One packer of citrus, stone fruit, and grapes estimated that 20 to 50 percent of the produce he packages is rejected by the market but is fine to eat, the California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) reports.
Eric Manke, spokesman for the CAFB, says the charity relies on donations from farmers, the produce often just one grade below supermarket level and sometimes sought out by other industries but mostly unsalable.
“We try to handle all of the shipping and storage cost to help out the growers and help them break even when they donate the produce to us,” Manke said in a phone interview.
Losses continue as fresh produce goes through processing—packaged, pitted, skinned, and shaped—and then to distribution where perishables are vulnerable to mishaps and rejection.
Retail
It is retail however, where big savings could occur in the United States, but to date do not. Waste is seen as a sign of abundance and profitability.
“If a store has low waste numbers it can be a sign that they aren’t fully in stock and that the customer experience is suffering,” according to a former president of Trader Joe’s who is quoted in the report.
That attitude contributes to an annual $15 billion loss in unsold fruits and vegetables for supermarkets, according to the report.
Gunders says it is ironic that waste is considered a positive when it is so costly—a fact that appears to have registered among retailers overseas.
In the United Kingdom, supermarkets openly promote waste cutting, with Tesco offering a “buy-one-get-one-free-later” promotion and Sainsbury’s piloting a “buy-one-give-one” program.
Waste reduction initiatives in any of the processes will require an attitude change that will ultimately be driven from the bottom up, says Gunders.
“The food industry is trying to sell as much as they can using all the persuasive techniques that they know, so that is a tough one where consumer awareness is going to be important,” she said.
Part of the problem is consumer attitude, many lured by the promise of savings or largely unaware of a waste problem. According to the report, Americans throw out one-quarter of the food and beverages they buy.
While state and federal governments encourage recycling, that too has a ways to go. In a 2010 report, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that food waste accounted for nearly 14 percent of the total municipal solid waste (MSW) stream, but that less than three percent was recovered and recycled.
“The rest—33 million tons—was thrown away, making food waste the single largest component of MSW reaching landfills and incinerators,” the EPA said on its website.
Gunders’s report includes plenty of initiatives and recommendations to reduce waste at each level of the food production process.
She says reducing waste should be a priority at a time of recession and as drought pushes food prices up, and she hopes her research will inspire discussion among public and private sectors.
“We should be hoping Americans save money, and one of the ways to do that is have them not waste anything on food they are not eating,” she said.
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