Quoted! (Sometimes, even misquoted!)

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 Abstract of Chapter 5: Produce Loss and Waste in Agricultural Production

Food lost in primary production represents an opportunity  to increase yield, and potentially profit for growers, but is often overlooked  as it has not incurred the environmental and economic costs that have  accelerated the effort to reduce food waste. Recently, definitions of food  loss have begun to include crops that are intended for human consumption and  mature in the field, but are not harvested, rather than tracking losses  beginning at the farm gate. Losses of mature, edible produce crops fall  broadly into two categories: products which do not meet buyer specifications  for quality, and production exceeding demand, or surplus. The drivers that  influence the volume of losses in the field can often be found in other  portions of the supply chain, such as retail and foodservice distribution.  Adding to what is known about losses through qualitative study, studies in the  US and other developed countries using measurement in the field show that  losses may be higher than previously estimated. Working towards the prevention  and recovery of on-farm food losses may hold the potential to improve public health,  lessen the environmental burden of farming, and improve the economic  resiliency of farms. 

Introduction to Chapter 9: Food loss on the farm: Lessons learned from conversations with produce growers

Fruit and vegetable producers have dealt with the issue of “loss” long before food loss and waste became popularized as a social problem in need of an organized solution. Potential yield loss begins with the seed or transplant stage and grows in economic magnitude through the production cycle as additional inputs—labor, machine use, chemicals—are applied. Understanding how farmers manage loss on the farm is a necessary first step in designing effective strategies to mitigate that loss. In this chapter, we discuss farm-level loss from the viewpoint of mid- to largescale

produce growers. The discussion is based on the authors’ successful engagement with North Carolina vegetable growers for a research and extension project on farm-level loss (Johnson, 2018; Johnson et al., 2018a; Johnson et al., 2018b; Whole Crop Harvest, 2018). We discuss the major factors that influence growers’ harvest decisions and impact the loss of mature product in the field, and we provide recommendations for working with growers. The chapter begins with a clarification

of terms and prior research on farm-level produce loss, and then focuses

on growers’ key decision points during harvest and factors influencing these.