In this spring, strawberry strawberries stood in California in its fields with two generations of farmers next to him. Rows of ripe and shining red berries in the sun – are completely suitable, but are able to go not to attend because they were very small so that they do not end in grocery stores. The farmer had already paid the price of lands, plants, water, fertilizers and work, but without a buyer, it was not logical to pay workers to harvest fruits. In the end, he had no choice but to return to the soil. This decision is struck across thousands of farms at the country level, and the size of the problem becomes amazing: a system that forces farmers to bear the cost while good food is lost.
Every year in the United States, 30 % of the fruits and vegetables cultivated by farmers who work hard to never leave the field, because it does not fulfill appearance standards such as size, shape or color. Unprecedented or not based on 36 billion pounds of excess products on American farms in 2023, which represents an economic loss of $ 13 billion. Consider strawberry alone: 400 million pounds plowing under or left behind annually. The cost is more than lost fruit. Farmers lose product revenue that they cannot sell, and societies are absent from the nutrition that should have reached their kitchen tables.
There is a better way. It begins to rethink about the way the Americans estimate the remaining food in this field: this production is totally delicious and nurtured, even if it is very small.
This is where secondary markets come, and waste turns into an opportunity. Secondary markets buy what the basic market will not take, then direct it to components for buyers and treatments where the appearance does not matter, without sacrificing taste or quality. According to NC Extension, the expansion of the sale is a direct lever to increase the marketed return by up to 20 %. The crops are left without responding to market conditions, but can be marketed with connections to the most flexible buyers.
Restructuring the end result
Not all products need to end in the fresh corridor. Provides processing channels such as frozen groups, dried, foals, sauces, and meal groups huge potential to use all strawberries, apples and tomatoes that come out of the field. The farmer’s partnership with manufacturers that can integrate excess products into their product line provides an enormous chance. In Tennessee field studies, the researchers found that 76 % of products that were left and edible-the type of fruits and vegetables “the second” corridor “that the secondary market can collect and sell in the shell or frozen channels or food services.
We met first when we partnership to bring excess food from farmers to hungry families in Twin Fols, Idahu and New York – an effort that inspired the idea of harvesting the planet. Planet Harvest was established to create this secondary market and link farmers directly with food and retail companies to create sustainable and developed solutions that reduce waste, expand access to nutritious food, and put the global standard in full harvest sources. To expand the scope of this work, I have made a partnership with ChopaniA company capable of using unused fruits and ensuring that they are not lost. The company has bought more than 1.2 million pounds of strawberries the harvest of the planet that could have been ignored from farms – enough fruit to produce more than 55 million yogurt drinks – and these efforts expand with more fruits purchased from more farmers.
The result is to increase farmers’ revenues, water conservation, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 %, better food for consumer, and diversify the supply chain.
Chopani was here before. Years ago, we made a decision using RBST milk, without the artificial growth hormone named Somatotropin, long before the industry believed it is possible. This choice created a movement, and within years, RBSt became dairy -free. We see the same opportunity today: to make “full harvesting sources” is not an exception, but the standard.
The farmers have already reported $ 0.27 for a pound for the fruit, which is of value of value, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars across dozens of farms only. This is a new income flowing into rural societies. The independent analysis by the Global Wildlife Fund shows that providing one million pounds of fruit saves 320 billion gallons of water and avoids 169,000 metric tons of carbon emissions. These are not marginal gains. It is the distribution of system change profits.
Consumers have a role they play. Just as we once embraced “membership” and “fair trade”, we can now request a “full harvest”. Every time someone buys a product made of fruits that could have been lost, they vote for a more intelligent diet – a system that feeds people, not waste burials.
Better sensor of what we grow
We do not need to grow more food to help solve hunger in this country. We need to be better designers than we already grow. 400 million pounds of strawberry remaining this year represented a failure, yes – but also an opportunity. If farmers, food companies, policy makers and consumers work together, we can re -imagine the journey from the farm to the table and build a system that rewards waste of waste.
This commercial model is good for farmers, pushes the environment, and a better experience for customers. Through the best markets, flexible standards, and creative treatment, we can make sure that less farmers see their harvest go to waste and enjoy more families of their work.
The opinions expressed in cutting comments Fortune.com are only the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect opinions and beliefs luck.
https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/s1210022_ret152-e1757612396711.jpg?resize=1200,600
Source link