According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the amount of the United States food supply that goes to waste is estimated at 30-40%. That’s of the total food supply of the country. And it’s not just the food that gets wasted when food is sent to landfills instead of being eaten.
All the water, labor, energy, and land that was used to get a wasted crop to harvest ultimately resulted in nutrition that did not feed someone.
A percentage of all food waste happens at the large-scale supply chain level. Spoilage in transit, equipment failure, or blemished product culling can all contribute to food waste.
But there are many ways to opt into systems and practices that mitigate food waste at both the supply-chain level and at home. You might not expect all of them:
The current electronic nature of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model is designed to minimize food waste. Each week, a member logs on, picks and chooses from the seasonal offerings, knows what they’ll receive in 1-2 days, retrieves their food in one or two neatly packed bags, and takes it home.
Not only does it come to you in portion sizes of your choosing, but it was still in the ground a day or two before you received it, raised in rich soil, chock-full of nutrients for your microbiome, all of which brings amazing flavors. Even less energy is needed to prepare it because the food is delicious as is, and speaks for itself.
When you log in to your CSA account each week online, the first screen you see is the farmer’s choice of a weekly share. These items are chosen because we want to provide you a share that includes a well-balanced variety (leafy greens, root veggies, starches, salad items, “green veggie” items.) We also choose items we have enough of for every member. We have additional items that could be in limited supply, or their season is just starting, or their season is just ending, but we hope you’ll add them on to your share. In this way, we only harvest what you order, but over several days we are able to harvest the entire crop, as we hate to waste food.
Add this to the farm’s low-input regenerative production system and efficient ordering and delivery mechanism, and there’s a one-two-three-punch exemplification of good behavior. Our CSA Members are doing their part—maybe more than any of us realized.
To be sure, many things the Elmwood Stock Farm team eats would be considered “seconds”—produce that is perhaps the wrong size, misshapen, or blemished in some way, not to be sent out in CSA Farm Shares or to other customers, but still with lots of good in them. As the folks on our team wash and prep produce for your shares each day, any strange, oddball veggies go on a specific shelf of our walk-in cooler, where the staff can grab a few items to make their dinner, should they so choose.
While you, the community member, may not encounter many of these misfits because of the work we do to provide you only the best, it’s not a bad idea to keep an eye out for the least pristine item at market, and give it the same favoritism you might give to the runt of a litter of puppies.
Even the jars of marinara and baggies of garlic powders we offer are a means of preventing food waste. We know how much blood, sweat, and tears went into getting the produce thus far, and surely we would hate to see it go to waste, so we give it a new life as a shelf-stable product for sale at market, at the shop, or as something for CSA members to add to their share.
In the CSA Members Facebook Group and CSA Member newsletters, you’ll find storage and preservation tips for when you end up with extra. Think of Depression-era grandparents making the best use of their fresh food. Mac shares stories of his father when he was stationed in the South Pacific. They had to take turns peeling potatoes, and the sergeant would weigh the peelings to make sure the peelers were not cutting too deep.
When our big flush of tomatoes is harvested this season, looking for a home, it is the time of the year to claim a 10-pound box for freezing or canning. Yes, this is still a thing. Just think about having certified organic local tomatoes from your local farm, even while the snow is falling. Mac’s grandmother always gave him a jar for Christmas.
Not every operation has Berkshire hogs that squeal in excitement when they hear the veggie scraps truck coming, or a compost heap that eventually ends up back on a field to feed the soil that feeds us, or chickens that will snack on nearly anything you hand them.
Mac hopes you have a little bucket under your sink for veggie scraps as you fix dinner, to feed your own compost bin. Home gardeners and raised bedders can just add the compost to a section that is about to be turned under or as a mulch along the plant rows. It’s a simple, soulful practice that keeps you in touch with the processes that unused food goes through.
We will do our part. Thank you for doing your part for the preservation of the planet. And know that, of all the methods of getting produce to your home, a CSA share is the most efficient method of transporting it to you.