Edible food left unharvested is rarely the result of a single failure, and growers cannot solve the problem alone. Leigh Prezkop, Senior Program Officer on World Wildlife Fund’s food loss and waste team, explains in a recent Voices of the Valley conversation with Western Growers the causes of food loss and waste as well as opportunities to address this important issue.
Reducing food loss depends on stronger demand signals and more flexible market channels. One model is to create planned uses for secondary-grade product before harvest. In a recent WWF pilot project, strawberries that did not meet the primary fresh-market specification were directed into a value-added product. By establishing the outlet and workable price in advance, the partners reduced loss while creating additional value from the crop. “It’s not a farmer issue at all. It’s a whole supply chain issue, and it’s all about those demand signals and creating market opportunities,” said Prezkop.
That approach reflects a broader set of solutions: whole-crop or multi-grade purchasing programs; wider size and appearance bands where function is not compromised; fresh-cut, frozen, pureed, juiced or prepared-food channels; and regional cooling, processing and aggregation capacity that can respond quickly. Buyers can also help by sharing forecasts earlier, reviewing rejection data, committing to secondary-grade volumes and adopting fair terms when orders or specifications change.
Better measurement is another essential step. Crop loss varies widely by commodity, region, season and market channel, so broad estimates cannot replace field-level information. Measuring planted versus harvested volume, packout by grade and size, unharvested edible product, rejection reasons and recovery destinations can help identify where interventions will have the greatest effect. WWF’s Global Farm Loss Tool is designed to support that work by helping users categorize what remains in the field and assess the associated resource and emissions footprint. “If the revenue is not there, if it doesn’t make economic sense for the growers, then it’s always going to be better to leave it in the field,” said Prezkop.
Food left in the field should not be treated as a grower failure and the full supply chain is responsible for ensuring food loss and waste is minimized. As the first link in the long journey from field to fork, growers are often held responsible for decisions and constraints that extend across the entire supply chain. Measurable and necessary progress will come from preventing loss before it occurs, creating reliable outlets for natural crop variation and sharing the costs and risks among those who influence specifications, forecasts, markets and logistics. When growers, buyers, recovery organizations and consumers each play their part, more of agriculture’s investment can reach its intended destination: people’s plates.
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