. Data were analyzed as a randomized block design in PROC MIXED with repeated measures. The model included the random effect of cow within treatment and the fixed effect of treatment, time and their interaction and the pretrial parameter value as a covariant. Subject was cow within treatment and repeated was time. There was a treatment by time interaction for DMI (P < 0.001) as 15% Fruit Plus decreased intake for the first 14 d, but increased intake after 28 d. There was no effect of treatment or interaction of treatment and time on milk yield or milk fat percent or yield. There was a treatment by time interaction on milk protein percent as 15% Fruit Plus decreased milk protein after d 21 (3.15 vs 3.01%). However, there was no effect of treatment on milk protein yield. Milk urea nitrogen was increased by 15% Fruit Plus (12.5 vs 15.7 mg/dL; P < 0.01). In conclusion, fresh grocery waste product can maintain milk yield at up to 15% of the diet when substituted for ground corn and provides an opportunity to increase efficiency of the food system.