This makes me sick. Farm Excess. Hundreds of thousands of pounds, left to rot in the fields. Yesterday I was meeting met with a farm partner of mine, scouting the crops that he has produced for Ripe Revival . As we were talking in the squash field, the conversation shifted to how he is growing cucumbers for a processing contract, and unfortunately there’s a size that they are not able to utilize. I asked him if I could try to find a home, and he took me to this field. Immediately, all I could think about was the money he was leaving in the fields - and the money he has tied up in this crop. Every pound counts, and leaving product behind only impacts the bottom line negatively. I snapped a few photos, made a few calls, and within 10 minutes we had an order for a truckload of oversized cukes at a decent return to the farm. We diverted cukes from going to the field, and in the last pic they are now going into a bin, to be packed and shipped to a paying customer. These cukes are not “marketable”. - but are perfectly edible. They don’t meet retail expectations, and processors don’t want them. This problem is all too common, farmers leaving food in the fields and people lacking food on their tables. We find ways to break from the norm. We find solutions for farmers and communities. We are actively working day in and day out to “Bridge the gap between farm excess and food access”. Our model is to drive 100% utilization, and we continue to build infrastructure and networks that enable us to offer this value proposition to hard working farmers across the country. We aren’t there yet, and we can’t always provide a solution this fast. We may not be able to take every load out there today. But we are working towards that vision, and are thankful for farmers, makers, businesses, neighbors who have joined the revival and become part of the solution. We are “Reviving Communities Through Food”!
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Am I missing something? What’s “wrong” with them? 🧐
I would love to interview you on The Food Dignity Podcast. 🥦
Food waste is the biggest problem that needs to be solved. What a great work you're doing Will Kornegay 👍
Thank you Will for bringing this situation to our attention. The reality is that perishable foods rot, however, if we can cost effectively turn the perishable food into powder, we can retain the nutritional and economic value. Powder can have a shelf life of 3+ years. Here is a 90 second video of the possible future of food stabilization https://www.gtf-technologies.com/videos
Definitely need more Gleanmers on board, to distribute those leftovers to the needy. They will come to the fields and pick the fruit & veggies and make up food boxes. FREE. I did this in Oregon for over 30 years. Need more counties in each state to participate. Hunger should not be a major problem in America, wasted food per day, can feed thousands of familes. More Market Farmers Small acreage is needed to feed 🇺🇸. Our Government is eliminating small farmers for large Corporate farming instead. No love being put into the cultivation & harvesting of our foods today, (No Taste When harvested Green.) We as Consumers should demand better.
Food waste is a symptom of a inadequate market model - an externality caused by the lack of information that would enable buyers and sellers to connect, negotiate, and transact. Provide the information that is needed in who's hands, and I will provide one example of the logic/process so this does not need to occur.
Will, I love this so much. Diverting food waste. Retailers need to do there share is saving food to adjust their standards. They might not look that good but they still have the same nutritional content as the “nice” produce at the retail shelves. There are some online retsikers today like #misfitmarket that helps divert this food waste as well.
Same with the banana industry in the Canary islands, mountains of bananas thrown out with this “screening process” this is a method used to control how much money the farmers make, if they get too rich they might stop growing and retire 😅 so sad but happens everywhere the only thing that changes is the crop name
The only reasons people are worried about shapes of fruits and vegetable, is because of distrust in bio-engineering and most believe that mishaped could be because of bio-engineered products. Hence why people don't buy mishape vegetables or fruits. Now, this is just an instance of a trust crisis our society is facing. We should definitely have an alternative markets built on trust, where we could salvage these crops.
Food Loss in Agriculture | Author | Advisor | Speaker | Food Recovery Strategy | No Limits Mentality | National SARE Program Manager
1moWill Kornegay, I've measured 10,000 and 12,000 pounds of cucumber left behind PER ACRE. It's a real challenge to find homes for all of it~ I'm thrilled you're on the case!