FORT MYERS - Fear could be causing good food to go to waste. Many Florida restaurants won't give away their leftovers because of a possible lawsuit if the donation goes bad. But now a plan in Tallahassee could change that, and free up food for the hungry.

Under a bill moving through the Legislature this session, restaurants would be able to donate leftover perishable items to food banks and shelters for free and without having to worry about liability. That's a big factor for business owners looking for a way to do the right thing.

"Back in the day, we used to donate it," said Lisa Ketcham, co-owner of Mason's Bakery in downtown Fort Myers. "And then of course all of this liability issue came about, so we stopped."

In the bakery business, the prime product doesn't sit on the shelves for long. Fresh food that doesn't sell is likely to go bad in a couple of days time.

"At the end of the day, we make what we call a waste list," Ketcham said. She would love to give away the excess, but lawsuit concerns keep them from donating.

"Once it leaves your shop, you have no control over it. If they don't keep it refrigerated or properly stored, god knows what happens to it after you've donated it. Somebody gets sick, its your liability on the line."

The Fort Myers Rescue Mission is one of many shelters that rely on donations to put food on the table. 300 hot meals are prepared here every day, and cooks say more could be done if lawmakers take away the liability worry for donations.

"If we had more variety and array of food, and more quantity of it, there's endless possibilities of what we could do with it to help the needy," said Eric Morse, head chef at the Rescue Mission.

Restaurant owners like Lisa Ketcham welcome the plan as well.

"You want to give and you want to do the right thing, but then the other part of your brain says, wait a minute, I've got a business to run, I've got a family to feed. I've got to watch my own."

The idea came to the Legislature through an 11 year old boy from Coral Springs who didn't want to see restaurants throwing away so much good food.