Reducing Food Waste on the Farm
Farming-big or small-has a lot of risks and pressures. Farmers often must over produce in order to account for unpredictable weather or risks. On top of that not all produce is valued equally, and a lot of edible material is laid to rest by not meeting food safety rules and standards. Not only is decreasing agricultural food waste beneficial to the environment, but it is beneficial for farmers financially as well. Keep reading to learn about ideas and thoughts on how to reduce farming related food waste.
Plan your crops: Although seasoned farmers may already have the this one down, one of the most important tasks up-and-coming farmers can do is plan their crops appropriately in order to avoid ending up with unharvested food. Much of this planning has to do with properly evaluating the market and environment that is being farmed in. Securing a buyer, and then planning your harvest around that schedule is vital to ensuring food is not left to go to waste. However, being flexible is also an important part of protecting your yield as much as possible! Adjusting the production schedule based on what is actually happening vs. what was predicted is a crucial step. Planning and flexibility are one biggest tools in getting through a harvest efficiently.
Reduce waste during harvest: Focusing on getting the season’s yield harvested and into proper storage as quickly as possible should always be the goal of a farm. Communicating with employees and staying on top of tasks like creating spreadsheets and maintaining data can be useful in keeping efficient. If using harvesting equipment, larger operations can utilize volunteer gleaning efforts (discussed later in this post) to recover produced missed by machinery. Smaller operations may be able to have additional employees recover missed produce in order to keep it from going to waste.
Reduce storage waste: A lot of agricultural waste comes post-harvest. Some reports estimate that 40% of grains are either over- or under-dried during storage. Whenever possible, upgrading storage capabilities should be considered in order better prevent food waste. Storage spaces should always be properly cleaned and disinfected before filling with a harvest in order to reduce the risk of contaminants. Storing foods together that have to be kept at similar temperatures in crucial in efficient maintenance. Also keeping in mind that produce with high levels of ethylene (such as apples) should not be stored nearby produce that is sensitive to that chemical (such as lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, or potatoes). Finally, before a harvest is placed in storage it should be properly cleaned and cooled from the field heat temperature in order to prolong storage life.
Gleaning: If excess produce cannot be prevented, have no fear! Gleaning opportunities exist to recover produce while not giving an extra cost to farmers. Gleaning is the act of collecting produce from farms that is deemed not economically viable for the farm to harvest. Local nonprofit Food For People has a gleaning program in place for Humboldt County. Check out the links below to find out how gleaning efforts can help farmers, and help those in need.
Click here to fill out the Food For People gleaning forum
Want to know how donations are protected under the law? Click here to read more about the Good Samaritan Act
To find out more about current policies surrounding gleaning programs, contact the local food resources coordinator Allison Kenney at akenney@foodforpeople.org