There are too many people going hungry.
Every year, we throw away more than enough nutritious food to feed each hungry family, senior and child in the U.S. – nearly one hundred billion pounds—according to the USDA. As a matter of fact, more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in municipal solid waste. Food that could nourish our citizens ends up in landfills and rots in fields.
And it’s precisely the trend we’re working to change at After the Harvest, simply by doing our share to reduce food waste while feeding those in need.
BECAUSE BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP.
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 52% of all fruits and vegetables grown in the United States are wasted before they reach the table. Fifty two million tons of food is sent to the landfill annually, in addition to 10 million tons that is discarded or left unharvested on farms. Why?
- In some cases, retailers reject produce as unmarketable because of size or other imperfections.
- Sometimes farmers just have more fresh produce than they can sell or use.
PARTNERS ON A SINGLE MISSION.
After the Harvest works with farmers and other produce partners to prevent perfectly nutritious and edible fruits and vegetables from being discarded or left in the field to rot.
Gleaning what’s left in farmers’ fields and orchards after the harvest
Picking up leftover produce from farmers markets and other locations
Procuring semi-truckloads of produce no longer destined for stores
Delivering thousands of pounds of fresh produce to area shelters, food pantries and community kitchens
